What is the guy on the webcam doing 1:30PM EST

First thought he was torquing bolts but now see he has some kind of hopper above him with a hose that looks like he is putting something inside the support legs. Any idea what is going on?
*** Edited 12/7/2006 6:33:53 PM UTC by Norman Thompson***

My guess would be he is putting in sand.

I know! I know!

He's:

WORKING! haha.

Seriously though, I would imagine he's torquing (I think thats how you spell it) the bolts on the ride, Thats all I can think of.

Whatever that thing is that's above him would not be required for torquing the bolts. I'd agree that he's probably filling the supports with sand or some other kind of material.

Since it is clear that there are many folks on this board who know a lot more about engineering and construction than I do two questions based on either option (loading sand or something else or torquing):

1. Why would you load sand or something else into the legs?

2. If he is torquing bolts and it is cold there (snow shower early) do you vary the amount of torque depending upon the ambient temperature or do the bolts and flanges expand and contract that much from the current 25 degrees to the temp found during normal operations?

Filling them with sand reduces the amount the support resonates every time a train flies by. It deadens the noise that would other wise be created. If you want to know what the supports are like unfilled, listen to Raptor.

* EDIT - Engrish problems *
*** Edited 12/7/2006 8:30:13 PM UTC by JuggaLotus***

Or an even louder example, Mantis. :)

I love the sound the non-filled supports make, but Intamin doesn't really have that "sound" to it like the bimmers do.

Talon is a great example of a coaster will filled supports. That ride is almost completely silent. Its a tad eerie actually.

Thanks for the info

I had always thought that sound was from the overhead track (inverted) design of Raptor since the same sound comes from the other inverted coaster I encounter here in Dallas at SFOT. But now that I think of it .......

I think they want to make the ride as quiet as possable due to the fact that it is next to the trailer....errr...lighthouse point.

I doubt thats an issue, and besides, it has Mean Streak to deaden any noise.

Plus, if you're staying on point, and you're going to complain about park noises, go stay somewhere else. It comes part and parcel with getting the room (and I actually like waking up to the sound of Maggie's anti-rollbacks).

JuggaLotus said:
I actually like waking up to the sound of Maggie's anti-rollbacks

Ditto!

"Welcome to the Magnum-XL 200..." Oh wait, they don't have that anymore. :(

I'm having a bit of trouble comprehending the process of filling the supports with sand, after the track has been attached.

The supports have two potential holes: one where the base is joined wtih the footer, and another where the "top" is joined with the track. Both of those holes are now covered, correct?

My first thought was that there were removable plates at the "dead end" section of the "top" of the supports. However, after looking at some of the images from the staging area, not only do the "dead ends" appear to have non-removable plates, but there also does not appear to be holes at either end of the support.

Thoughts?

Dont you know about the caps on the supports.......or am I missing something??
http://pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=5410

Well if I knew, why in the hell would I bother asking? Work isn't that boring.

Sorry, just thought you were part of that disucssion a few months back when we determined the caps were for sand.

Are there any other coasters at CP with filled supports?

I think M-Force and TTD do. Probably all the Intamin coasters have sand in them.

Dragster, Millennium, and Wicked Twister aren't filled. If it doesnt have a cap (like you see on Intamin models) then it's not filled with sand......unless theres some that are and dont have caps. I know B&M does it too, but I'm not sure how they insert the sand into their supports (is it the supports or the actual track?).

...And I'm fairly certain Raptor and Mantis aren't filled. So, I think the answer to your question, ThrillRider, is no.