Mitch's Wood Coaster Poll - Results

I was under the assumption that El toro was encased with steele and not just runners for the wheels. but not every coaster has steele on top of the whole track. When looking at El Toro the track looks more like steele track than wood.

http://www.rcdb.com/ig3183.htm?picture=49*** Edited 12/15/2007 11:53:02 PM UTC by raser*** *** Edited 12/15/2007 11:55:24 PM UTC by raser***

That's a construction shot from before they attached the steel. Here's a shot showing them attaching the rails:

http://www.rcdb.com/ig3231.htm?picture=37

I didn't say what I meant to say but I knew there was a difference when I looked at this coaster...

You seem to be having difficulty with the difference between traditional and prefabricated track construction, so I'll try and clear some things up.

On a traditional wooden roller coaster, after the main structure has been erected, lumber is bent across the ledgers to form the track. The track is built up layer by layer, with the seventh and eighth layer being slightly wider to allow for upstop wheels. As in the picture I just linked to, steel strips are laid on the top and sides of these last two layers. In areas of negative forces, steel is also attached to the underside of the lip for the upstops to run on.

In a prefabricated track wooden coaster, the structure is built in much the same fashion as before. However, as the name implies, the track is actually prefabricated off-site and simply bolted to the structure. This is similar to steel coaster.

However, the prefabricated track is still made from wood. Many sheets of wood are bonded together to form one large block of wood. The shape of the track (in all three dimensions) is milled out of this block. When installing, the track does not need to be bent at all. It is milled into the exact shape. Steel rails are located on the track in the exact same places as before, but it's done during fabrication - not on the job site.

Here is some pics of Boulder dash being retracked.

http://www.gadv.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13533&pid=341312&st=0&#entry341312

Boulderdash is a great ride with some nasty pot holes on the out trip. How much are they re-tracking?

^Just curious, when was the last time you rode BD?

Last fall-ish. So over a year ago. There was one point that was back breaking.

Look folks, El Toro is a wooden coaster. Don't be jealous of how smooth Intimins wood coasters are. They got it right, get over it.

---

manofthechurch said:Look folks, El Toro is a wooden coaster. Don't be jealous of how smooth Intimins wood coasters are. They got it right, get over it.

---

Oh Im not jelous at all, Wood coasters aren't supposed to be glass smooth, Thats our whole argument.

Chuck, non wimp but don't like to be rattled too hard either. :)

really! I mean, sure El Toro is a woodie :) But it is definitely more of a 'hybrid' woodie, than say Voyage, Hades, CI Cyclone - the mostly steel framed woodies.

Those hideous Intamin wood coaster trains, probably even less attractive than Morgans. I think the pre-fabricated wood track is great for the mega-woodies. It would be great on SOB, maybe a few others, American Eagle's helix, some parts of the Beast.

I also think the Intamin woodies have nylon or polyurethane coverings on the wheels. This adds to the steel coaster feel.

El Toro is fine... that first drop is very intimidating. But after the extrememly aggressive few hills with 'uplift forces' as it were, that last curvy section by Rolling Thunder is rather lacking. It really looses steam there.

Either way, it's great track for a big woodie. I sure would like to see, in detail, the process for manufacturing the track. I was under the impression the pieces were solid and cut from solid wood. But hearing that it is actually laminated, glued together, then cut? Or laminated in the design? I would like to see more how they're really made.

^And as far as the 'uplift forces' on many new coasters, it's not really 'airtime' since you are totally PINNED to your seat (El Toro, Superman SFNE, one could even bring up the argument of Voyage - but I'll stick with that one!)

True airtime, I think of Cyclops, CI Cyclone, GL Big Dipper, Mindbender, Shockwave, SFGAm Viper (thanks for the reverse springloaded lapbars!)... and a few others.

---

manofthechurch said:
Look folks, El Toro is a wooden coaster. Don't be jealous of how smooth Intimins wood coasters are. They got it right, get over it.

---

Jealous? Of what? How does that emotion fit into any of this?

Well hell! I'm jealous that SFOG has Mindbender and got our Tidal Wave years ago. I'm jealous that Kennywood and Holidayworld are so far away.

