The Gravity Group announces new coaster for Big Chief's

It won't be.

-Nate

Well it is great news in one way and horrible news in another. I was so psyched about going to BCK&C this summer, but have postponed it so we can ride Hades also.Now I got to think of another park to go to.

Please, please, don't let this be a steel support structure.

And please, please, let it have ptc trains.

Coasterdude318........"will open in the spring of 2005".......where do you get the thought that it will be "under construction for 2 years"?? In my book that is only a little over 1 year, and considering it is only in the design phase right now, that sounds about normal in terms of construction time needed, assuming they start this summer or early fall.

Maybe after this project, they'll get a few more parks coming to them and asking for new wooden coasters. And just like Beastfreak said, it's about time. Long live CCI, Gravity Group rules :)
*** This post was edited by Jeff Rowe 1/24/2004 11:04:24 PM ***

Volleyguy, you're clearly misinformed. They began construction on the ride about a month ago. Normally, a wooden coaster can be constructed in five months (December to May) no problem. This ride, on the other hand, will be constructed over a period of *seventeen* months (December, 2003 to May, 2005). For comparison's sake, SOB was constructed over a period of about ten months. Now, that's not to say this ride will be bigger than SOB; it most certainly will not be. However, the article clearly states that the first part of the ride will be completed by this spring. That's one entire year to complete the rest. I cannot think of a wooden coaster that has taken a year to complete, much less *part* of a wooden coaster.

In other words, this ride is going to be under construction for a long time - a lot longer than your average wooden coaster. It's going to be big.

-Nate*** This post was edited by coasterdude318 1/24/2004 11:09:54 PM ***

Aside from this new coaster, I am equally interested in Big Chief's new POP at the gate structure.

This sounds like they want to become a full-fledged amusement park. Maybe we will start seeing a bunch of flats being installed as well.

Why no steel support structure? What does it really matter? All that really matters is the fact that the track is wood. And thge trains, of course.

I'll bet my life savings on the fact that this one will have a steel support structure, considering the ride's location. Fine with me, as I'd rather a good coaster with steel supports rather than a lousy one with wood supports.

What do you mean "considering the ride's location"? The ride will be located in essentially the same place that the other three (wood-structered) CCI's are located.

-Nate

I have to agree with Nate, Rob. Why would you want a steel structure if you could do without it? No matter how much arguing there is to be had about Villain, for example, I would rather have had that ride, and this one, be an all-wood structure. Steel rides suffer from the stiffness of the supports, IMHO. No thanks, and I HIGHLY doubt we'll see steel of any kind here. Why would they? What would be the benefit?

And to take into account that they have plenty of wood resources as can be seen by the ammount of wood roller coasters and wood go kart tracks they already have. Why would they use anything else if they can get a readily available supply of wood cheaply.

Also take into account that the 17 months will include the "largest" expansion of the park in it's history. Hmm....what else might they have in store???

A dunk tank? :)

Hahahaha, LOL Dante. You might be on to something there!!

What is really apparant here in this arguement about wood vs. steel structure, is how little people really know about whats actually involved in the maintenance between the two. Some of it has does have to do with the trains, and the coasters that people seem to complain the most about run the G-trains on steel structered rides. Did we all forget about the two steel woodies in Indiana w/ PTC's?

I've never heard any complaints about CornBall Express even though it's a smaller ride. Hoosier Hurricane was extremely smooth for years too, before it started to pothole in a few areas which have recently now been fixed. A maintenance man responsible for the coaster told me about a prior worker who didn't like to check/tighten loose bolts. They tend to spiderweb throughout the structure if gone unchecked and will cause track problems to increase exponentially (I had been to the park earlier in the year, and the coaster was rough in a few areas that were now fine).

Wood coasters require daily maintenance period. Not only track walks, but the structure needs regular maintenance for loose or broken bolts. I know some of you were at the GOCC Fall Freak Out a couple years ago. Someone spotted a broken bolt under the Legends' final turn into the brakes right before our photo walk back. Jeff Hammersley shrugged it off and promised to have it fixed by our ERT session that night. Look what he does to maintain those two wooden coasters. It's not as 'cut and dry' as people are making it out to be.

Do you think both locations would be included in the POP admission, or just the new location with the coasters?

I'm sure just the Strip location will be POP. I'm thinking they're going to attempt to make the Strip location into more of an amusement park while keeping the old location a go-kart park. That's what I'd do, at least.

-Nate

I don't care if the supports are made of fish sticks. I'm riding it! We've waited and waited for a project from this great "group" of guys, and now we can finally count the days. CCI lives......sort of.... :)

Mmmm . . fish sticks. :)

Rich Genthner / PTC99

Nasai wrote:

"Why would they? What would be the benefit?

I believe maintenance on a steel structure woodie is far less. Like Thrillerman said, no matter what the structuer is, maintenance is required, but with a steel structure, repairs can be far less. Sure, it may cost more for the coaster to be built but in the long run, it can save a park a lot of money.

Remember, BC's tallest woodie has a steel structure support system, well, at least for the lift. If they didn't have a problem with using it then, I wouldn't see a problem with using it again, especially if it cost less in the long run.

I know of a couple of people that can't stand steel structure woodies. They claim a woodie built in that fashion has no soul, yet, I have heard those same people swear up and down about the Coney Island Cyclone. Go figure.

Personally speaking, I don't care what a ride is built with as long as it provides a great ride. That's the bottom line for me.

-Sean (who, as well as TCKR above, should be seeing Linkin Park at this very moment but due to the wonderful road conditions around here, it's nearly impossible to reach the damn arena) F. *** This post was edited by Sean Flaharty 1/25/2004 7:01:58 PM ***

I'm OK with steel. I think the key to an excellent woodie in the long term is proper lubrication (ugh... there goes the conversation). Too much friction is bad. Heck, too much "give" in the structure has the potential to be bad as well, because energy is absorbed in it. I love Villain as my favorite only behind The Legend.

Thanks Sean, I was thinking on bringing the Cyclone into this debate myself to prove the point. So allow me to expand on this arguement even further.

One of the other main reasons to build with steel is because it requires less ground space so you can build bigger rides in smaller areas and in doing so the ride requires much less materials in the structure. You don't have to worry about the footprint of the ride as much. That was the one of the main reasons the Cyclone and Indiana Beach's coasters have steel frames. They don't have the space to build a traditional wood structured ride. The same issue holds true for Zeus. Because of the coasters proximity to Cyclops, there wasn't enough ground space for the larger footprint of an all wooden lift hill. That is why after you pass up Cyclops, the structure of Zeus changes to all wood. They could paint the ride red for all I care, as long as it's thrilling and well designed/maintained.

*** This post was edited by Thrillerman 1/25/2004 8:38:34 PM ***