Intamin Track Ties

What is the point in the extra two rails on the bottom of the track and the track ties on coasters such as MF, WT, and V2's? And why do some have only 3 rails and some only two? I think that the four rail looks awesome, but isn't that a lot of extra steel and cost?

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Elijah Rock.
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Well, coasters like sros at dl have the regular 2 rail intamin track which is cheaper but also requires there to be more supports. The triple rail track is used for forceful parts of the ride like the large drops (1st, second, third,) and the lift hill. Other parts of the ride like the turn to the lift hill have the 2 rail track. The quad rail is used on MF for example, is more expensive but it is better since MF puts more wear and tear on the track than sros does. Also, supports can be farther apart, as noted on the lift hill how they have the towers. Hope this helps!

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It all comes down to stuctural integrity... 4 rails (like the box track on MF and WT) is the strongest, 3 rails is a little less strong, and 2 rails is weaker still.

MF is a great example - most of the time, the track is triangular in shape, (3 rails), but when extra strentgh is required of the track, such as in the lift hill, first drop, overbanked turns, and hills 2 and 3, you see the 3 rail design turn into the 4 rail box structure. The rest of the track (like the bunny hop next to the station and the long flat run into the final overbank) are all triangular again.

Less steel in the track means it's cheaper to make, and it avoids the problem of over-engineering the ride to a fault.

They beat me to it. This was what I said:

It depends on the cost-efficiendy of the type of track. For instance, sometimes it is cheaper to build flat track with many supports than to build V-shaped or full truss track with few supports. Additionally the force the trains will exert on a section of track dictate what type will be used, as triangular and full truss can carry much more of a load than flat track can. For the most part, it's probably what's cheapest.

*** This post was edited by MisterX on 6/12/2002. ***

yea, isnt there something about the intamin track being based on a bridge? due to the design, the track can go longer without any support. such as a bridge. i guess thats why Xcelerator and Impulses can go so much track with little support because the track practically supports itself. something like that...someone correct me if i have this all wrong ;-)

Intamin track looks so expensive to manufacture, all of the cross braces and the welding of each of those braces. Maybe they have some robot that does the welding, but it looks like it would be hard to set up a machine to do that. Every track piece is unique with its curves and bends. It almost has to be welded by hand. Very labor intensive. Maybe I'm wrong?

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
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*** This post was edited by Jeff on 6/13/2002. ***

a great example of 2 and 3 rail variation on one ride is colossus at thorpe park. 3 rail track is used for the lift hill, loop, cobra roll and corkscrews, whereas 2 rail track is used for the rest of the track. its all to do with the strain on the track as people said earlier. if they made the loop with 2 rail track, i dread to think what would happen!

It's not the strain. It's the rigidity. More rails, fewer supports. Fewer rails, more supports. That's the pattern on every last one of these rides.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"