Gemini (How It Was Built)

Why did they use wood supports for Gemini? Was it intended to be a wooden coaster or was it steel all along? It makes no sense to me.
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Parks for 2000: SFEG,IOA,MGM,WDW,PGA,SFMW,SCBB,Lakeside.
#1 Park-CP. #1Steel-Montu. #1Wood-Roar(W)

It was always supposed to be steel track. What was Arrow known for at the time? Mine trains. Gemini is a giant mine train.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

At the time, most mine trains used wood for supports. Some still do.

If I'm not mistaken most of the mine rides if not all use wood supports still. In fact Excalibur at Valleyfair is actually a mine train ride with wooden support and steel track.

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Randy Hutchinson
You build it, I'll ride it

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Jeff said:
Gemini is a giant mine train.

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Is that what Cedar Point wanted? Or is it just because Arrow made it that way?
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Parks for 2000: SFEG,IOA,MGM,WDW,PGA,SFMW,SCBB,Lakeside.
#1 Park-CP. #1Steel-Montu. #1Wood-Roar(W) *** This post was edited by PT300 on 1/4/2001. ***

And not just a mine train,but a giant duel tracked mine train.

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"DONT FIGHT IT, RIDE IT",,,,RAGING BULL

Runaway Train at SFGAdv does not have wooden supports.

Arrow and Cedar Point both positioned Gemini as a (faux-)wooden coaster...I think the idea was that Gemini was to provide the "look and feel" of a wood coaster with the smooth ride and maintenance characteristics of a steel coaster. Personally, I think it was a successful project, and rumor has it that it is Mr. Toomer's favorite among rides he worked on.

When the ride opened, it got a less-than-outstanding reception from the fledgling ACE organization, and sometimes I think fallout from that incident persists to this very day in the form of an unexplained undercurrent of animosity between ACE and Cedar Point. And from what I have heard, the basic issue is that the "wood coaster snobs" were upset to discover that Gemini wasn't a wood coaster.

Well, hey, it could have been worse...it could have been Mean Streak...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

RideMan is correct, they wanted wooden appearance, steel maintenance. Although of the two, I'll take Mean Streak....Gemini has always left me rather unmoved....

I have to think it was primarily the maintenance that CP had in mind when they went with the steel. It must be a fraction of what it would have been if it had been a true wooden coaster.

As I recall, in the interview in which Toomer said Gemini was his favorite (I still have it here somewhere) he attributed much of his admiration of the ride to the fact that it was such a huge amount of work to design.

As to the opening of the ride, it is still somewhat amazing to me that that CP will give ACE the time of day now considering the ridiculous behavior of some of the club "experts" when the ride opened. The nasty writings from that time about CP and Gemini are arrogant and stupid.

As to the ride itself, I think it is a brilliant . Capacity is huge - perfect for the CP of the late '70s. It looks great. I have found, without exception, that it is the most accessible big coaster you can take novices on. A wide range of people can ride it and have a lot of fun.

And by the way, the last rides of the night on Gemini during the late '70s and very early '80s generated the most crowd excitement with the general public I think I have ever seen at CP.

So does that mean that the wood is purely for appearances and all of the true supports are made of metal? that is a waste of money and trees if that is true

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All time Top 5: (1) Milleniun Force (2) Alpengeist (3) Hulk (4) Ice Dragon (5) Raptor

No, the support structure is all wooden. It's not for show, it is there to hold up the tracks. There are also coasters that have steel structures, which mimic wooden structures, to support wooden tracks--I believe the Coney Island Cyclone would be one of those.

It was built as the world's tallest and fastest, was it not?

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A Green Machine is rising at SFO!

Gemini isn't the biggest mine train at Cedar Point. When I think about big mine train Magnum comes to mind...

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Ride with full FORCE

Is it really a mine train? I know it's a "runaway train coaster"...

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Matt Lynch
Co-Webmaster, Kennywood Boulevard
http://kennywood.coasterbuzz.com

How is Magnum a mine train?

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#1: Millennium Force
#2: Raging Bull
#3: Tie B:TR/Raptor
#4: Viper (SFGAm)
#5: Goliath/Magnum

Well, like I say, I don't know if it's a mine train coaster, per se. However, and help me out here, RideMan, I believe Arrow's name for the type of coaster Magnum was is "runaway train coaster."

To me, this is second-hand information. Let's get the low-down from Dave, eh?

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Matt Lynch
Co-Webmaster, Kennywood Boulevard
http://kennywood.coasterbuzz.com

Magnum is a oversized mine train. It was the first hyper coaster, so Arrow just took the mine/runaway coaster to new heights. On Arrow's website(which is down for some time right now) it said it was a mine/runaway coaster. Correct me if I am wrong but mine and runaway coasters are the same type of coaster. Also a side note about Gemini, ask almost any one in the general public and they will tell you Gemini is a wooden coaster( a smooth one too ;) )
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Ride with full FORCE


*** This post was edited by Andrew on 1/5/2001. ***

As oppose to Arrow Corkscrews, who's upper and lower wheel are both locked into the track, Arrow Mine trains have upstops that are not constantly locked into the track. I do believe Magnum wheels are not locked into the track. RideMan Just recently told me that Magnum did not even have upstop wheels when it first opened, just plain old upstops like all of Arrow's Mine Trains.

Dave is still the ultimate authority on this so take it from him.

Yep, origanaly, Magnum did not have upstop "wheels" The screeching noise was intense or so I've heard!