But jealous of El Toro!?? I mean, it's pretty much a steel coaster experience. You gotta think, to a 'GP' the Gemini is most def a woodie. It's just that way for some people. The ride, to me, is mediocre at best. The Superman coasters I'd just assume stick to if I want that experience. I think there were attempts to specifically upstage Voyage's stats when El Toro was being built. And those stats work for alotta people!

But geez, Voyage is a in a whole other league than Toro. Toro is basically a stroll through the park when compared to Voyage.

---

eightdotthree said:
Boulderdash is a great ride with some nasty pot holes on the out trip. How much are they re-tracking?

---

They did 30% of the ride last off season and are doing the remaining 70% this off season. They are also refurbishing all 4 trains, the 2 oringinal ones and the 2 they bought from Hershey.

Jealous? Of what? How does that emotion fit into any of this?

Honestly few emotions other than "I enjoyed this coaster and not this one" have any place in this. Certainly no one should take the results of any person's opinion or any poll -- Mitch or otherwise -- as an affront to their opinions, preferences, or beliefs. It always makes me laugh when people claim to be offended when someone doesn't like a beloved coaster, lol.

Despite my opinion of El Toro I certainly have no problem with it being in Mitch's poll. Heck, I don't have a problem with people preferring it over Voyage. We all have different likes and dislikes -- thank god for that! In fact it's those differences that makes going into "geek mode" and discussing this very topic (and others) fun and interesting.

Even if El Toro were to supplant Voyage in the #1 spot in Mitch's poll it won't diminish my love nor my ranking of Voyage. The only thing that will diminish my love and ranking of it or any coaster I rank will be if the actual ride experience diminishes. And I won't know that until the next time I ride. Heck, I hope I find a wooden coaster I like better than Voyage (and Phoenix, the only coaster I rank higher). That's a win-win situation as far as I'm concerned.

That being said, here's how I view the whole "Voyage vs El Toro" discussion:

The Voyage is like a big scoop of rich ice cream made from the finest of ingredients. El Toro is like a big scoop of ice cream made from soybeans. Sure...it might look like ice cream, have the consistency of icecream, even taste like ice cream. And by all means in a poll of "Best Ice Creams" it deserves to be entered and judged.

But it's not real ice cream...and when I have a craving for a scoop of double chocolate fudge chunk I know what parks serve it ;)

edited for grammar and spelling...d'oooph!

*** Edited 12/18/2007 1:45:48 AM UTC by Mamoosh***

^You got some good points there Moosh! Good way of putting it.

I guess it just 'baffles' me that stuff like Raging Bull and Nitro can rank higher than stuff like Mindbender. Or that a relatively new coaster like Shivering Timbers (which is just a shade of it's original self) can rate higher than something like the Thunderbolt or even GL Big Dipper.

And to be honest, alot of it is fear I guess. When people are mad it's usually fear based. Afraid of losing great coasters (well, in my book) to stuff like B&M's, etc.

So what if Raging Bull or Nitro rate higher than Mindbender? It has zero affect on how much you enjoy the ride.

^You're right. And in one respect its better for me! I rode Mindbender 15 then 10 times w/o leaving the station last year... meanwhile there was a line for Goliath.

I guess since I like something so much, I take it personal when people put em down or blow em off. Every year I hear people walk by Whizzer "that's a baby ride." It's just goofy.

^ But compared to the other rides it IS a baby ride!
I am pretty sure that in the early seventies the Schwarzkopf Speedracers were considered to be thrilling but also a lot of fun. Today people are put off by the seating position and the fact that the rides are actually less thrilling than newer ones. Of course they are still fun, but todays thrill and fun standards are met by B&M hypers and Intamin Megas. And there is nothing wrong about that.

Of course it is sad if Schwarzkopfs great rides are being forgotten or disregarded, but in the end this is just nostalgia.
Back then the Speedracers were not considered "real" coasters since they were not made of wood. I guess that Mr. Stengel is really laughing about this for nearly 40 years now.

Mind Bender isnt even a fun ride. That is the point here. You cannot base a ride on lists or polls. It is how you view that particular coast. Personally, I think Mindbender, Goliath @SFMM, and The hulk are three of the worst coasters out there but people, for some reason, claim they like them. I think it is because these coasters are at their home park, however they really are terrible rides.

Respect other peoples opinions.