A look at maverick's new trains.

Its hard to tell from the pictures, but does maverick's trains have the stadium style seating like there is on millennium force and TTD?

yes.

Superman, what are you talking about?

^ He's commenting on the "overbanked hill" towards the end of the ride.

Yeah, call it what you will, that element that starts out like a 0G roll but then rolls back and dives down in a 45 degree angle from the original direction.

http://www.rollercoasterfreak.com/Cedar_Point/2007-02-23_Maverick_Tour/Data/page.htm?131,0

http://www.rollercoasterfreak.com/Cedar_Point/2007-02-23_Maverick_Tour/Data/page.htm?150,0

Thanks to rollercoasterfreak (Jason?) for the amazing photo collection!

Yes, my name is Jason. And your welcome.

But I did not say "thank you" yet Jason.;)

Back on Page #5 there is some chatter about the safety system on Maverick...

The LSMs work a little different than LIMs. With a LIM, you have an induction coil (coil of wire) and a drive fin made of a non-magnetic conductor. The power running through the stator coils generates a magnetic field which in turn induces a reaction field in the drive fin. It works great for an asynchronous motor, but there is no safety there...you need some other form of safety system in case of a roll-back. On Flight of Fear, for instance, there is a set of brakes at the downtrack end of the launch so that if the launch isn't fast enough and the train rolls back out of the first loop, it will stop at the end of the launch instead of rolling all the way back to the station.

With an LSM as used on Maverick, the stator coils generate a magnetic field which interacts with the fixed magnetic field of the magnets on the train. The system creates higher forces than a LIM, allows for a larger airgap between the magnet and the stator coil, and so on. But there is something else at work here, too.

The stator coil is nothing more than a coil of wire connected as a short-circuit across the incoming power line. When you connect power, that coil generates a magnetic field that will push against the magnets on the train. If you kill the power, though, the coil becomes a short circuit of wire. When you run a magnet past the coil, a current is induced in the coil, and it forms the electrical equivalent of the magnetic brakes on Top Thrill Dragster. It looks a little different, but it works in exactly the same way. No power is required to get braking out of an LSM stator. So the system remains fail-safe.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Thanks for clearing that up Dave.:)

The new Maverick construction diary article is now online:

http://maverick.cedarpoint.com/latest/diary/

"Right now representatives from the company that designed and manufactured Maverick, IntaRide, are on site making sure all the electrical and mechanical components of the roller coaster are working properly. They got here a couple of weeks ago, and it should take them another week and a half to finish up.

The next step once all that is completed is starting to move the train back and forth on the track. That’s always an exciting moment in the timeline of a ride like this. It means firing Maverick up for riders isn’t all that far away!"

Is there a program that is pre-made, or do they throw a train on the track and program the ride from there?

I think it's a bit of both. They have the general outline, but there's always some tweaking involved. I don't know if anybody saw the show on Discovery "Mega Builders" where they showed the construction of Tatsu, but it really showed the process of tweaking.

That was an interesting show.

That was a great show, but maverick is a much more advanced coaster than tatsu is. I am not saying that tatsu is not advanced, but is does not have the launched sections and 6 trains like maverick does.

New pictures were posted today.....

http://maverick.cedarpoint.com/latest/gallery/

Looks as if they are already testing the ride. The train is now in the station.

That was just from the pull-through last month. The train was sitting on the lift approach until a few days ago, when it was pulled back into the now-roofed station. Ride testing is about to begin, but no date given yet. The ride's power is coming from a temp line until all the transformers are fully wired in and Maverick can power up on its own.

(according to OnPoint/construction diary)

(and I'm addicted to the Maverick webcams) *** Edited 3/15/2007 5:55:23 AM UTC by ilovethewildone***

I am talking about the pictures they just posted a few days ago. I don't think thats from the pull through. I could be wrong, but why would they just be putting that picture up now?

Besides, the cement for the station was not poured when they did the pull through.

All I see is a train in the station, that doesn't make me really think "testing!" or anything.

I don't put much stock into rumors, but I have heard from a little birdie that they have been moving the train back and forth from the lift, to the station.

And that the ride opening may be delayed. *** Edited 3/16/2007 8:49:51 PM UTC by crazy horse***

The same thing is happining to "Wicked" at Lagoon park. There was some bad welding done to the ride, so they have to dismantle parts of the ride to repair the problem.

That ride will not open on time.

Lots of coasters have not been open on time. Gemini had problems, along with dragster and I think that wicked twister had problems opening on time as well. So this is no big suprise if it's true.