IAAPA: Close up of The Gravity Group's engineered precut track

Jeff:

we don't really know what the longevity of the vertical wood is

I believe if it is longer than 4 hours it is recommended to seek medical attention.

PhantomTails:

For those are not familiar, GCI's solution is fully steel track that is comparable to RMC's I-Box track. This is interesting to me because GCI, the company largely associated with the modern renaissance of the wood coaster, is now actively involved in campaigning parks to renovate their wood coasters into steel rides.

Don't forget GCI also went a route of offering Ipe wood many years ago, which is somewhat in the middle of what TGG is doing and a traditional wooden stack. Ipe being a more hard, expensive and difficult to work lumber in the field (requires pre-drill and more labor compared to SYP wood planking).

Quick look shows Ipe offering over double the modulus of rupture, crushing strength and a hardness of nearly 5x of southern yellow pine.

On their newer installs, most use Ipe in select locations only, but some rides (Texas Stingray) used Ipe across the entire course to reduce maintenance and keep a smoother ride for a longer period of time. It cost a bit more $$$ though...

I know the Ipe swap is not really comparable to what TGG is doing per-say, but same idea I guess, as an upcharge option if parks desire to reduce maintenance in the long term... Depending how much you want to spend (assuming left to right is $$ to $$$$$).

GCI/TGG Standard Stack -> GCI IPE Stack Isolated -> GCI 100% IPE Stack -> TGG Engineered Precut -> GCI Titan Track

SteveWoA:

Magnum > GCI/TGG Standard Stack -> GCI IPE Stack Isolated -> GCI 100% IPE Stack -> TGG Engineered Precut -> GCI Titan Track

Fixed that just for you.

Magnum will forever be just a severely over-hyped mine train (in an beautiful location fit for a much better ride)... But I forgive you for your wrong opinion, anyway.

One day, at some point in the future, I will rejoice when that thing is removed. IT CAN'T LAST FOREVER!

^Gosh I love Magnum. Nothing but love for it's roller-coaster-feel of unpredictable wildness...

Shoutout to Absimilliard for mentioning Le Monstre. In the day when so much of the same is the norm, so nice to still have a coaster built with a crazy unpredictable pace and suprise moments. It's ok if parts of it are slow too, that's part scenic railway thrown in! And that misbanked part...

I love it but I wouldn't be upset if they replaced it with a modern Vekoma with a similar out and back layout. Magnum XL TWO if you will.

cmwein, I was referring to the process of building the precut track, not necessarily what's going on with the Voyage. But I think you're right; they're using that stuff in the high-stress areas at the bottoms of the drops, and hopefully also fixing the washboarding going up the second and third hills.

My understanding is that the Titan track was at least in part due to the problems Skyline had with the original Skywarp rides...apparently well named as the heat from welding would distort the track components in the fabrication process and was part of the reason the first Skywarps offered a somewhat compromised ride. By switching to a riveted design, they not only solved the warping problem, they also made it possible to fabricate the track sections in house because you don't need a highly skilled welder to squeeze lots of rivets.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I had also heard the riveted track design was a way Skyline got around RMC patents as well for the similar track style (I-Box vs. Titan). True or not I don't know for certain, though.