PTC profiled in local newspaper

Cadillac? Not even a Yugo compared to MF trains and even MF trains pale to Buick status to Timberliners.

Whoops..........

Maybe saying "Cadillac" is right. As in 'old school' or 'status quo'.

MF and Timberliner trains are new technology, sexy, high performance. Porsche. Ferrari. Lamborghini.

PTC needs to innovate or else they really will be like GM.

Yeah, no disrespect to Bill, but I think PTC trains are the suck. Aside from their classic appearance, I don't think they have a single redeeming quality. I don't understand how a product goes for decades without any significant changes other than the lap bars, which are the worst feature about them.

10 years ago, PTC trains were all the rage. No one would say anything bad about them. It just shows how new technology can make us think poorly of the old technology.

That's because there were no alternatives. You can be the only man in a room full of women, but it doesn't make you the most attractive by default.

There was an alternative, Jeff, but it wasn't a good one: the Morgan fiberglass trains (a division of Morgan which, if I recall correctly, was eventually bought out by PTC).

I agree... PTC trains really need a redesign, especially the hard-to-get-into tight seats and the weird lapbars that force your knees to one side, then beat on them during the ride.

The funny thing is PTC's redesign is not much better than what they use. Two axel single bench trains with the same bars, dividers everything. In fact the only thing other than a little added articulation that they add to a coaster is WEIGHT!I really can't wait for TGG to unviel the Timberliner at IAAPA. The finishing touches are being made. There are tons of features I cannot disclose and they are trying to accomidate the biggest range sized of riders of any coaster out there.Chuck, who just from what little birds tell me, am extremely pumped.

There were always the lovely Gerstlauer trains...

I've never had a problem with PTC trains (granted, MF's are better in almost every way). I don't particularly like the divider on the newer version (Boardwalk Bullet being the only one I've ridden) but I had no problems with them on Ghostrider, Boulder Dash, Phoenix, Comet, or Viper (GAm).

^Agreed 1,000%. I liked PTC trains when there was a nice lap bar (single-position obviously preferred) and *occasionally* a seatbelt of questionable necessity. The dividers sem to get larger and harder with every iteration....and the ones with holes are even worse, they leave BAD bruises. Wildcat at Hershey became less of a coaster when the ride got the MFlyer trains (lost SO much aggression). But give me those old-style PTC trains that ran for so many years on so many rides, with the fluffy-soft padding on my butt and thighs, and times were pretty good on even some fairly-rough wooden coasters...

I won't deny that today's PTC's are less comfortable than the MF trains, but they certainly give a wilder ride (see Hershey Wildcat) and I much prefer their "look". The old ones with buzzbars are so nice though. I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

Hopefully the Timberliners will be soooo much more efficient that their increased speed will make up for the loss of the "lever action" you get with multi-bench cars and thus won't ruin any rides they are put on like the way Hershey's Wildcat was ruined. I dread the day Busch puts MF trains on Gwazi. :(

Wildcat was nearly unrideable with the PTC's. Gwazi still is. Those trains fit GCI's like square pegs in round holes.

Charles Nungester said:
Cadillac? Not even a Yugo compared to MF trains and even MF trains pale to Buick status to Timberliners.

Whoops..........

I'm amazed at how good these new Timberliner trains are, even tough nobody has ridden in them yet. I mean, to go ahead, and make a comparison as to how they're better then MF trains, has to mean that you've ridden in them, right Charles!