Timberliner Testing resumes on the Voyage

Rollergaor, I was having a perfectly nice Friday until you gave me a flashback of HC5. Worst woodie ever!

Meh. I was able to get thru it far more times than SoB, Mean Streak, and the CI Cyclone.

I enjoyed it for what it was... a terrible layout aside from a good first drop and crazy lateral-filled airtime hop into the first helix. It was better than Cali Grizzly, Oklahoma Wildcat, Cali Roar, SOB, Mean Streak, and Psyclone... to name a few. Nobody's trains would make that ride much better.

I searched and searched the internet for HC5, and I just thought that I would post my results here for everyone else who had no clue what you guys are talking about.

HC5 = Hurricane: Category 5 at the now-defunct Pavilion Amusement Park in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Thank you for that. Was just gonna search for myself.

I'm sure it was better earlier in it's career. But, the only time I rode it was in it's last year of operation. If I had to guess, I would say they never performed any maintenance on the ride since the day it opened. Compared to Hurricane's last year of operation, I would rather marathon on Mean Streak than ever ride Hurricane again. Cyclone gives Hurricane a run for it's money. However, there are seats on Cyclone that aren't horrible, I couldn't find one tolerable seat on Hurricane.

A quote from rcdb... "While the Hurricane was scrapped, the trains were purchased by Kings Island for use on the Son of Beast."

Ironic.

Re: MBP's Hurricane - I remember asking the operator if they ever used the second train (you know, to swap out and perform maintenance). He replied they did that every couple weeks. I'm not going to say he lied to me....but I will say the rust stains on the transfer tracks seemed to indicate that he might have been ummmm, ...mistaken.... ;)

I got ride in two different seasons near the end of the ride's life, and HC5 was one of the worst wooden coasters I've ever ridden - the video I posted to the U-Tube should confirm that...

Have to wonder what happened to Frontier City's Wildcat when Matt rode, though, cause I got a couple pretty-sweet rides on it (smooth enough to ride with the cracked rib I obtained earlier in that trip thanks in large part to UltraTwister. Should note that I won't be doing the ropes course at Schlitterbahn ever again, either). Good times! :)

Wildcat was smooth, but absolutely boring. At least HC5 had a couple of moments of excitement. I too rode it in its last season (July 4th weekend). It didn't hurt me one but, but it was annoyingly rough. I rode it four five times that day, much to Craig and his kids' chagrin. I'll never forget when Caitlyn said, "wait, why are we waiting to ride this again?" LOL

You didn't like Roar west? And you liked the old Texas Giant?

^Yes, and yes. Roar West gave far and away the worst rides I've had on any GCII coaster. Only had the one opportunity at it, but I remain shocked that it could run THAT poorly. Slow *and* rough is a terrible combination for a wooden coaster, and I've got 25-30 friends who ALL got the same rides on it during that event.

Texas Giant (Mark I) will remain in my top-5 wooden coasters until something comes along to knock it out...well, 2 or 3 somethings... ;)

What Bill said. Roar West was so slow and boring. No airtime. Nothing exciting at all. Nothing like Roar East! (or Texas Giant).

I rode the Voyage back in 06' when it first opened and I loved it... however how was it running last year? Has anyone ever ridden a timberliner train? Are the like the GCI style in terms of smoothness?

Voyage was as good as ever last year (and better than it was for most of its opening season when it was breaking in). Only a few humans have ridden the Timberliners (none of us). Mike Graham says the intent is to make The Voyage more re-ridable (for the people that didn't think it was re-ridable anyway). Many of us don't want it tamed one iota.

I wouldn't mind a slightly tamer Voyage. As much as I enjoyed my rides at HWN this year, I can only do an impersonation of a rag doll so much in one night.

ApolloAndy said:
The corn smell is actually the first thing that comes to mind when I think about the Voyage now. The second is riding in pitch black and getting slammed around. Both are good memories.

I first rode Voyage back in June of '06. Until HWN 2010 every time I smelled pressure-treated lumber, I thought of Voyage. Then came that nasty corn smell, haha. But to be honest, riding Voyage last year in the dark was the BEST coaster experience I have ever had.

I really hope to make it to HWN this year. It is truly an amazing and well-planned event. The food was also incredible. Thanks to everyone at Holiday World that puts this event together, you truly know what the enthusiasts expect, and you pull it together PERFECTLY!

^Nobody does it like HW. I'm wondering what it will be like without Will, he was an incredible, smart, funny, coaster person, person. I'm sure he will be there in spirit :) Very missed...

http://www.aceonline.org/acenewsnow/Files/267/Coaster_4_7_11_025.jpg
Ah, Now I see the nose car is now trailered single bench with guide wheels. The nose car they were testing on Voyage was a two bench with each row individual trailered afterward.

More pics from Ace news
http://www.aceonline.org/acenewsnow/?article=267

You'll also see the extra bracing around the seat tubs making them stronger. Note the steel ribs. Three vertical and one around the width. In picture 2

The strengthened carriage I knew about. I did not know they were redesigning the nose car or the noses on each car. The Cariage strengthening is why I guessed about needing the new train. I did not know the nose car was changed. When they rode last fall All rides and each only took one were in the back seat making me believe it was the only tub to receive the modification. That I don't know for certain but Voyage was certainly a workout test to get this new product off the ground.

Granted, Im a big guy but anyone else ever felt a PTC sidewall flex in a curve? I have on The Beast several times and Its not a safe feeling. Granted those are older and I know KI goes over them every year but in my thousand plus rides on it. I've had it happen a handful of times and told them about it. Mainly in the three curves after the old mid course sitting on the left side.

Can anyone see if the second set of guide wheels are on these? I wonder if the steering feature is still part of them.
http://www.aceonline.org/acenewsnow/?article=267

Doesn't look to me like they made any obvious changes to the chassis design; looks like they just took a row of seats off the lead car and put a cowl over that first axle instead. I wonder if that's a Quassy thing...putting a row of seats over the first axle puts the lead foot-tub pretty far forward, and I wonder if the "tour bus effect" came into play here; if the curves are pushing the capabilities of the Timberliner chassis in any way, they wouldn't want the lead foot-tub crashing into the outside rail on a really tight curve! As expected, it looks like the biggest real changes to the Timberliner are to significantly beef up the passenger tub with that new cage structure on the back and the wraparound gussets.

On the PTC trains, I don't notice so much with the side rails, but in particular you can notice the chassis flexing where the end boards move relative to the sides. If you look more closely you can see that the end boards, including the ones the seats are attached to, are pinned and pinched into place; they are not rigidly attached to the car frame, at least not on the non-articulated cars like the ones Kings Island uses. This is particularly noticeable if you sit in the front of any car on the Kennywood Racer, as the train goes through the curve coming out of the station. Remember those trains are practically brand new, especially compared to the Kings Island trains.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.