Possible solution for steel roughness... ?

I woke up today having had a dream of roller coasters, of course, and in that dream I thought it was quite interesting that the roller coaster rails had a layer of poly urathane (sp?) over them just like the wheels. I was just wondering... would this work or be at all beneficial to the ride experience?? Just curious little me thinking a crazy thought though.

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Raging Bull= 89

WOuld create a lot of rolling resistance for one thing. Speed would bleed off quickly and it would not solve the problem of transitions that are entirely wrong.

While interesting I think your dream is just that, a dream.

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1989, 9 years old, Bawling my eyes out because I didn't want to ride Magnum. I did anyway and now look at me. YOU CREATED A MONSTER DAVE!!! ;)

Once it wears off, how would it be recoated?

Although it would probably wear just as fast, you could add a teflon type chemical to the track.

Or you could just hella-grease/oil the track like most parts do.

I think I remember it being mentioned a lot that the roughness can also be atributed to the wheels not maintaining contact with the track ala Arrow and Vekoma (until recently). Why not retrofit or modify the trains so that the wheels maintain constant contact ala B&M and Intamin? I know that the transitions also play a role but, would that alleviate some of the roughness?

I re-read the post I made and this edit should have it cleared up.
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Total number of V2 laps (SFMW-post mods) = 27
Total number of V2 laps (SFMW pre-mod) = 12
Next SFMW trip on 07.27.2002*** This post was edited by decoy on 7/19/2002. ***

*** This post was edited by decoy on 7/19/2002. ***

Umm...Intamin and B&M (and just now, Vekoma) have their wheels touch the track at all times, because they are spring loaded. *Not* having them touch creates the roughness. The design of the elements plays a huge role also. Designers now use parabolic curves instead of turns with a constant radius. And as for the coating of the rails, that is not practical...roughness is not due to imperfections of the rails.

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Magnum Allan - FLCC member. My website: http://dropzone224.tripod.com

The spacing of upstops and guide wheels should bear no effect on the roughness, if transitions are well designed.

A successful transition is done in such a way that it is naturally flowing.

Also, you're (key part is you - not me at this stage :() seeing B&M coasters ageing, and consequently roughening. I'm sure all these problems though could be fixed with a truely thorough deconstructing and rebuilding of the trains, with new parts in places where there is fatigue or stress. However, this is expensive, and if a ride runs okay, without needing it, then it isn't needed.

New Arrow coasters are smooth, still with the gap in the guide wheels and upstops. They will remain smooth so long as they are kept reasonably fresh with regards to parts.

The thing with the fixed wheels is, they don't need fine tuning to keep them at the right distance (as the springs wear out), they have minimal friction, so they can maintain faster speeds for longer.

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So what if the best coaster in Australia is a second hand Arrow?

MagnumAllen, not that I doubt you, but what Vekoma's do not have wheel gaps? I think their coasters are fine, but all of their bommerangs, invertigos, GIBs, and flying dutchmen have wheel gaps.

intamin does not use springs... they just use a large piece of rubber to apply pressure to the side wheels on the track

Yah? I had a dream once where S:UE crashed and I got hit by a restraint and ate, but it needed more butter, does this mean we should butter our restraints? (I seriously did have a dream like that!)

Is a bad transition also what causes a coaster to speed up as if it has a motor, I notice this happens on Arrows, but I've never noticed it happening on an Intamin or B&M, or Schwarzkopf for that matter.

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AHHH-SCHWARZKOPF!
-Coaster Enthusuiast Sneezing (like my sig? :) )

*** This post was edited by S00perGIR on 7/19/2002. ***