Kumba- Problems

Kumba is one of my favorite all time rides, but it looks like it may be in bad disrepair. I was there last wendsday and it was shut down the entire day, and possibly for another day. Also, I saw alot of rust on the track. Anyone with info on the status?

ooooh, rust on the rails. I think its about to fall apart ;)

-----------------
What's love...it should be about us, it should be about trust!

i often wonder about the rails on that ride. they look really rusted, more than any B:TR ive seen. can they replace pieces of the track? what happens if it gets so bad it just starts to crack and rot away? Im sure the climate has a big affect on it.

-----------------
ROCK! www.fuzerocks.com

This is more than just a bit of rust.. entire sections of track are mostly covered my it... it's not pretty. There was a bit of themeing added to the queqe though, which looked nice.

I was there at thursday, and I asked the employees about the reason of the technical difficulties.. They sad: We don't know at all... but I didn't believe them... So WHAT'S GOING ON?

I have also heard reports of it becomming very rugh. Is this true?

I wouldn't worry too much guys... All coasters are down once in a while. And, while I can't tell you why it was down on this particular occasion ( I suspect simply some annual maintence), I can tell you it is still running up to par on a regular basis. I was there a few weeks ago (See TR) and experienced one of the smoothest rides I've ever taken on it.

-----------------
-FCR
I'd Rather Be Riding Roller Coasters

To answer the issue of rust on the tracks on Kumba it is also on Montu. It is due to the natural salty air and high humidity levels. Also moisture is very abundant in the mornings here in Florida. Also the running rails are bare metal any moisture at all will cause a little rust. There are some spots where the track joints come together that you will see are a little more rusty. Those would be spots that were ground a little to smooth out a little bump. If you have been on some of the new BandMs you will notice sections that look like somebody worked those small 1 foot sections with a ginder. It is true, it is surface rust but it is not as harmful as you would think. You should see when the rain comes. They don't shut the ride down because of the rain but because of the rusty water that comes off the track. As for Kumba being down for a couple of days I would think small technical problems. Remember these coasters run everyday of ther lives.They will break down from time to time. Plus mentioned above could be just some annual maintainance. As for the rust. If you would like to see some rust go to Six Flags Over Texas and get a good look at the Mr Freeze tower. It has rust all over the supports and bolts. Thats all I got

See ya upsidedown

Johnny

-----------------
Upsidedown's Website
http://johnnyupsidedown.com

*** This post was edited by Johnny Upsidedown on 3/17/2002. ***

Kumba was closed when I went in November. It made me really made because I was looking forward to it alot. Now whenever I hear about Kumba it makes me think about how I could have ridden it, but didn't get to.

It's rusty, but it's not hurting anything.

The good news is that the new rides come with painted rails, and since Cedar Point painted Raptor (with the blessing of Walter and Claude, apparently), it's perfectly fine to pain them.

-----------------
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"

Kumba is fine. Remember it is one of the oldest B&M coasters around, so it is not going to run perfectly. Remember, part of what makes a ride smooth is not just the design of the trains, but also the design of the layout. If transitions are tight, there will be rough spots no matter what is done. Look at all the forceless B&Ms out there now -- ultra drawn-out transitions, and smooth as glass because of it. The rust on the track is normal. All metal rusts eventually and if you were to take apart a support at its joint even after a year of operation and look inside, the whole thing would be covered in rust. It is nothing to worry about, unless it becomes unsightly, and then it will be painted. -Allan

-----------------
Allan Hamby - FLCC Member.

I for one don't understand why so many people think of B&M rides as forceless. If anything, they provide many different forces. I know people who thnk B&M are too smooth, yet complain about Arrow coasters being too rough. I guess I haven't reached that level of being picky yet?

As for Kumba being down, my guess is it is minor mechanical situation. Kumba runs for most of the year and is expected to have some down time now and then. As for as it being rough, I have riddem it around 300 times and never have I gotten a rough ride on it. That's not to say it doesn't happen, but I haven't gotten one.

-Sean

If might be down for anual maintence, or it might have been in November, as SFGA2001. Either now or November it was probably down for mainence, and the other time it was down for technical problems.

