Station beginning to take shape

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Mathew said:
60 seconds is enough to unload and load 2 trains?! You are in a dream world man. WT had one train, and that 60 seconds was tight.

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Gemini loads two trains in 24 seconds. What's so hard about that?

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Brent Haley
Gemini Crew '02 & '03

The aesthetics of this station will be hard to beat by any other ride...I just love the design!

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What is most anticipated event of 2003? the debut of Dragster, the release of Metallica's new album, the release of Terminator 3, or the release of Matrix:Reloaded...tough call.

I think the tarps are over the brake section so the workers can work uder them with some heat to keep warm. The unload will be in the curve like the picture on virtual midway. You can even see the concrete exit ramp on the web cam

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/inside_park/webcam/camera2.cfm

Montu said:

Anyone else notice just how big this staion is going to be? Take a look at that worker by the bottom of that first structural piece. He looks tiny.
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I was just about to post that! When I first saw that pic I was shocked at how narrow the width of the space in-between the the tracks are....then I saw the construction worker!

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Note to self: Never try to explain things to the GP!
*** This post was edited by Kel 2/20/2003 6:36:42 AM ***
*** This post was edited by Kel 2/20/2003 6:37:23 AM ***

I have one question are they going to be putting more up or is that as big as the station going to be meaning they won't add on to the side. Does anyone know this?

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Live to ride ride to live
What's life without rollercoasters!!!

There is much more to the station. In the animation, I believe that there were two trains in the station at a time, and in the artist rendering of the layout CP has, there are seven of those steel support beams. It'll get much longer. I'm still wondering why they aren't painted yet though...

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Enjoy your ride on the Big Bad Bug

Sometimes, it's cheaper and easier to leave structural steel primed, or even unpainted. With all the work that goes on around and on those pieces, it's easier to paint them later, and not worry about harming the finish.

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VertiGo rides: 32
2002 Raptor Crew
"Hey, Cool. My voice is on the lift"

Yeah I remember Millennium and Wicked Twister's stations were the same way. In both the the Millennium and Wicked Twister construction galleries there are pictures of them putting the station structure up and both were not painted.

I can't find any Millennium photos of it but in the first link you can see the unpainted Wicked Twister station and in the second, the painted.

http://www.cedarpoint.com/_upload/images/wt_pics/constpics/WT113-copy.jpg

http://www.cedarpoint.com/_upload/images/wt_pics/constpics/WT132-copy.jpg

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2002 - Raptor Photo
2003 - Millennium Photo

They have poured alot more concrete.
I think they will get more support beams put up today. It looks like there working hard today!
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Get Ready 4 the Experience of your LIFE!!

I disagree that there will be a unload and a load point. Both will be done in the station, 60 seconds is more than enough time to unload and load the riders. CP usually puts a roof over coaster stations, the TTD drawings don't show this.
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Florida may have Disneyworld and Key West,
but Ohio has Cedar Point and Put-In-Bay.
It's great to live in Ohio!

Also, there is a ramp in that picture along the "end" of the track, but it doesn't meet up with track-level except at the far right (off the edge of the picture). Count me in the combined load/unload camp.

If you read down by figure 4 it says block D and E are both unload stations.

http://www.virtualmidway.com/rides/topthrilldragster_f2d.asp
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New For 2003 Top Thrill Dragster Tallest Coaster Ever!!

I am 100% certain that they will not paint the station until they are done. They did the same thing with Xcelerator. I remember the wings (or whatever the 50's theming is) on the station being chrome, before painting them aqua.

And I'm pretty certain there will be an unload and load station...just because there wasnt a roof in the drawing doesnt mean there wont be one there when they're done, on both stations.

ThePoint is right on, look at the link, 2 load & 2 unloads stations. 7 blocks, perfect for 6 cars, although i really dont think 6 cars will be used, or will be neccesary for the first couple weeks or so, untill the employees get used to the ride. 2 trains on Xcelerator were not used until about 2 months in running.

I don't see the worker. Where is he?

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-life without danger is a waste of oxygen-

I don't think anyone is denying that there will be at least 7 blocks (there has to be in order to run 6 trains!). But there is debate over whether people are going to be unloaded "on the curve."

As far as I know, and I could be wrong, the information in the Virtual Midway article is only Rideman's guess as to how things will work. Perhaps this is how it is going to be, but until I hear officially, I'm going to guess that they will not unload on the curve. Rideman is usually right, but in my opinion, unloading on the curve would require extra staffing and would provide no capacity benefit.

Also, as for not using all six trains on opening day - you might be right about that. But I don't think the issue will be employee readiness. There may be issues (such as MF's troubles running three trains at the beginning of 2000 because of computer issues), but I don't think they'd hold back on using all the trains because the crew can't handle it. Many of them have worked at other rides (probably with shorter intervals) in the past and know how to do things efficiently.

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew