B96 has photos of SFGAm S:UF pics

Bob, all Beemers have as many transfer tracks as they do trains. That way they can complete empty the track.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

Let's look at this mathematically-

Batman the ride is 2700 feet and 2 minutes. For saftey reasons, the 2nd train must come to the brakes to send the next train. Therefore, a loading cycle is 2 minutes.

Superman: Ultimate Flight is 2798 feet and 3 minutes. For saftey reasons, the 2nd train must come to the brakes to send the next train. Therefore, a loading cycle is 3 minutes.

Therefore, the line will move 50% slower. Batman is fairly short, about 30 minutes on less crowded days. Therefore, Superman should be ABOUT 45 minutes on less busy days.

Make sense?
*** This post was edited by swimmerkev 2/10/2003 5:41:38 PM ***

the 1100 pph capacity seems a bit lacking for a B&M coaster, i think thats the least capacity B&M ever, unless you count the constantly stacking stand-ups

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Nemesis Inferno - The Pressure is Building!
Rare RollerCoaster Resources - http://clik.to/rrcr

check out that landscaping! no more parking lines, yay!

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"It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone"

swimmerkev. Even though the stats show 3 minute ride time, I find that hard to believe. I dont see S:UF's capacity being any slower than Batman:TR. The track length between the 2 in terms of ride time is virtually the same.

Whoever has ridden SFOG's S:UF, what would you say the ride time was from dispatch to brakes?

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Arena football has arrived in the Windy City. Go "Chicago Rush"

I can tell you the ride time wasn't twice as long as Batman's.

Figure the lift on both is 1 minute.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

Well looking at the artists rendering I have one complaint. During the spring and fall. It gets cold here in Northern Illinois. Batman has a heated Storage shed and Raging Bull has a somewhat heated storage shed that when its cold they cover the trains and turn on the butane heaters to warm up the wheels so the trains won't valley. Why not build a covered structure to eliminate this so the trains stay warm and run better in the cold weather, plus it would just look better. Small detail - I know but a wise decision.

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BMCOASTER

bmcoaster@wi.rr.com

I can't really tell from the pic, but is S:UF Gonna takeup the whole entire Shock Wave site?

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The Demon He's gonna getchya!
*** This post was edited by SFGAMNUT9302 2/10/2003 7:54:36 PM ***

Chi...I'll take a *guesstimate* of about 2:10-2:20 ride time....the flyer take a little longer to navigate the same amount of track as an invert or sit-down since it goes a little slower. Good thing, the forces are quite intense even at the speed the pretzel loop is taken. The stand-ups are harder to load, IMO...

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Never go unarmed into a battle of wits...;)
"faster, cheaper, and more often"...ApolloAndy...hey, I only steal the very best!
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Magnum Force, the lift on Batman is mowhere near a minute. Every time I go there, I'm surprised all over again at juts how quickly that train gets to the top.

First off, dis-count all the "official" times you've heard for Batman. I've heard everything from one minute to three. My physics teacher was at Great America for some sort of "adult physics day," and I believe she clocked Batman, from the time it dis-engaged the lift to the time it hit the brakes, at 28 seconds. I could be wrong, but I think that's a considerably shorter time than Superman spends between lift and brakes. I think Superman's going to have a tad less capacity than Batman, which I think is a pity. I may have been spoiled by Raging Bull (and Demon, Whizzer, and Shock Wave, back when they always ran three trains), but I have never been satisfied with Batman's capacity.

*EDIT*-Did anyone else notice a distinctive lack of Iron Wolf in the skyline of that picture? Are they trying ot tell us something, or am I just being paranoid?

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I hear America screaming...
*** This post was edited by (SF)Great American 2/10/2003 9:20:09 PM ***

BMCOASTER, on your reason for the covered track to heat the wheels. I don't think this is needed on the flyers. From what I see, the trains are sleeker and more aerodynamic since the riders lay closer to the track instead of dangling down making a huge wind sail.

Though, that could be completely wrong. They may still have the heaters on the Superman track. The roofed in area only blocks the wind and rain, it isn't insulated so it will still be as cold in there. Possibly SFGAM will opt to put a roof on it at one point. This s just a drawing.

