More trains for The Beast...?

Why aren't there more than 3 trains on The Beast?

There are enough blocks...5

Station
lift
brake run
2nd lift
final brake run

Can the crew just not get the intervals down?

Nope. Won't be done. They should but won't. No gonna say anymore.

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You can't run and you can't hide...The Beasts at PKI

In the old days, the Beast ran four trains, each with 5x4 bench coaches. Sometime between now and then, probably before the Paramount takeover, they got 3 three trains with 6x3 bench coaches. Why the change? Probably because of an overshot on the skid brakes that resulted in a train bump. Same reason goes for the extremely liberal intervals.

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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

Why we are on the topic of the Beast, why did they ever put in those dumb lap bars? What was wrong with the other ones? I mean, it could be an ACE classic, if it wasnt for that damn lap bar. Why replace a good thing? I personally loved the air time.

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tom
Webmaster@ http://www.islandguide.8m.com

I think to be an ACE classic, it also would have to get rid of the seat dividers and head rests, and also have a hand-operated brake. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The qualifications for ACE Coaster Classic mainly lie in the trains. No individual lap bars, no seat dividers, no headrests, no assigned seating. Braking has nothing to do with it. An intersting fact if you look at the list. Any PTC junior coaster (Beastie, Zach's Zoomer, WL Sea Dragon, etc) are all on the list. IMHO, there's something wrong with that classification system if all PTC juniors, some less than ten years old, make the list where other classics like the KW Racer or The Beast aren't offically honored.

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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

I don't know, Scott...I don't have any problem at all bestowing the honor on the Stricker's Grove Teddy Bear, even though it openbed just a few years ago. I wish the Tornado had been eligible...and the Knoebels Twister was supposed to be but got changed at the 11th hour. There is something to be said for a ride that is operated in a more-or-less classic fashion, versus one that has been fully modernized. ....

As for The Beast...
Yeah, it could probably be set up for four trains, provided they imported a crew from Hersheypark or Cedar Point to run the thing. But just looking at the way the train comes into the station from the brake run (it takes more than a minute from the time one train clears the station until the next train arrives in the station) you can see that they simply do not trus the skid brakes, and so they always keep at least two sets between trains. And converting The Beast to fin brakes would require extensive track modifications, as the track has gauging bolts that run between the rails which appear to be high enough to crash into the brake fin if one were installed.

If you start seeing steel gauging brackets (as on Mean Streak or Son of Beast) appearing on The Beast, then perhaps they are contemplating a change to fin brakes. But I don't see that happening anytime soon.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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