SOB loop?

Add me to the list of people that actually enjoy Son Of Beast. What's that? There is no such list? ;)

Seriously, my first ride on SOB blew me away. When that train came hurtling down the enormous first drop, I was loving it. Yes, I did get beat up and thrown around on my first ride (which was in seat 6.1), but for some reason, I came off really liking it. Subsequent rides later in the day came in seat 6.2 and I fell even more for this unique ride. The loop to me was one of the least impressive parts of the ride. But as I have mentioned before here, I also enjoyed Drachen Fire and am a fan of Raging Wolf Bobs... chalk it up to the amount of violence I have experienced on coasters I guess!

With that said though, I am kind of glad that no other park has built a looping wooden coaster. As others have said, that whole "one-of-a-kind" ride experience makes for something special... even if it is on a universally reviled coaster!

Ray P.

I also have wondered why someone else hasn't built a looping woodie, especially considering the learning that has gone on in the last several years.

Didn't I read about Intamin's 'plug n' play' wooden coaster track that was in the enthusiast's eyes, too smooth??? If so, couldn't this type of track be used to build a mega-woodie again, and alleviate some of the early roughness of SOB (I believe that the ride has reduced the roughness dramatically over the last couple of years and is much smoother now)?

How exactly does everyone seem to figure that Intamin's milled wood track is a cure-all for roughness? It might be easier to build and install, but that doesn't mean it's not prone to wear and tear.

I agree with Ray, If you can't take getting tossed around a bit. Find another hobby. Now as for the restraints and the issues such as leg room I totally understand.

Sob can be a vicious ride, however on most of my 300+ rides it's been smoother than it's papa as far as jarring and shaking.

Chuck, not trying to get people who dislike it to like it. Just sharring a opinion.

Jeff,

I have not ridden the Intamin track personally, nor am I aware of the engineering requirements in maintaining that product, so I don't know for certain. I was only making the statement based on comments by people who have ridden it.

I think this topic is an interesting one because the concept is valid. A new looping woodie could be built, that wouldn't have to be as tall as SOB, thus not necessarily as rough (although I personally feel that the SOB ride has improved dramatically over the years and it should not be an issue).

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Spoketh the Gonch:
A ride on a coaster like MF or X or The Beast is certainly something more special than a ride on B:TR or X-Flight/Batwing or to a slightly lesser degree, even the S:ROS clones.

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I have a feeling that were there less boomerangs, like maybe only 1, people would eat it up a little more than they do since there are only 40some. It makes it a One of a Kind experience, be it a good or bad experience.

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Spoketh the Coasterbuzzer:
Yeah, it's great for people whom have the money to travel to California to ride something like X. On the other hand, us poorer folks would like to see one built on our coast since we don't know if we'll ever be able to afford a trip to Cali.

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What GonchLar said. I would hate to have every single park have every single coater that every single other park out there has. That would be boring, and I'd find a new hobby after one park!

One thing I wonder, though, why are you poorer, and does that have anything to do with it? Are you a student, college student, or do you just have a crappy job like me? Regardless of how much $$$ and equity and worth you actually have, You can still make a trip to Cali happen. Heck, right now, I have $600 in the bank. That is $600 I've saved. That $600 is taking me to Cali and Vegas to ride these coasters.

I'm currently employeed by the state making just over $8.00 an hour (trust me, not alot), have bills to pay, and currently I'm staying back at the 'rents (which isn't because I can't afford to move out, I had no choice when I found out the apt. I was in was making me severly ill, but still). I'm not all that financially stable as it is.

But I'm in a decent enough position to put away a little cash in between pmts for my Xterra, Cell fon pmts, Metro (car) pmts, and more. Sure, I'll be rid of some pmts soon, but it all comes down to saving so you can go on those trips and ride those coasters. When you do, then you too will be able to gloat to all of your non-Left coast venturing friends that "I've ridden X!"

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Spoketh the Jeff:
How exactly does everyone seem to figure that Intamin's milled wood track is a cure-all for roughness...that doesn't mean it's not prone to wear and tear.