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Chris Tyson
Photographer
www.pkiunlimited.com

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MagnumForce said:
Bob, all Beemers have as many transfer tracks as they do trains. That way they can complete empty the track.

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All except Dueling Dragons...which only has 4 storage tracks for 6 trains.

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James Draeger
-Captain Sarcasm (aka Sour Boy)

I'm not sure if this counts or not but batman clones have one storage track for two trains, I think that the S:UF's with one station will get three trains, but thats just my opinion

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http://www.eastcoastcoasters.com <---Take a look ; )

I think that IW is covered by S:UF lift or maybe they couldn't fit it. But if you're saying that they might take IW down that's crazy I love IW. Ithas gotten smmother.

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Is it May 3rd yet? SFGAm

Yes but it is a long transfer track like Millie. The course can be completely cleared.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

The figures people are throwing out for ride and dispatch times are incorrect, which is why there's somewhat of a dispute here.

From the top of the lift until the train is stopped in the brakes, B:TR is about 42 seconds. For S:UF, it's about 48 seconds from the top of the lift until the stop in the brakes. Notice these ride times are almost identical (six seconds should make no huge difference) and it's safe to assume the lift speeds are similar. Therefore, we have two rides with equal train capacities and equal ride times.

A train on B:TR can technically be dispatched before the train behind it stops on the brakes. I don't know if the ride's computer system prevents that for some reason, but technically there should be no problem with that, as long as train B is past the first set of blocks in the brake run before train A tops the lift. That's fairly irrelevant to the discussion here, but I just wanted to point out that there should be no problem with a dispatch before the other train is in the brakes.

Now, unless trains are stacking then a ride is running to its full capacity. It doesn't matter if train A is dispatched fifteen seconds before train B makes it to the station, because that train still cannot be dispatched before a certain point. For this reason (B:TR has a very short cycle time), a train is usually not dispatched before the other is in the brakes. Like I said, though, as long as they aren't stacking the ride is still running at maximum capacity. Usually at SFGAm, train A is dispatched while train B is advancing into the station because that's just the way it works itself out - the crews take long enough that train B reaches the final brakes, but take short enough that trains aren't stacking. It's reasonable to assume S:UF will operate the same way (no stacking).

Not only can one train be dispatched per ride cycle time, dispatching has to wait for a crew to fully load the train. It's reasonable to assume a fast crew can do so in more than a minute but less than a minute and a half. Therefore, *a train can only be dispatched every minute and a half*. That goes for *both* rides, regardless of cycle times. As long as S:UF has a ride cycle (dispatch to past the blocks in the brake run) of less than a minute and a half (like B:TR does), then capacity will be *identical* to B:TR. That's the way I expect it to be.

-Nate

To put it into simpler perspective, Raging Bull when running 2 trains on a 5000ft plus circuit of track still keeps the lines moving at a reasonable pace. While 3-trains on RB is obviously preferred, it runs 2-trains with consistency IMO.

This is B&M, and SFGAm folks. The lines will move just fine on S:UF.

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Arena football has arrived in the Windy City. Go "Chicago Rush"
*** This post was edited by Chitown 2/10/2003 11:16:28 PM ***

Raging Bull, when in 3 train mode, has the train leaving the station and starting up the lift before the train out on the tracks has hit the mid course. The third train may have just stopped short of the station at the point for only a brief period then moves in. They pump those trains through like nothing. I was quite impressed during my last visit there.

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Chris Tyson
Photographer
www.pkiunlimited.com

coasterdude318, I don't know what you're talking about. Batman always stacks. In my experience, I can always see the incoming train sit for some time in the brake run before the train in the station is ready to be dispatched. And, yes, I always sit in the brake run for some time, too. I have never seen Batman run at theoretical maximum capacity, and I don't believe it's possible: Despite the never-ending stacking, the ride ops generally seem to be hustling.

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I hear America screaming...

I've seen B:TR running without stacking on almost every visit last season. I don't know when you're going, but it's possible crews just don't hurry as much on slow days.

And yes, it's very possible to dispatch a train within a minute and a half.

-Nate