The One About Malfunctions

By: William Supko

Once again an article has surfaced stating something along the lines of “a ride has malfunctioned causing a train to stall around 200 feet in the air”. Add in a long wait to get off, the fact that it's the third time in a week and fail to mention that this happens daily in the amusement industry and it's a perfect media storm.

You end up with comments like “no way”, “they're not safe” and “tear them all down”. How about instead of trying to generate fear and panic amongst amusement park goers we educate them on how these extreme scream machines operate, and operate VERY safely.

A block check is preformed on Fury325 before it's open to the public every day.

There were approximately 67 deaths from both mobile and fixed amusement devices in the United States from 1987 to 2004. This means there is far more risk of death while traveling to the amusement park than there is once your inside the gates.

You may be wondering why this ride would halt on the lift if these rides are so safe. The reason for the stoppage is a preventative measure. Sensors around the ride monitor the roller coasters speed and location throughout the ride on most rides. Sensors on the ride can determine if the lap bars are up or down, if the air gates are open or closed, if equipment is functioning properly (including the lift chain, air compressors and braking components). If any of these functions fail the ride will shut itself down to prevent any serious accidents.

Why Wicked Cyclone is THE Most Anticipated Coaster of 2015

The 2015 coaster season is finally upon us, and we all know what that means, new thrilling and exciting rides, and most importantly, new coasters. This year promises to be a great one with coasters in all shapes and sizes, from heart-pounding heights to compact thrills. Every year there always seems to be a debate with which one will be the best; maybe it will the be the tallest and fastest, or maybe the one with the most inversions, or maybe the one that has the most theming. It always seems to be a never ending discussion that leaves enthusiasts torn. But not this year. This year, there’s one that stands out from the crowd, a coaster that is relentless and doesn’t give you the chance to catch your breath between elements. The most anticipated coaster of 2015 is without question Wicked Cyclone.

 

Wicked Cyclone, opening at Six Flags New England, is the newest storm to hit the East Coast with enough power and force to leave your head spinning with adrenalin until the next time you decide to brave it.

 

To make way for this new epic thrill, New England had to say farewell to a classic in the region, Cyclone. Cyclone was a classic wood coaster built in the 80’s, and in its heyday was marveled as the best, most intense coaster in the world. As we all know, wooden coasters and age don’t mix well, but the park throughout the Riverside years and Six Flags ownership did everything they could to keep it running in tip top shape, which also sometimes means that changes have to be made. To make the aging ride more comfortable for riders, new trains were added and the first drop was re-profiled, along with re-tracking portions to make the experience better and more fluid. Cyclone thrilled riders for decades, and a couple of years ago, the park decided on an option that would give the old coaster a new life, presenting an opportunity for the ride to continue giving guests an amazing experience for many decades to come.

 

With the ingenuity of Rocky Mountain Construction, Six Flags New England started to craft an entirely new breed of coaster that the world had rarely seen before, a one of a kind to come to the East Coast. Wicked Cyclone may not be the tallest, fastest, or longest coaster that we’ve ever seen, but it may just be the most wicked. With a total length of 3320 feet, the storm stands 109 feet tall and reaches speeds of 55mph. Seem average? You’re wrong. Although these initial stats seem average, its what lays within the entire ride that makes this experience unlike any other.

 

Wicked Cyclone is the only coaster of its kind to feature two zero-g rolls, and the first coaster to feature a 200 degree stall, totaling 3 inversions. But that’s not it. Wicked Cyclone is also the first coaster in the world to feature an outward banked airtime hill, but just a few weeks ago, when we didn’t think this coaster could get any better, the park announced that they were adding yet another outward banked airtime hill, further setting the bar for future coasters to come. Just when you thought there couldn’t be any more, there’s also another world’s first, the first double reversing bank airtime hill. To polish everything off, the ride also features 4 airtime hills, a 78 degree first drop, and when you hit the final breaks, you realize that you just experienced the most intense and thrilling 97 second storm of your life.