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I think the misconception comes from the fact that Colossus (is that the correct spelling for this one? I never know) is raved about for its smoothness and such. It may have something to do with the type of fabrication, but I doubt it. More likely it was designed better than Mean Streak, SoB, and some other tall woodies, has decent Rolling Stock that helps (then again, alot of oversized wooden coasters are twisty, this one ain't), or just the layout.

Guess Time will tell when a mega sized wooden twister is built by Intamin.

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Lord Gonchar said:

To me that's kind of the fun in being an enthusiast, you travel around sampling what the roller coaster world has to offer. The places, the parks, the people, the coasters - there's something very cool in that.

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I second that, too. (Third that?)

I saw a TV show with some McDonald's enthusiast that's been to thousands of McDonald's around the globe. That seems so boring to me, they showed him going in some MickeyD's in Iceland... "Hmmm... I think I'll have the Big Mac today." WTF? That's a direct quote, I crap you not.

I'm not going to friggin' Iceland to buy a Big Mac. When I go to Europe, I don't drink American beer, and when I go to California in a few weeks, I don't wanna ride Lightning Racer; no matter how much I like it at Hershey.

I know clones make sense on a business level. Most people don't travel too far for rides. On a personal level, though, I'd have no enthusiasm for coasters at all if there were only a few styles available.

I'll toss in my agreement with Gonch, Tekno and kpjb (surprise, surprise right?). Part of the allure of simply being an enthusiast for me is those unique coasters because they inspire travel. I've never wanted to go to California, I was terrified of earthquakes and figured I'd just be overwhelmed by the experience. But, I came to this site and this hobby, discovered the unique X and Ghostrider and it was off to California I go! Sure X was a p.o.s. as far as I'm concerned, but it's still a "badge" as was said above. I did it, I got the money together, I've seen California, and all because of the uniqueness of what's out there! (Now I won't be going back anytime soon as that uniqueness didn't impress me enough to consider it a good RoI, but that's beside the point ;) )

I've done a hell of a lot more travelling in the last few years just because of some unique attractions that exist across the country. Bring 'em on, down with clones! Spend the money! Bring on the quality!

Ditto Gonch, Tekno, kpjb, and Impulse-ive.

BTW Brett its not like we're having huge quakes out here weekly. Nothing to be frightened of.

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TeknoScorpion said:
I think the misconception comes from the fact that Colossus is raved about for its smoothness and such. It may have something to do with the type of fabrication, but I doubt it. More likely it was designed better...

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I agree. I'm sure we've all been on smaller rides that were rough. And most of us have been on the Holiday World rides, which have some of the most "vigorous" courses anywhere. Plenty smooth for wood coasters.

And let us not forget that the most offensive rides all came from the same shop.

See Jeff, I can make sense sometimes;).

I agree with what some of the people have said on here about unique coasters, but, by I'm not sure X has the kind of popularity that will make it special in 10 years. It will only be special because it was the first. I'm sure S&S would love to build another one to prove that it could turn out better. I know they're building one somewhere overseas and hopefully, that one will be better than the original.

I thought I read somewhere that Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmbH had the fabricated track in mind when designing SOB. Since they also designed Collosus which is similar in its size, but has different trains and track fabrication I think its a valid theory to say the fabrication and trains are the main reason its so rough.

What is this thread about anyway? There seem to be two topics here. :)

The LAYOUT, in addition to those horrendous trains, is more than partly to blame for Sonny's roughness problem, IMO. An out-n-back looping wooden coaster could (wood?) be a fantastic ride, just DON'T incorporate helices taken at THOSE *breakneck* speeds...

bill, wondering what a wooden overbank will do at 60+ mph...

I agree gator, it would be possible for a rather smooth looping woodie to be built if they used an out and back design. Put the loop at the bottom of one of the first 2 drops and then follow with a traditional out and back design.

My one concern would be airtime. One part of me thinks that the required stapling that the parks would enforce on a looping coaster with just lapbars would reduce the effectiveness of any airtime. Although the other part of me says that even when stapled I enjoy great airtime on MF and TTD. So I really don't know.

But a new train design is definately in order.