Top Gun's "Roar" vs. Iron Dragon's "Kachunk"

OK, this is a weird question, but I couldn't help but notice when I was at PKI last weekend that their suspended sounds completely different from CP's.  Now I figure that Top Gun has more of a roar than Iron Dragon because it travels much faster, but I can't figure out why it doesn't have that "Kachunk!" sound that Iron Dragon makes.  Are the trains different?  What do other suspendeds sound like?  Now I suppose that there aren't too many people out there who can help me, but I ask anyway (Cough**Rideman**Cough) because I'm curious. 
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"It looks like they just decided to hang up wheat all over the park" - my friend Steve, describing the FearFest decorating at Kings Island.

*** This post was edited by MooreOn on 10/21/2001. ***

I almost think that the older suspended coasters sound the way they do because they are just older and broken in. (ie: Iron Dragon, Big Bad Wolf). I would agree that speed has something to do with it also. My other theory is that maybe the drip pans I'll call them, under the "diapers," as we called them (former Dragon Lady 96') are different. Maybe they just rattle more on the older coasters. Or hell, maybe the wheels on Top Gun are spring loaded.

 Heh, these are all just thoughts though......

SFMM's Ninja also has that "kachunk" sound to it.

Big Bad Wolf and the PCW Vortex also do the kerchunking thing. Vortex is the particularly telling one of those because it is practically identical to Top Gun; you would think that it would run like Top Gun.

I don't have a definitive answer. <collective gasp>

What I do know is that the wheel carriers on Top Gun are very different from the wheel carriers on Iron Dragon. Partially this is because Top Gun has larger road wheels and guide wheels (12" instead of 8" I think).

I suspect that the larger guide wheels may be the critical difference because in order to accommodate the guide wheels, the guide wheel axles have to be about 4" further apart, which might make the axles steer more accurately. But that's only a guess.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Funny, I was wondering the very same thing this weekend (and I seem to recall wondering it last year as well). One other thing I noticed is that Iron Dragon has those big old safety hooks as well. If Top Gun has them at all, I'm going to assume they're between the wheels, which would make sense if Dave is correct that they're further apart. There is no room for such hooks between the wheels of Iron Dragon.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

I was thinking the same thing too.  If you listen closely to Iron Dragon there is a roar, but I think the "kachunk," which overpowers the roar, that you are hearing are the wheel assemblies banging into the track.  If you sit in the back seat of the ride and watch each of the wheel assemblies, you'll see them vibrate side to side against the track.  I think that is causeed from the wheels not being in contact with the track at all times throughout the ride.  PKI's Top Gun looks like it contacts the track at all times.  I was watching the wheel assemblies from the back seat and they seemed to stay in place, just like a B&M. ;)  Maybe Arrow got it right this time?
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***Why can't all parks have a Millennium Force?***

Heissfrau :  I say with a name like that you need a picture to prove it.   :oD

Is BBW slowing down with age?  I talked with someone the other day that was with me when I rode it LOOONG ago, and he said that it feels much slower these days.

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I rode "X" and never went upside down.

Jeff: You've partly sussed it.

Top Gun has an entirely different axle design from Iron Dragon. On Iron Dragon, and in fact on most suspended coasters, the wheel carrier is attached to the top of the axle yoke by a single pin, and the safety hook extends backward from the axle yoke and over the rail behind the wheel carrier. I don't recall whether there are four or five wheels on the wheel carrier.

On Top Gun, there are only four wheels on the wheel carrier. The axle yoke extends up between the wheels on the wheel carrier, and a safety pin is attached to the yoke just below the wheel carrier attachment pin. You can see it most easily from behind the train, looking at the last wheel carrier from the inboard side. The upstop wheel, then, is attached to the axle yoke instead of to the wheel carrier. Because of the safety pin, if the wheel carrier detaches from the axle or a road wheel is lost, the train will land on the safety pin between the wheels.

With the older design, the attachment pin is below the wheel carrier. If the attachment pin breaks or the road wheels are lost, the train will drop until the safety arm catches. It would be pointless to put a safety pin between the road wheels because the only thing to attach it to is the wheel carrier...and if the wheel carrier separates from the axle, a safety pin on the wheel carrier isn't going to keep the axle from dropping.

That's the most obvious difference I can come up with between the two designs. There may be more, but if there is, I haven't caught it yet... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Heh...well Homey G. if you really must know what i look like check out this website.

 

http://www.the-everards.co.uk/