Mamba at WOF question

I got to visit WOF this past week and I must say I liked the park a lot. Though the coaster count may be small and those that are there arent record breakers they were still fun and some firsts for me. It was the first time I got to experience a Vekoma Boomerang. I dont get what the hype is on those, they are kinda fun if you keep your head over the restraints. And the park kinda gave me a little feeling of a smaller Cedar Point the way they say clear and ready on coasters and the promtness of the employees.

But anyways, Mamba is a neat coaster and this is the one thing I hated about the park and ride. Like every half hour they had to change a wheel on it. It made making it in line and gettting to ride sort of a hassle. What do they do this for? Is it a Morgan coaster thing or just a WOF thing?

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If practice makes perfect but noone is perfect, then why practice.

Polyurethane Wheels + 75mph + Missouri Heat/Humidity = Melted wheels.

Seriously! Missouri heat combined with the wheels going 75mph tends to cause them to melt. On hotter days, which I assume you were visiting on, they will change wheels every so often - they have to - trust me, you don't want to be on Mamba when a wheel completely melts. They had one on a week ago where on the front car it was so melted that it was actually causing a huge vibration that caused the entire front car to "ka-thunk" its way around the track. So to answer you question - preventitive maintenance.

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SW:):)SH Shaddy(president of LEMCCDWBLI)
MidwestInfoGuide.COM

Plus, it makes the worst sound you've ever heard in your life!

Why not find a better wheel composition? You think that changing wheels that often would run up a big bill. Didn't Cedar Point have a whole thing on deciding what material to use for Millennium Force?

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http://coasterplace.web1000.com

Do other Morgan hypers have this problem? I only hear about it affecting Mamba.

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"You know, Skywarp? I can't wait to get back to Cybertron. Earth's so flat."

With SD2k they used larger wheels, because they were afraid they would melt.

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http://said.uc.edu/students/oakleysd/cp/CP.jpg
Now tell me Cedar Point is running out of space.

Boz said:
It was the first time I got to experience a Vekoma Boomerang. I dont get what the hype is on those, they are kinda fun if you keep your head over the restraints.

That's the thing, there is no hype over them.

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"You know its a good ride when you come into the final brake run wiping tears from your eyes."

Skylab said:
Do other Morgan hypers have this problem? I only hear about it affecting Mamba.

As far as I know Mamba is the only Morgan hyper that has that problem. But you have to also remember that there are only 4 total Morgan built hypers. One is on the East Coast, and one is in Minnesota, both in areas where the heat and humidty combined never get to the levels that occur in Missery..err Missouri.

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SW:):)SH Shaddy(president of LEMCCDWBLI)
MidwestInfoGuide.COM

Isn't the 4th Morgan hyper in Japan? Isn't that 4th hyper the one that beat MF height record?

If so, does that one have trouble with the wheels melting?

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Fever

I really enjoy the Simpsons. It's just a shame that I am starting to LOOK like Homer.

While not over 200 feet Steel Eel has an even hotter climate to contend with then Mamba.

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If given the choice I'd choose a hamburger over a hotdog anyday of the week.

We were at WoF yesterday for a few hours in the morning (10am - 1:30pm) and Mamba did break down for about twenty minutes while we were there. I'd say it was around 11:30am when it broke down. Now, it might not have been a wheel that melted (we weren't in line at the time), but one train was on the lift and one was in the station. Is that what they do when they change wheels?

Also, is it even possible for a wheel to melt in 1.5hrs? I'm assuming they would have had new wheels on in the morning, no?

Lastly, don't wheels cost around $200 apiece? I'm surprised WoF hasn't gone the Valleyfair! route and almost completely stop Mamba on the block brakes...that would most certainly save on some wear and tear (not that I want that to happen! Mamba freakin rocks!).

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Top Thrill Dragster -- The most intense, unbelievable, and spectacular fifteen seconds on any coaster, anywhere, ever.

