Beast, first time in 24 years, no brakes on drop!

Blast! I knew I should have driven down to Worlds of Fun yesterday! A brakeless ride on the Timber Wolf is about as rare as a brakeless ride on the Beast. This weekend is probably the last time that'll happen all season. I'm so jealous of you rcthemepark36! The Timber Wolf just isn't that great with the drop brake on. It cuts out too much speed. Lucky for me, I got approximately 200 rides on it before the brake was added. I just think about them good ole days.... :)
-Matt in Iow***

I didn't feel any brakes on Timber Wolf when I rode it at the end of July last year. It's one of my favorite woodies. I was shocked to hear that many people don't think much of it. I'm sure the brakes would ruin it somewhat. Hopefully it will be brakeless the one or two times I get down to Kansas City this year !

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Current favorite coasters:
Wooden: 1) Beast 2) Raven 3) Son of Beast 4) The Boss 5) Timber Wolf
Steel: 1) Raging Bull 2) Millennium Force 3) V2 4) Wild Thing 5) Mr. Freeze
Visit: http://www.dynamicgroove.com

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Shaggy said:

It appeared to me that the new braking system may not be lining up the lap bar unlocking devices properly. I even got stuck and had one of those infamous *bzzzzzz......bzzzzzzz.....bzzzzzzz* drills where the ride op has to get the driver to hit the unlock button on the panel a few times. If they had just given me the nails, I could have just released myself and saved them the hassle ;-)

Shaggy

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Shaggy
A.K.A. John K.

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Shaggy, Shaggy, Shaggy, you know better then to do that, plus I dont think you could do it sitting in the train.

The only time I've gotten a brakeless ride on the Timber Wolf since they added the break on the first drop (around 1995 or so) was during the weekend of the ACE event for the opening of Mamba a few years ago. They turned the break on at the end of the weekend. I believe this more for breaking in the trains for the season than just because ACEers were there. Anyway, everytime I've been back since then, the break has been on. I don't know why it would be off on some days and not others except for certain weather conditions maybe. Anyway, the Timber Wolf is totally different with the brake off. It's more like Ghostrider--fast and furious, but not quite as fuious as Ghostrider.
-Matt In I***

I rode the Beast at 4 today and they were running 2 trains. I would say that the only brake that was real noticeable and i didn't want there was the one at the end of the run out, right before the second tunnel. I did have to look back at the first hill after I noticed we flew down it faster than I have ever flown down it before. It is awesome not having the brakes on that first hill. I will miss, however, the days when you would fly over that bump after the first hill after a good rain storm. Get those skid brakes a little wet and they didn't work as well.

Shaggy, the lap bars are released by solenoids powered by electrical contacts on the side of the train. Each car has a set of contact brushes, plus the cars are all wired together in parallel (those cords between the cars) so if you heard buzzing, the bars were trying to release.
The problem I usually have (typically on Racer) is that the bar is down so far that I can't push it down far enough to release the latch pawl. The electric ratchet bars are a bit of a pain anyway; one of these days Kings Island is going to switch over to the new mechanical bars.....

I rode The Beast today. The first drop is fantastic now, but I was less than pleased with the second hill and downright disappointed with the tunnel after the brake shed. I hope they are still tweaking these brakes 'cause right now they 'grab' awfully hard.
Trip report coming to rec.roller-coaster and to my web page within the next day or two.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I rode Saturday (4-13) and had a blast. The first drop was beautiful! Did anyone find themselves saying "come on, come on, come on" as the train entered the brake shed (come on referring to "lets get through here w/o slowing down) ? :) For those who rode, you know how it doesn't get trimmed until almost near the end of the shed instead of almost instantly like before. Yes, it was trimmed, but I was still very pleased.

Another find: Did anyone notice the seemingly "burst" of speed after the train went through a trim? I only rode once this past Saturday and sat in my favorite part of the train- last car, back row. I especially noticed this on the drop into the helix. The train is trimmed somewhat nearing the end of the dropand as soon as we were off of it, I could literally feel the speed pick up instantly. It wasn't like a launching force at all, just very noticeable.

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OHIcOaster
"Back seat, no hands."

I was out there on Sunday (4/14) and got my first ride. I totally love the first drop. I was blown away by the speed that it had going up through that tunnel/turn at the bottom. I was so pumped coming up to the lil ravine drop, thinking " wow this is going to be some decent air!" But those dern brakes cut any chance of that. I felt that they were grabbing WAY too much. Well atleast the helix is still body shattering. :) I'll be glad when the park is open late enough to get a dark ride!

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Lotus Notes suck!!!

OHIcOaster there's a perfectly good explanation for that: It's just gravity that you feel...but notice in particular the second hill trims are located on the uphill side of the hill, and are very powerful. As the last fin comes out of the trim, the train's mass is all on the downhill, so the acceleration is going to be immediate there. It's an interesting effect, certainly.

The other thing about those new brakes is that the braking force is proportional to the speed of the brake fin and independent of the mass of the train. Which means that regardless of the load, the exit speed from the brake should be consistent, but a lightly loaded train will get a very sudden burst of braking while a heavier train will get more gradual braking.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I also was at the park yesterday.

What do I think of the trims?

To be honest, I like them a lot better than the skids. Yes, the days of speed up the second lift past the first 'point' may be over, but I personally think my rides I got yesterday were among the best I have gotten.

I rode twice in the front, and twice in the back. While riding in the front, the trimming is not as noticable. While riding in the back, it is more noticable, but not all that bad IMO.

I am one of the few people that I know that doesn't think trims 'ruin' a ride because I can almost always find something positive about a ride regardless of how it's run. After 4 rides on The Beast yesterday, I can easily say that I still enjoy it and it remains a favorite.

I did notice that the new magnetic trims can't be adjusted like the ole' skids so the ride should remain more consistant now than ever.

The speed going down the first drop is amazing now! I noticed a huge difference. The 7 sets of trims that the train rolls over before the second hill do slow the train a bit, but depending on where you sit, you may or may not notice a big difference. The run into the shed is a lot different that it used to be. There are only trims at the very end so you pick up some serious speed while going through that area. The trims at the end do slow the train once again, but I did notice the next parts of the ride to be more enjoyable than before. Lost of new track provided a excellent ride.

There are trims on the drop after the second lift, but the cool thing about them is once the train passes through them, it feels like a small LIM boost due to gravity taking over again. The train enters the tunnel with the same great force it has done in the past.

The last set of trims happen while soaring down the final brake run. These trims slow the train down to a crawl before hitting the new pinch brakes. If you look down at the track while in the station before you ride, you can see the new brakes. It makes it look different indeed.

I have heard some folks complain that there are trims located in areas where the trim were not. This is NOT true. All the new trims are located in areas where the skids used to be.

-Sean (who never really understood the reason behind getting upset with trims) F.