Track Paint Strips

Why are there strips of white paint on mew Intamin coasters where the wheels run on the track? How long has Intamin been doing this? Do any other companies do this to their coasters? Here's an example: ( Copy and paste, then click the picture with the caption "This is what you see half way through the ride." )

http://www.topthrilldragster.com/public/inside_park/rides/thrill/ttd/photo/index.cfm
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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

I'm not sure but my best guess is that it looks more clean than jagged paint chipped off which is inevitable?

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SFNE Central v4- Online Six Flags New England Resource
CBuzzer since September 2001 with a few bumps along the way. :)

My guess would have to be that the strips are there for testing, since the ride will have to be tested longer than most rides, to get the hydrolic launching system to work, so maybe the strips are there so the train doesnt wear the paint off the rails while it test.

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Old arrows might be rough, but they are the most gorgous rides to date.

I was just using Top Thrill Dragster as an example because that is a really good picture of the paint strips that I am talking about. All new Intamin coasters have these strips, including Millennium Force and Wicked Twister. I'm not sure about older Intamins though.

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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

It's what SFNE freak said, Intamin does this instead of painting the rails. Which end up all chipped up anyway and makes a great looking coaster look horrible. I really wish B&M would start doing it as well, b/c their trains do one hell of a job on painted rails. Take alook at this pic of Medusa east
http://rcdb.com/installationgallery502.htm?Picture=10 This pic was taken in 99' Medusa opened 4/99, for there rails to be looking like that in that short of a time is ridiculous lol.

Now Look at MF@ CP http://rcdb.com/installationgallery594.htm?Picture=10 Pic taken same year as opening, rails and paint look fine. Same with Xcelarator http://rcdb.com/installationgallery1574.htm?Picture=23 there is no paint where the wheels run so there is no chipping and the coaster appearence stays looking newer longer.

No the question is how do Intamin paint all the track except for where the running wheels run? Do they have some kind of computerized paint machine that does it for them, or do you think it's done by a person manually? or do you think they put some type of tape on the the rails, paint as normal then remove the tape?
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X...I still can't believe it wasn't a dream
*** This post was edited by CoasterXfreak 2/9/2003 4:41:38 PM ***

I'd go with the tape theory.

Also, I'm wondering why, if S:RoS @ SFNE opened the same year as MF, it doesn't also have the unpainted rails.

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SFNE Central v4- Online Six Flags New England Resource
CBuzzer since September 2001 with a few bumps along the way. :)
*** This post was edited by SFNE Freak 2/9/2003 5:46:53 PM ***

If you've ever touched the white strips, you'd find that they have a totally different texture than the normal paint. I've touched Wicked Twister, Millennium Force and Dragster, and it's more durable and gritty than the normal paint.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

Interesting....So does than mean it gives better traction? Less wear? All of the above? Other? :)

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

How would you be able to touch the rails? Were you a "VIP" or something and get to see them before they were installed?

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If Milli Vanilli fell in the woods, would someone else make a sound ?

Not to speak for him, but yes, he has been on several construction tours.....lucky bastard. :)

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

Xcelerator also has that white striped stuff... and I never really had any idea what it was for until I read this topic, lol. And yeah, it's most likely (positively) so that the paint doesn't rust off or something.

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Midtown ownz j00

The paint is actually thicker on the stripes almost as if it is a polyurethane.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

*** This post was edited by MagnumForce 2/9/2003 8:14:07 PM ***

Maybe it's a Cedar Fair thing to do.

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Rob

"Some people spend an entire LIFETIME wondering if they made a DIFFERENCE. The MARINES don't have that problem." -President Reagan 1985

Medusa West doesn't have painted rails. I think they just put a varnish-like substance on it to keep from rusting. Points of the track have turned a dark gray/black where the track is under water (when it has been raining.) It overall looks nice, but I have to say our Intamin looks much better rail wise.

Medusa West is not an Intamin, it's B&M. That would explain why it doesn't have the strips...
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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

I always thought it was for the wheels and to make sure they always ran where they were ment to run. If you could see the paint chiping of the rails then they needed to be fixed. Or it was just so the rails wouldn't look that bad after a cuple of years.

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"I took the highway to the danger zone"

What, the paint holds the wheels in place? Um, whatever you want to think.

Yes, I've been on many construction tours at Cedar Point.

The white paint is just a more durable substance than regular paint. There's no mystery beyond that. I doubt it's used for any reason other than they want to go as long as possible without having to repaint. The white stuff takes the beating that the wheels give it.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

Regarding Medusa, I am willing to bet that those "chipped spots" are not actually chipping paint, but rather imperfections in the track that were sanded after the installation was completed. Most coasters arrive pre-painted (I have no idea why SFOT's Batman was "naked" in construction pics) and I'm sure that things aren't exactly perfect when everything is assembled. Perhaps paint build-up or slightly warped/bent track has to be fixed after the coaster is built, and it is easier to leave the repaired spots unpainted rather than repainting those small areas. Six Flags has never been known to keep on top of paint, have they?

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-Rob

I can't believe anyone asked that.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

I'm sorry. Really I am.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.