Shiekra's splashdown

Did anyone who has seen photos of the ride in action, notice how clever B&M utilizes the pipes on the undercarriage of the last car to create the splashdown effect...BTW acts as agreat little brakerun to slow the train down... who has ridden this? was it really good? *** Edited 5/20/2005 7:14:14 PM UTC by mike.s.***

I saw that last night and was wondering what it was. Here is a pic of it.

http://www.rcdb.com/ig2662.htm?picture=59

I rode the ride wednesday night around 930 pm. I couldnt see the water when I was riding but it is very clever how the water is channeled away from the riders so they themselves dont get very wet. There were actually at least three different styles tested out, and at first when they tried the larger size the splash hit the surrounding buildings and the train station with enough force to eventually cause damage, so it got toned down to the medium sized ones, which still create enough of a wave to be seen above the buildings and queue houses from a whiles away. Also i heard that the splashdown is only about 10 percent of the braking, so the rest is mechanical like other rides. I cant wait to ride this ride in the day time. I guess that will officially start tomorrow. (Man, Busch gardens is gonna be a ZOO tomorrow) ;)

Wow, thats a neat effect. Does any other coaster use this for a water effect?

how is the effect done?

Look at the pix on RCDB. Two pipes, one attached to each side on the back of the train funnel water in the pool upwards to make a 'splashing' effect. Simple, but looks very effective.

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TeknoScorpion said:
Wow, thats a neat effect. Does any other coaster use this for a water effect?

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I believe Powder Keg at Silver Dollar City does.

http://www.rcdb.com/ig1903.htm?picture=1

You are correct. Powder Keg has a splashdown but they don't have those little funnels. The entire train goes through the water. That would defiently slow down the train more.

The picture used is of Buzzsaw, not Powder Keg (quite a confusing page really) - does Powder Keg still have that same feature as Buzzsaw was a water coaster?

No, but it does have a splashdown. It consists of two "troughs" on either side of the track, and in no way is the splash caused by the train.

Thought you might say that.

Good call. Both rides look great.

I took two rides on Shiekra on Saturday and noticed that there were a couple of trains that had "walls" inside the tubes to make a different splash. The splash itself is HUGE and was soaking people standing in line. It felt good considering how hot it was.

-Sean

Matterhorn uses water to slow trains.

So do you actually get wet from this on the ride or is it more of a visual thing?

cyberman,

While sitting in the back row you may get a little mist from the splash but nothing really wet.

-Sean

Cool, thanks Sean. I'll be back to ride it in February. Unfortunately, I go there every year in Feb. and it was hard this past year seeing all that new track and work going on knowing that I was just missing out by a couple of months.