Top Thrill Dragster's trains

We're getting closer to opening day! Fice dragster trains are on the transfer track :D I can't wait to be there opening day to ride it! *** Edited 3/30/2005 6:05:04 PM UTC by Kyle Dersch***

It's kind of hard to tell but is the sixth train still by the tree? It looks like it is.

Oh and look the tarps are off......no OTSR's! :)

Why can't it open tommorow.

Have they started testing all the tarps are off and theres people by the station. Except the green train still all in pieces.
*** Edited 3/30/2005 7:39:03 PM UTC by CPfan200***
*** Edited 4/5/2005 12:51:05 AM UTC by CPfan200***

I don't know, but with the tarps off, they probably aren't too far from it. This assumes that the catch car and cables are on, hydraulics full of brand new oil, and any other maintenance necessary before operation is complete.

BTW, I seen power tower test yesturday.

CPfan200 said:
Have they started testing all the tarps are off and theres people by the station. Accept the green train still all in pieces.
*** Edited 3/30/2005 7:39:03 PM UTC by CPfan200***

I've accepted it, except that it should be together soon.

Ralph, that makes sense (and I've heard the same thing). It works on the same principle as your car(or your parents car)'s radiator. Except in this case, instead of having a fan run over coils to remove heat from the coolant (water), it is just dumped into the lagoon and fresh cool water is sucked in. Its a rather efficient cooling mechanism and I would suspect will work better than the air cooled method they are using on KK.

The tarps are off of the trains. Looks like testing will start soon!

The green train is on the storage track, the red train is not, notice the new offseason pictures! Great Job Walt and Jeff, the pictures are great.

The 6th train is not on yet and I'm sure they want to test with all of the 6 trains on the track. Even though they can test with just the 5.

Who knows, maybe they will.

And the new offseason/maXair construction/Magnum repainting pictures are awsome.
Boy the beginning of Dragsters launch sure could use a good scrubdown. http://www.pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=2204 *** Edited 4/1/2005 12:08:36 AM UTC by TTD 120mph***

Does anyone know what Cedar Point does with the auctual Top Fuel Dragster used for themeing? I hope it dosent sit outside all winter, BTW Is it a real dragster with an auctual full buit Top fueler engine....

I'd think it would be a mock up engine. Why would they want to pay for a real engine when it is never started?

I would assume that they store it during the winter somewhere inside.

I'm pretty sure its stored under tarps under the Mean Streak with the extra Gemini trains.

My understanding is that the rail was built in-house and is, in fact, a mock-up. They did use genuine engine parts on that engine, the engines in the cars in front of Coasters, and on the engines that were on the backs of the Top Thrill Dragster trains. But those hang-on parts were hung on a mocked-up engine block and stuck in a chassis that is far from road-worthy. Look closely at one of the street rods sometime and notice some decidedly non-automotive tricks of construction. Hint: Most tie-rods are not made of rebar... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I visited the P&D building in April before TTD opened and saw them working on top fuel dragster at that time. They were working on modifying it so that people could easily get in and out of it (remember, when it first opened you could pay to have your picture taken sitting inside of it). The guys working on it told me it was a real top fuel dragster they purchased from some dragstrip in Michigan. It came with the real engine in tact, but not functional. They used the real engine to create the replica engine out of fiberglass.

As for where they store them, there's a big garage in P&D where all those display vehicles were when I was there in April. I'm not sure whether they stay there all winter or if they were just there to be worked on at the time I saw them.

I know this isn't important news but I think all six are now on TTD. I'm not for sure but the 6th train's cars are not in view of the webcam. Although it's hard to tell with the 360 ft view webcam temporarily down.

It's good news in that they have 6 trains on now. At minimum, they will be have an extra train to swap in case one needs repair.

Maybe they will play around with 6 trains on the track. Oodles of fun.

ForgottenEE said:
At minimum, they will be have an extra train to swap in case one needs repair.

FYI, that is what it's used for. I've seen it happen many times. One train might be having problems so it's switched with the one that's in the transfer track. It's a waste of 10 min but is necessary in order to keep things running....smoothly.

^ Agreed! I got my one and only rollback on the blue train in the front, and it was one where the catch car "thought" it was at the end of the launch track but it wasn't, we didn't even pull out of the 90 degree verticle before we started to roll back, after that they tried to launch again, and it went down for mechanical reasons. After we sat on the launch track for quite some time watching mechanics sand the catch car and mess with it, they transfered the red train on, which was a mess of cobwebs, we got to ride in the front on that, and we FLEW over the top, it's the most airtime I've ever had on Dragster, and it was AWESOME.

The trains are in the station. The 360' cam is still down though.