Well I was at WOF yesterday and they had Mamba down for most of the day. They were replacing track on the ride at 2 areas. As far as I know heat+humidity+messed up track = Major wheel problems. They got the ride reopened at 7:00 PM yesterday, and didn't notice any new wheel problems. I only just noticed all the all the messed up wheels on the transfer track. One of them was really torn up.

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Chris Knight
And I'll never, ever, ever, ever, ever make a song about the Sibbie.

They usually do not stop a train on the lift to when they have to change wheels on another train. They will send out empties (if necessary) to get the problem train into the switch area. Not an issue if they are only running one or two.

On a side note, Detonator at night looks horrible. The lights only work about 3/4 of the way up, sporadically below that and the Marquee had 1 light working last night. Couple that with the maybe 8 lift lights (actual stair lights, not the ones below) that are working on Mamba and the pathetic Skyliner lights (which has always been a problem)and that = a bad skyline. At least most of the T-Wolf chasers are working.

I find it hard to believe that they couldn't find a more suitable material to make the wheels out of. Ohio might not be quite as warm as Missouri all the time, but I'm sure it's just as hot on more than a few days, and I've never heard of this problem on MF or TTD, which both should create much more heat on the wheels. That's a pretty signifigant design flaw, atleast IMO, and I'm suprised that they haven't corrected it.

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CP 2K3: 15
"What are you, a dentist? Or a hippie? Or some kind of hippie dentist?" -strong bad

Well even though Millie's wheels get up to 93 mph - Ohio is never as brutally warm for several months on end as it is in Missouri. Now why SE at SWSAntonio doesn't have problems, I have no idea. I do know that it doesn't get up to nearly the speeds that Mamba does, and it's breaked reather heavily on the return run.

Oh and to answer why they don't break Mamba any heavier on the mid-course. For one, it will cause a "ghost train" and secondly it will cause the train to have some difficulty making it all the way back if it is breaked too hard.

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SW:):)SH Shaddy(president of LEMCCDWBLI)
MidwestInfoGuide.COM

The way you made it sound was that the wheels were sometimes changed several times daily, which would have nothing to do with how hot it had been for the past month. I'm sure Ohio gets weather just as hot as Missouri on a number of days.

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CP 2K3: 15
"What are you, a dentist? Or a hippie? Or some kind of hippie dentist?" -strong bad
*** This post was edited by mantis man 8/16/2003 10:48:55 PM ***

Oh, no, they just replace the wheels when they need to. It's not as if all the wheels are melting all the time. Usually it will be one near the front or so -- sorry if I made it sound like all they did was replace wheels all the time.

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SW:):)SH Shaddy(president of LEMCCDWBLI)
MidwestInfoGuide.COM

Im sure the heat has something to do with it, but it may also be something with the relation to the wheels and the track. Possibly the way they move on it or even jerk around. I always thought that on a coaster like Magnum at CP they change multiple wheels every night due to the speed, but I just dont get why on Mamba its so bad.

By the way whats a "ghost train"?

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If practice makes perfect but noone is perfect, then why practice.

A "ghost train" is when the computer that runs the system thinks that there is a train on the circuit when there really isn't, which eliminates one of the "blocks" and thus freezes the system up. That's why WOF doesn't run three trains all that much, because for some reason Mamba thinks there are four trains on the track when there are only three. It was really bad the first year of operation, but they have alleviated some of the problems of the "ghost train" so that it doesn't happen as often now.

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SW:):)SH Shaddy(president of LEMCCDWBLI)
MidwestInfoGuide.COM

I went to WOF opening day and had a great time. Sure it might've been a little cold but all the rides were up and after 6 the park was almost deserted and we got 2 ride Mamba 30 times in a row. I don't know about the wheel melting problem but if you don't want to wait in long lines for Mamba wait to ride it at night or run to it right as the park opens and you can get about 5-10 rides with under 5 min. waits. I'm sure after it cools down at night Mamba will run fine and won't have any problems(besides I think it's better at night anyways).