Hersheypark Wildcat (new trains)

I've only heard positive things about the change. Not sure who is making negative or indifferent comments... I certainly haven't heard any.

I guess I have Roar West on my mind. I just rode it at Spring Con over the weekend...what a tame ride. I don't remember Roar East being that tame.

^Roar east is becoming almost unbearable with the PTC's & the added wear to the track & trains after 8,going on 9 years is certainly starting to take it's toll seeing as how the green train was sidelined all day saturday with a line going clear down the ramp for once.

I just hope SFA will take notice of the positive change that was made to WC this year & put in an order for the 08 season for a new set of trains....heaven knows the ride would certainly benefit greatly by doing so & what better way to celebrate it's 10th anniversary?

I hope that's not true of Roar west. I'll be riding that thing in a few weeks and I'm expecting it to be better than Roar east, which I happen to like a lot!

^It's the tamest of all the GCI's in the US. It doesn't suck by any means, but it's far from being a "Great Coaster".

That's a shame to hear. I always envisioned Roar west being one of the great U.S. wood coasters that I have yet to ride.

If Hershey sees a jump in ridership and less in maintainence on the Wildcat this year they made the right decision.

As for earlier GCII coasters being tamer they were designed with a different loss compared to today.

^ Considering they were in need of a major lap bar upgrade (as I wonder what that's all about), why did LC pick them up? Aren't they still going to need a lap bar upgrade?

That's probably considerably cheaper than buying two new PTC trains though.

---

coasterpunk said:
As for earlier GCII coasters being tamer they were designed with a different loss compared to today.

---

CPunk, do you know/can you say when the rate was adjusted? What was the first ride design to use it?

-Steelforceguy *** Edited 5/9/2007 12:03:01 AM UTC by SteelForceGuy***

I'm guessing the new loss factor was calculated once the MF trains started being used and were running faster or slower than they predicted based on the old "loss" that was based on the PTC trains.

I think the true tale will be told by the size of the line.

^ Worked that way for Flight(s) of Fear...

...and I suspect the same wil be true for Da 'Cat (maybe to a somewhat lesser extent...Hershey has other good wood, whereas PKI really didn't have *other* great steel coasters).

And Matt, I really DO believe the losses would be reduced using the MFlyers.

I'd think so too, Bill, especially on the pre-2007 MF trains which were heavier.

What made them heavier? Has the overall design been cleaned up a bit from a mechanical standpoint, or are lighter materials now used for certain parts? Wouldn't that negate the advantages of having the same trains for Wildcat and Lightning Racer since they aren't going to be all the same?

All I know is that one or two of the GCI posters (Coasterpunk and the interns) mentioned the MF design was modified (lightened) so that the trains would weigh the same as a 6-car/2-bench PTC train. I'm not sure if this was done only for the Wildcat's trains, but I got the impression all of the new MF trains will be this way.

I'm sure much of the parts are still interchangable, but the the new Wilcat trains had to be modified in order to maintain the same dynamics as the lighter PTC trains. I would think the heavier MF trains would run faster on Wildcat, so I wish they hadn't been modified. ;)

I'm a bit surprised that the original Millennium Flyers weigh more than PTCs since I was always under the impression the PTCs were heavier than they had to be. Not to mention that the MF's also seemed to feel a little lighter!

Yeah, me too. And another thing I recall about PTC trains... I believe I read Tom Rebbie saying that the 2-bench cars actually weigh more than the 3-bench cars and when asked why that was, he replied it was a trade secret or something to that effect.

Can I guess that the couplings are where most of the weight differential came from. That would also *kinda* explain why the MFlyers weigh more...and probably even why MFlyers FEEL lighter - the weight is in the bottom - "junk in the trunk", LOL.

It could have a lot to do with weight distribution. I doubt that Millennium Flyer bodies weigh more than PTC bodies, even if you bunch two MF bodies together to make two rows of seats. The chassis design could be a major factor in how much each weighs.