 

Wicked Cyclone is showing us all what a true coaster experience can do, pushing all the limits of physics and reality to deliver a truly world-class ride that can entertain riders for generations to come. So when you’re debating on what new coaster is the most anticipated and what you should ride next, just remember that Six Flags New England delivered a one of a kind ride that is sure to surprise you. Don’t run from the storm, battle it for yourself. Become a storm chaser and tame the Wicked Cyclone.

 

Don't believe me? Check out a POV of the ride and some construction photos courtesy of Six Flags New England.

 

 

 

The One About Fury

March 28, 2014
By: William Supko

You may or may not have heard the buzz about Fury 325 officially opening at Carowinds today.  The ride is so big that it runs through 2 states! Just in case you've missed the announcement, building, millions of social media posts and media day posts we'll catch you up real quick on the stats.

Height: 325 Ft.
Speed: Approximately 95 MPH
Angle of Decent: 81 degrees
Track Length: 6,602 Ft
Time: Approximately 3 minutes and 25 Seconds
Trains: 3 cars, 4 riders per row, 8 rows per train for a total of 32 riders per train
Designer: Bolliger & Mabillard

Fury 325's first drop and AMAZING airtime hill.

The One About Saying Thanks

Crew members and guests that attended the Dollywood event,

A huge thanks first to Dollywood for providing us with an AMAZING event.  Just in case you missed the event they gave us a ton of perks.  We had breakfast with some delicious cinnamon bread, a tour of Wild Eagle, a great lunch, select show seating where we got to see Dolly at the end, a little snack and over an hour of ERT on Thunderhead.  I forgot to

The One About Landscape Projects

By: William Supko
March 13, 2015

How many people are aware that Busch Gardens Williamsburg has a major "landscaping project" for 2015?  It appears that this "landscaping project" will feature a "statue" made by Premier Rides and will feature an LSM launch, one inversion and a non inverting loop.

The ride is a Sky Rocket II model from Premier Rides.  The same ride runs as Superman Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in California  and Sky Scream at Holiday

The One About Impulse

By: William Supko
March 12, 2015

Hiya Crew!

First off we have to give a HUGE thanks to the Knoebel family and park staff for allowing us to participate in this very special day.  For those of you that haven't heard, the final

The One About Building Roller Coasters

By: William Supko

Hello Crew,

Congratulations on your recent roller coaster purchase!  Please follow the details listed below for a solid sturdy roller coaster that will run for decades.

Step 1

Organize all pieces so that you when construction begins you can easily find the piece you need.

Pieces are arranged to find them easier.

Hold up! We're going to need to slam into the mid course brake run for a second and hit the rewind button because we missed quite a few steps.

The first thing that has to happen is that the people in charge have to agree on what to build.  Do they want steel or wood?  Do they want cutting edge or classic or maybe classic with a twist?  Do they want a Zierer (Verbolten/Impulse), maybe a Mack ride (Wild Mouse), how about a Gerstlauer (Mystery Mine), maybe an Intamin (Wilderness Run) or a B&M (Iron Wolf).  Family owned parks may consider buying a used ride.  Franchise parks may consider moving a ride.

Parks will visit websites, other parks and IAAPA to narrow down the list of manufacturers.  They will decide what direction (both figuratively and literally) they may want the ride to go.  Once they have the types and manufacturers narrowed down they will send what they are looking for to several manufacturers.  A company will produce a prospectus that inlcues some art work and and a rough cost estimate for the park to look at.  Manufacturers may also come to a park and say "listen, we got this crazy new idea for a launched wing coaster we think you're gonna love." Once a park has received all options they will pick the one that best fits their budget and space.  Once the contracts are signed and handshakes are shook engineering and design can begin.

"Let's build an Intamin and call it Intimidator 305"
"That's a top notch idea, Bob"
and thus one of the countries best coasters (IMHO) was born. 

