backwards gemini

i heard that next year they will be turnning one of the trains on gemini backwards, can anyone verify this for me.

See what you guys started? :)

wow, it's like the sinking magnum all over again...:)

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UCSigep
"Did you make a copy? Because if you made a copy, we could watch the copy."

The secret is out... we started that rumor to demonstrate how quickly crap can spread and people will believe it.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

The whole GTTP/Coasterbuzz team was in on it from the beginning? I love it :) The threads in question.
Picked up here
http://www.guidetothepoint.com/thepoint/cpplace/thread.asp?ForumID=1&TopicID=4534

Started here
http://www.guidetothepoint.com/thepoint/cpplace/thread.asp?ForumID=4&TopicID=4558

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Joe(Who catches on early)
Lifetime Force Count-11
2001 Gemini Count-5

*** This post was edited by Joe E. on 5/7/2001. ***

Did anyone really need more proof?

And boy, does it ever spread. Someone messaged me on AIM the other day, out of the blue, asking if I had information on Gemini running backwards... :)

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

And here I thought GTTP was a reliable source of CP info! Shame on you guys! ;)

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

It Would be Kinda Cool tho...It would Put a new twist on that coaster

supposedly, you can't just turn those arrow trains around and let them run like you can with PTC's. CP has been asked many times about it and they have really looked down on it each time.

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Don't touch the watch.

Someday we'll find out that CF officials are starting these rumors through subliminal dream hypnosis of Coasterbuzzers and GTTPers just to get their kicks, you'll see. ;)

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Po!nt of View: A different look at Roller Coasters.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/index.html

I just figured they were being funny and actually Gemini (or rather the person w/ that user name) ran backwards.

You just can't turn a PTC around for same reason you just can't turn an Arrow mine train around. Brake fins and restraint mechanisms have to be considered.

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

So Tim, why is it that some PTC trains have been turned around? The ones that come to my mind are the PTCs on the American Eagle (SFGAm) and the Great American Scream Machine (SFoG). I was under the impression that the brakes and corresponding fins were all located down the centerline of the train/track. At least that is what I have seen on coasters like Wild One, Racer @ Rebel Yell. It seems like turning PTC is really simple. What is the difference with Arrow Mine Trains? (Rideman, feel free to jump in...)
lata,
jeremy
--who really feels like bugging out of work and doing laps on S:ROS....

Some of us started this rumor at the Red Cross golf tourney as a joke. Sorry. It does, however, demonstrate how easy it is to make a rumor a fact.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

PTC mounts brake fins on one of the two support beams on the underside of the coach. These are roughly 1/3 of the way on on each side. Now that I think about it a little, you could turn around a PTC train and just switch the brake fin. Most modern trains' restraints are popped from both sides, so the fin would be the only thing you'd have to change. Oh Dave, Mr. "I have a set of 2 bench PTC train blueprints", please jump in here.

Mine trains have manual release pedals and restraint releases on the bottoms of the trains that aren't down the middle. I think the fins are however. Moving a brake fin is relatively easy compared to re-engineering the restraint mechanism. So my question is how did SDC to it on ThuNderaTion?

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

So Tim, does that mean that the trains on Gemini are limited to the side of the track that they currently run on? That is to say, can you run the red trains on the blue track and vice versa. If you can, then it wouldn't be that hard to turn one around. If you cant then maybe you could turn BOTH sides backwards then SWITCH tracks. (Did that make any sense?)
lata,
jeremy
--patiently awaiting his first ride on inimeG

Arrow attaches the brake fin to the car spine beam, so it is right down the center. The dogs are attached to that beam as well, with the chain dog on one side and the anti-rollback on the other. I don't know if the dogs are identical or not, but even if they are, they might not function properly if reversed...there might not be enough clearance forward of the pivot, or there may not be a required limit stop.
At Silver Dollar City, on Thunderation, they took a 6-car train and reversed cars #3 and #4 if I remember correctly. Well, Car #1 has only one hitch, so it needs to be on the front. #2 has a pair of dogs, so it has to go forward. #5 has a pair of dogs, so it has to go forward. And #6 has only one hitch and a bumper on the back, so it needs to go at the end running forward.

(Dave grabs the packet that Scott just alluded to)
It appears that the chain clutch is a symmetrical assembly with the chain dog and two safety dogs mounted on a single casting. There is a note that the part is normally installed under the back of the car, but can be installed under the front of the car as well. To run backwards, it would make the most sense to put the chain clutch backwards at the front of the car.
The only other issue I can think of with the PTC is lap bar release...but many PTC trains have electric lap bars with one busbar on each side of the train, so all it would take would be to reverse the polarity of the busbars in the station. The mechanical lap bars come in two flavors...with the side plungers, those are on both sides, so that would be no problem; the little wart mechanism, though, would be all wrong if the train were backwards.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I don't even think it would be a good idea to run the Gemini backwards (Though I know this is just a rumor), half the fun is being able to see the hills that you are cresting, and if you are going backwards, how do you know who won the race?

dood, this thread went from stupid rumor to PTC train blueprints! My head hertz! ;)

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