More useless SOB speculation [news]

---

millrace said:
Look at Mean Streak, another problem woody basking in extreme mediocrity (at best).

---

Mean Streak runs fine these days... it's just really freakin' boring. I've had "good" rides even without the trims, and it's still not an interesting ride.

Which is pretty sad. I remember when Mean Streak ran good AND was pretty exciting. Maybe it was because I was a "green" enthusiast back in 1993 but I recall liking the coaster. A lot.

Anyone notice RideMan himself is an expert source in that story?

How come they never call me? I work in the same darn building!! Oh wait, that's why.

Den: Actually, when the reporter called on Tuesday, I wondered if you'd had anything to do with it... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Nope, they found you all by themselves this time! I didn't even know that story was being written.

What about the possibility of giving it the "Gemini" treatment? Tear out the track bed and replace it with tubular steel track. Probably very costly, but at least it would be a smooth ride. *** Edited 7/21/2006 7:41:33 PM UTC by richmmo***

Again, how would that be cost effective opposed to just tearing it down and building something people want to ride?

Some guy named Dave Althoff was interviewed in that article. I wonder who that is... :)

---

richmmo said:
What about the possibility of giving it the "Gemini" treatment?

---

If CF is willing to go that far and spend the money, they might as well rip the thing out and start over.

Paramount spent $21 million to build it, and spent (I'm assuming) millions more to try and improve it. I am just wondering when CF says enough is enough and throws the towel in.

I'd think that CF's decision to keep or remove it will be based on numbers. How long were the que's for it, how many SOB t-shirts do they sell.

It'd be kind of rough to pitch a 21 million investment. Could a park use that or the depreciated value for a write-off on taxes?

^ Maybe, but remember, at this point, the owner's didn't spend that money. It's like buying a house with a crappily constructed deck on the back. Maybe it cost the previous owners a lot to put it in, but you just bought it lump sum, so you really could care less. If you don't like it, out it comes, and you put your own in at a cost you feel is appropriate (can you tell I might have some recent personal experience here? ;) )

I agree with some of the above thoughts that if you do any of these modifications, steel track, Intamin re-track, GG re-track, you're going to find the same problem I found with Raging Wolf Bobs the other night. You've gone from a coaster that isn't worth the ride because it's so rough you can't concentrate on having fun to a coaster that isn't worth the ride because it's about as much fun and about as entertaining as riding the carousel. And to have that big of a "carousel" in your park is something that I would address quickly ... with a wrecking ball.

You know for once I will actually admit to agreeing with Chuck! SOB would have probably rivaled the best coasters in the world if the rose-bowl section was an out and back run.

But the fates are in the masters (LOL) hands.

Spend the money to fix?

Spend the money to reprofile?

Spend the money to demolish?

I think at this point it boils down to which option is cheapest.

SOB's reputation (whether good or bad to begin with) is destroyed. I was in Cincinnati on business this past Thursday and overheard 2 different conversations among non-coaster people I did not know. They were saying "how awful that accident at Kings Island was," and how "coasters like that are so dangerous."

Ouch. That sort of word of mouth hurts worse than any rough ride on SOB ever could.

I am of the opinion that they should cut their losses, save the money and invest in a reliable B&M Hyper or Invert. Why sink any more wasted monies and effort on a coaster that has lost every bit of it's PR value?

Think the Bat left quite a Legend? Well, IMO SOB just overtook the Bat in the relm of notorious KI rides.

I will say though, I was one of those fortunate to ride SOB in it's intended glory prior to the public opening. Although there were parts that were definitely "jarring." Many of those that rode at the media event will likely agree that it was an exciting and fun coaster. Later that very evening, SOB was closed and immediately reprofiled. It's never run the same since.

Shaggy

^^Point well made. I forgot CF just bought out Paramount. My bad.

Reprofiled? What did they do to it? I thought all they did was replace some bad tracking.

They re-profiled the climb into the 3rd drop just before the rosebowl. They replaced ledgers, supports, and track.

They eliminated the sudden bank to the right at the top of that climb, and made the banking begin lower in the ascent.

Also, did you know that when SOB opened, members of maint. took turns rotating positions along the course of the coaster to monitor it as it operated? This lasted for at least the first two weeks of operation.

Shaggy

I posted this in the news thread too...

So spell/draw this out for me. The ride went on normal then the loop seperated from the track causing the train to cross from one section to the other over air? If the loop seperated some how would the train still go through the loop and like not hook up with the other side? Exactly what do they mean by jolt, what seperated, where did it seperate, and what caused all these injuries?

I'm so confused I need a picture or something.

The recent incident had nothing to do with the loop section. Apparently, a verticle support splintered in the rose bowl whick cause the train to jolt injuring 2 that spent a couple nights in the hospital. The other riders were seen and released.

Back in 2000 there were several modifications to the track leading to the loop. There were no accidents that led to the modifications.

You're wondering what happened in the most recent incident? Here's what I've pieced together from the news reports I've read, most particularly the one that Jeff provided in the news section here.

It seems that one of the vertical supports broke apart (post cracked). That left a section of the first helix...and by section, I mean the space across three ledgers...unsupported. Well, those bents are positioned where they are in order to accommodate the support requirements for the track system. So if you remove one of the bents in a high-stress area, it will leave the track inadequately supported. The track won't break when that happens, because it has enough strength. What it lacks is *stiffness*. The track consists of a stack of lumber all bolted together to form what is in effect a gigantic leaf spring. Normally it rests against the ledgers and when the train goes through it transfers the force into the vertical supports, into the bents. If one of those bents is missing or damaged, then the unsupported part of the track is going to bounce. The result is going to behave a bit like a pothole. Depending on the exact nature of the failure...whether it was a total failure of one of the posts, or if the post failed on successive runs of the train...I would expect the total deflection in the affected portion of the ride to increase over the course of the day. So it would start as a bump in the track, turn into a jolt, and over the course of the day degenerate into a real nasty spot.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I see what your saying. It's sort of like me in my car going 80 mph on the free way, when all of a sudden there's a pothole. Not overly huge, just noticeable enough so that when I go over it it's painful? Only in this case its a train with 30 people and is allowing much higher forces?

When I heard that the train jolted off-course I was thinking like what happened in Final Destination 3 or something.

Thanks for clearing things up Dave,

Kyle