Whats on Kennywood's Thunderbolt?

Visiting Kennywood today, I noticed that Thunderbolt has blocks of wood nailed across the top of the drop following the lift hill. I did not get a good picture of it, but I'm wondering why they would do such a thing?

If they didn't nail the wood securly, it may fall off and hurt someone. Safety first.

We all know what happened with Ghostrider last year with poorly nailed wood. ;)

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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer

It may hit someone, but who is there in the winter? It may just be for protection from snow or ice, knowing how bad of a winter its already been up here in Pittsburgh.
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...But that's just my opinion. Unless it's also someone else's.

Perhaps if you gave us more details...

Are you talking about planks nailed across the track perpendicular to the direction of travel? Where are these blocks relative to the trim brake and the chain idler up there? Perhaps the pneumatics were taken out for the winter and something needs to support the brakes in the absence of the cylinder? Perhaps it's a winch support for changing out the chain idler? Maybe something completely different?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I thought that they outright hacked off the first drop out of the station for construction purposes. Did I see a photo like that?

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

You sure did. Thing is, Millennium Force is talking about the drop after the lift, which, as far as I know, is still intact.

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Matt Lynch
Co-Webmaster, Kennywood Boulevard
http://kennywood.coasterbuzz.com

Perhaps they have found that the wood in this section likes to expand in the winter and this is their way of limiting that expansion. preventative maintenance. just a theory.

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All time Top 5: (1) Milleniun Force (2) Alpengeist (3) Hulk (4) Ice Dragon (5) Raptor