GASM loop track?

In this photo.....

http://www.xtremecoasters.com/photo_gallery/albums/gadv03-25-05/PICT0098.JPG

What's up with the track in the loop? I've never seen Arrow track like that before.

(Apologies if this is a stupid question, I couldn't find anything about it in a search.)

It is probably supports for working on it. This isn't a stupid question. That is a good point.

Yeah, that's the ladder so the staff can get up there and inspect it.

I think he means the modified tie section of the track. IIRC GASM was modified to include this track in it's vertical loops, as was the case with Shockwave.

Yeah, I meant the ties. Is it to increase strength in the loop? It just looks strange...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe pkidelirium is referring to the diagonal braces between each tie on the upper-half of the loop's track. They are just that--extra bracing to help absorb the positive g-forces exerted by the train. The trains pretty much slam into the upper-half of the loops on GASM...which makes for a wonderfully intense ride.

Viper at SFMM has that as well in the loops.

They were placed on all three of the "Six Flags Arrow Looping Giants"

SFMM had the loops replaced with new track that had those extra ties in them. I wonder if they did the same for GASM or if they welded them in there.

I think the diagonal ties are for extra support. But why hasn't anyone commented on the sexy paint job?

True Arrow Godliness ;)

~ Rob Willi

The track was actually replaced with the newer tie design. Someone had mentioned here before that the old loop track was visible in a boneyard at SFGAdv.

And yes, the new paint looks HOT! Didn't they paint B&RTC and possibly Medusa as well? Top that off with BTR being painted last year, plus the brand new Kingda Ka (obviously new paint) and SFGAdv looks awesome...

---

ShaneDenmark said:
The track was actually replaced with the newer tie design. Someone had mentioned here before that the old loop track was visible in a boneyard at SFGAdv.

---

You could see them from the parachute tower and from the top of GASM. They were put into the Safari for the monkeys to climb on and around...

---

ShaneDenmark said:
And yes, the new paint looks HOT! Didn't they paint B&RTC and possibly Medusa as well? Top that off with BTR being painted last year, plus the brand new Kingda Ka (obviously new paint) and SFGAdv looks awesome...

---

B&RTC got a new paint job as well, but none for Medusa yet. The park is starting to look very bright, don't forget Rolling Thunder got new paint two years ago as well.

I don't know why you would need extra support on the loop... that's where the least amount of force on the ride occurs.

First-hand knowledge here. The answers have already been provided.

The 100+' tall loops of ARROW's SHOCK, GASM and VIPER had to be replaced because of stress fractures and wobbliness.

Also, NJ's loop topper IS/WAS a monkey's heaven at the Safari.

Ken *** Edited 3/29/2005 1:42:05 AM UTC by CastleKing***

On most if not all steel coastrs, Even the small seemingly forceless ones. They tend to develop stress cracks and every rehab they are found and welded.

As is the case with the big arow loopers, The track has been reinforced to cut down on the wear and maint in the loops.

Contrary to what was mentioned earlier, there is a great deal of force and side to side sway aplied to these loops.

Even though the speed of the train seems slow, it is going through a tight radius pushing hard on the road rail amplifiying the force through the curve of the loop and entering the loop on one side and exiting the otherside which pushes the loop side to side. Does it make sense now explained this way?

Viper at MM also has some different reinforcement on the cross ties at the top curved section of the first drop where the train pushes hard to the right.

On a side note... did anyone see the red train/cars sitting outside in the parking lot, near GASM? It might've been a Shockwave train, but I didn't know if Shockwave had a red train or not.

Does anyone know why this modification wouldn't be necessary for a ride like Vortex at PKI?

The modification probably isn't necessary on any of them.

It's a "pay me now or pay me later" sort of issue. Either buy the reinforced track sections, or do a bit of welding. Six Flags opted for the new track sections, Kings Island (for instance) did not.

There are a lot of issues that go into making the decision to modify a ride or not. I don't know the details of the parks' maintenance programs, but I know they are almost certainly *different*. It may be that Paramount decided they can do a lot of welding before they recoup the cost of rebuilding the loops on Vortex. A lot of times it comes down to how often does it break, how hard is it to fix, and can you do it in-house.

We all make these kinds of decisions. A perfect example came up when I bought a set of microphones for a television studio. One option cost $150 and required a AA battery which would last for six months. The other option was $250 but required no batteries. I decided that I could buy a lot of AA batteries for $100.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Yes. The shockwave trains were sitting in the parking lot during the late winter.

---

CastleKing said:

Also, NJ's loop topper IS/WAS a monkey's heaven at the Safari.

---

so THATS where that loop track came from in the monkey/chimp area!! haha....my buddy and i drove thru there in September, i had never been in there before, and i noticed the track there in the field...thats funny :) and yea, those monkeys freakin loved it, they were playin all over it, lol:)