SOB cars

I haven't been to PKI in 2 months so i was wondering...does Son of Beast finally have all 3 of their cars running?
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Son of Beast is rough...so what? That's the way I like it!

They cant and I will tell you why.
The main reason is that if for some odd reason one of the cars would have to stop at the midcourse, it would not be able to go the rest of the course. The loop is bigger than the drop. So PKI cannot safely put another car on SOB. Anyway, the ride ops are really good and the line keeps moving at a good pace.

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http://www.islandguide.8m.com
all about PKI
the Beasts` Den

That is incorrect.  Each morning they do block testing and stop a train on the block brakes after the helix.
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www.geocities.com/coastersrz I`ve ridden Son of Beast 49 times!

You sure? I really dont see it possible b/c the hill doesnt seem big enough to get enough steam to get through th loop.

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http://www.islandguide.8m.com
all about PKI
the Beasts` Den

It's not big enough. The block run has a tire system to get the train up to speed to make the loop, if it does get stopped for some reason. It essentially acts like a launch.

On the Roller Coaster Corporation of America website, it states this about Son of Beast:

"Ride is capable of operating with up to four (4) 36-passenger trains, and/or the additions of a seventh 6-passenger car per train."

You can view that very same quote from here:

http://www.rcca.com/rides.html

Hmm, I would assume that you could run 3 trains on it because it states that SOB can run up to 4.  Do they have a 4th train on site or even the extra cars?  From what I understand, there is only 3 trains and I guess they could get a 4th one and extra cars if needed.

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http://sapman.homestead.com --- My stupid website

I was there last week and I asked a supervisor when the third car would be added. He said that it will only be a two train ride. Typical of PKI to put in yet another low capacity ride.

From what I understand, the capacity of the ride is already up to where PKI wants it, and adding a third train would just result in stacked trains.
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www.geocities.com/coastersrz I`ve ridden Son of Beast 49 times!

Son Of Beast does have a pretty high capacity.  Even on busy days, it is not the longest line in the park.  I don't know what happened to the third train, but I have not seen it since it disappeared last year, which leads me to believe that they really aren't going to use it.

The capacity may be where PKI wants it but it is not good. Last week they were holding a train until the other was near the brake run. On a 7000? foot coaster this is a long time. As stated earlier, SOB was designed to run up to 4 cars. I'm sure that they could run 3 without stacking. The reason the lines are short is because many people have stopped riding it because of the pain involved.

SoB may be LONG but he's fast too.  Given the rather restrictive nature of the restraints, it takes awhile to load some of the larger guests (and you don't have to be THAT big). I think 3 trains would result in more stacked trains than not, and would increase capacity only a little.  4-train operation would require an act of God or the ability to stop time on the platform - laughable!  But since we're talking about Sonny's trains, how expensive is it to add some padding for out poor legs - my shins AND thighs were bruised.  But SoB is innovative, and has taken woodies to heights previously unthinkable...
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rollergator - intent on improving the "guest experience" - coming soon to a park near you

*** This post was edited by gatorwoodie on 8/29/2001. ***

The reason they don't run three is due to PKI's conservative blocking policy.  They always want a closed brake between trains, at least it seems that way on their woodies.  As a result, SOB runs two, even though it's blocked for three.  They do a decent job with throughput on that thing running two trains thanks to a quick ride, so there really isn't a need to run three. 

Also, I've noticed that the trains tend to overshoot the brake run onto the transfer if the mid-course trims are light.  Block violations can be a problem, that is if the transfer is it's own block.

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Scott W. Short
mailto:scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

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Chris Rettig said:
It's not big enough. The block run has a tire system to get the train up to speed to make the loop, if it does get stopped for some reason. It essentially acts like a launch.

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They should start using this as part of the normal ride operation. I think this would greatly increase SOB's popularity. If they put a tunnel over it, even better.
 
-djansi