Huge piles of blue prints will be drawn.  Structural blue prints for supports, track layout, electrical and so much more will go into the design.  Every aspect that you could ever think about will be covered.  The companies brought together on the project will work to make sure the ride and every element including the queue, the picture stand, the height sign, the on ride camera and so much more meet ASTM standards.

Land being used to build this scream machine will be cleared of trees, giant boulders, and other obsticles. Some parks will usually go to great lengths to keep trees in place. Once plans for the supports have been drafted a construction crew will come in and begin surveying the land and placing flags (or pavement markings) of several colors on the ground.  These colors will indicate existing things like electric, sewer, phone or cable.  They will also indicate where footings need to go and where utilities need to go or be relocated to.

Once the footings are mapped out construction crews will begin to dig.  In some cases, depending of the condition of the soil, they will dig very deep.  Once holes are dug to the proper level the forms and rebar will be brought in.  After the forms and rebar are set in place the concrete is poured.  This process will continue until all footers are in place.

A whole lot of earth moving going on to build Gatekeeper

While work for track set up is under way coaster cars for both wood and steel coasters and track and supports for steel coasters will be constructed offsite.  Some ride manufacturers create their own track, support and trains.  Other coaster companies may contract work for trains and/or track out to a third party.

Back at the construction site once the concrete has cured long enough vertical construction can begin.  Up to this point steel and wooden roller coasters have followed almost the exact same path (except there are a whole lot more footers in the ground for wooden coasters).  This is the point were they start to take different paths for a bit.

Steel coasters have support beams that are labeled using a companies detailed alphanumeric system to bring the project together sort of similar to that of building Ikea furniture.  Everything is sorted and laid out and piece one goes into piece two which connect to piece three until everything is together.  Pieces are required to be put together in a certain order to maintain structural integrity.

Mind the gap on Skyrush at Hersheypark

Most wooden coasters are built onsite.  Large trucks of wood will show up and carpenters will begin creating a vertical section called a bent.  A crane will lift this bent into position over two footers.  Once the bent is in place they will connect it to another bent with pieces of lumber running horizontal up the sides.  As the bents are being connected another team of carpenters will begin constructing the track.  Several layers of wood are built and bent on top of the supports.  The wood is then topped off with a flat steel pieces of track that are bent.

That's a whole lot of footers and bents
(Sorry, I don't have an wooden coaster construction pics)

While coasters of steel or wood are being built work will start on the station and electrical work will begin.  As opening day of the new ride approaches trains will be brought in and installed on the track.  These trains are usually brought into the holding/transfer area of the ride and craned into the holding track.

Once electrical work, track, brakes and moving mechanisms of the ride are installed it is time to begin testing.  This does not mean they will be bringing out a train and sending it around the track.  In some cases one car of the train will be placed on the track and then it will be pulled through the ride by crane.  This makes sure that the track is lined up and all clearance envelopes set by the manufacturer are observed.

Once it is confirmed that a train can make a pass around the track without running into anything the electrical system will be tested.  The lift will be started and stopped, the emergency stop buttons will be checked.  Each individual brake and kicker wheel will be tested to make sure it runs properly.  Once the PLCs (brain of the coaster) are confirmed to be working properly a full train is then set on the track and testing begins.

At first the ride will only test one train to make sure all computer components are communicating properly.  Once one train testing is complete they will add a second train, and check to make sure blocking works properly.  In other words they make sure the computer system won't allow two trains in the same section of track at the same time. They will continue until all trains are added.  The ride will then test run until they meet state requirements before they open.

This is a very (not so) brief overview of what happens during the construction of a ride.  If you've ever watch a wood coaster vs. a steel coaster being built you'll notice that wood takes a good bit longer to build than steal.  Why am I saying this?  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Cedar Point hasn't opened for 2015 yet and there already clearing land for a new attraction. Maybe an maybe a GCI, maybe a Gravity Group.  Maybe the wooden coaster isn't dead after all.  Of Course it could be an RMC hybrid too.

Until Next Time.
-William