And I must have been extremely lucky. People all say it's rough, when I went on it in January it felt as smooth as SFGAm's B:TR to me, and everyone in my group.

-----------------
Webmaster of Travis's Websites of Infinite Boredom!
Less than 2 months until SFGAm opens!

TrBiggar, they said it was closed due to "Technical difficulties." Then again, I wouldn't really beleive those people, as the only ones that really know are mechanics.

They were welding sections of track when I was there last Wed. The spot I could see was were the peices of track were joined together.

*** This post was edited by Joe E. on 3/17/2002. ***

I have a possible answer to roughness...

BIG OR FAT HEADS.

I rode Kumba in January this year, and athough a little viberant (which you can expect) I did not find it rough....yet one of my friends said it was rough and my uncle couldnt stand it saying it was one of the worst coasters hed been on with roughness and head banging (comparing it to, believe it or not Shockwave at SFGAm). Yet I had not one touch to the harness. Difference? Heads. I have a skinny head, my friend and uncle are heavy and their heads are wider than mine....could that be the problem?? I dont know...I dont get headbanging on almost all coasters...maybe cause I naturally ride in a way that I dont do it? I dont know...whatever it is...i usually dont have to fight to not hit at all....so maybe thats the problem.....Head size.

..and hey Sean, I love B&Ms a ton too, and dont call them forceless....and even if they "were" I ride them for fun, not "measuring forces in my head" as we go along or anything......I guess we will have to go along and keep on enjoying these coasters and not fit in with the group of "picky whiners" which seems to be 80%+ of this board.

Enough complaining! Have fun for God Sakes!!!!

-----------------
SFGAm Viper

Almost every coaster is checked every day for problems. Maybe they found one. Rides close all of the time for problems like hairline cracks, chain problems, or anything that could prevent the ride from opperating safely. Don't complain about a ride being closed because it is more than likely closed for the safety of the park guests (like you). It's common sence, really.

Painted rails are nice and fine until the wheel trails start to show.

-----------------
.:| Brandon Rodriguez |:.
http://www.coasters2k.com

As a sidenote, most of the time the crews DON'T know what is wrong with the ride. Heck, sometimes it takes the mechanics a while to figure it out. But that's the standard answer, "technical difficulties," because if the crews said "wed don't know," then guests would start getting pissed off about it, and it just sounds bad anyway.

Frank1979 said:
I was there at thursday, and I asked the employees about the reason of the technical difficulties.. They sad: We don't know at all... but I didn't believe them... So WHAT'S GOING ON?

You know what the strange thing is? 99% of the time, when a person who works at a park is asked a question and says they don't know they answer, they actually don't. Parks have many employees, and so they are split up into departments, the maintenance guys are in a different department from the dudes who push buttons or pull levers. Sure, occasionally they might have been informed by an operations manager or through conversations with other employees found out the reasons for a rides closure.

Rust really isn't that bad, other than for the eyes. If you touch the rusty track, it doesn't crumble in your hands like a tin you find in the compost heap in the back yard. If you see some coaster track before its painted, often it is brown, it is nothing more than a little bit of oxidation on the surface, the rust you see on aging coasters is caused by the paint thining or coming off all together in places and then a bit of the rust being exposed and some added to it.

However having said that, I find it really eye souring to see such a generally beautiful thing really ruined because of a bit of rust that can be kept under control with a bit of a touchup on the paint in sections that are getting brown.

Just see what my homepark, Dreamworld has let Thunderbolt degrade to:
http://www.totalthrills.com/~richard/images/thunderbolt.jpg

And as a side note, one of the dozens of reasons for this rides roughness - if you look at the connection for the straight and curved track up to the lift, you'll see the joint quite clearly on the rails - basically, their is a lump of welding all around the track at every joint, which is a lot. Now think how much it makes you bump when you go over a little lump on a skateboard or something with small wheels. Imagine that strapped to a plastic seat unable to move, and speed yourself up to around 87km/hr (55mph) and you'll have the crux of this roughness problem worked out.

*** This post was edited by auscoasterman on 3/18/2002. ***