Why doesn't Cedar Point grease their tracks?

Last week I was at Cedar Point and I noticed somthing very peculiar. Both Mean Streak and Blue Streak squeeled. Very loudly. To the point where you had to stop talking while you were in line when a train went by. The reason most wooden coasters don't squeel is because their tracks are greased. So, the questions are:

Is this normal for Cedar Point? If it is, then why don't thy grease the tracks? If it isn't, then why did both coasters squeel on a day when a large crowd showed up, it hadn't rained for weeks, and they had 5 days during which the park was closed to work on it?

This has been brought up before. Some people have even seen sparks from the wheels of Mean Streak. I wonder if it is some kind of environmental thing with Lake Erie.

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The worst day at Cedar Point is better than the best day at work.

I'll tell you this, they take much better care of their woodies than some parks I know.

Cedar Point uses a graphite lubricant on both wood coasters. In fact last time I was there (9/22) I watched as a maintenance guy was applying some of the lubricant to the turn between the transfer table and the lift hill.

One problem is that the lubricant is water-soluable, so when it rains, the "grease" goes away. Blue Streak is usually pretty well lubed, though Mean Streak, seemingly, usually is not.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Antuan said:
I'll tell you this, they take much better care of their woodies than some parks I know.

No kidding. The other parks you know...referring to Six Flags?

You know what, guys. The bashing is very immature. I really get tired of seeing CP fans trying to divert an issue to SFMM. Cedar Point is not perfect. If they were they would not continue to build rides. Just be happy that someone is observant enough and hope that CP responds if they read this thread. Grow up. Please. If you don't like Six Flags, don't go. Not even after they have the 'exclusive' on 4D's.

Mike, I didn't see any direct mention of SFMM--only Six Flags in general. But just to disprove kRaXLe's theory that Six Flags does not maintain their woodies, SFA's Roar and Wild One are both in fine shape. And come to think of it, Judge Roy Scream and Texas Giant seemed to be well-maintained, as well. Oh, and GASM and Georgia Cyclone. The only Six Flags woodie I've ridden that wasn't in decent shape, as a matter of fact, was Rolling Thunder. That's one woodie out of 7, one park out of 4.

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-Vater
Track Record: 116

Um, the only person who mentioned Magic Mountain is you. Perhaps krax was referring to Rolling Thunder, a woodie in dire need of some TLC, or even Twisted Sisters or The Villain, prime examples that show that even CCI rides can go bad without work.

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--Greg
"Now all I want is to find a way home, to warn Earth -- look upward, and share the wonders I see..."
My page

Not to mention I could do without calling people immature.

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The Best woodie outside of the smaller parks I have rode is Viper at SFGAM and Six Flags designed that baby in house.

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All I need is 4.5 million bucks and a half a mile long sliver of land and maybe someone could build me my very own Shivering Timbers. ;)

Of course they don't neglect their rides completely. I wasn't saying that. I just found it odd that, even though it hadn't rained in over a week, there still was no grease on the tracks. I mean, I've never heard any woodies at Holiday World or PKI be anywhere near as loud as that, even after a torrential downpour.

quail, that's odd, I've never really heard bs screech very loud, if at all. Mean Streak is another story...

BS wasn't screeching on Sunday the 29th. At least not that I could hear. It was running slower than usual, tho.

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MagnumForce said:
The Best woodie outside of the smaller parks I have rode is Viper at SFGAM and Six Flags designed that baby in house.

Is KBF a small park? 'Cuz Ghostrider is second only to Boulder Dash in my book (having not ridden ST, Raven, Legend, etc.). Viper was totally awesome though.

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A rollercoaster? What's that?

The Coney Island Cyclone screeches a lot, but I'm not sure if it even gets inspected daily. Anyone know?

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87 different coasters for this year and counting... 149 total!

First time I rode Twisted Sisters two years ago it squealed like nothing I've ever heard before, but this year as Twisted Twins the SFKK woodie seemed to be in better shape and lubricated sufficiently. There are still a few turns that made a curious grinding noise, and I'm inclined to think it's partly the design at fault for this. As far as the Six Flags woodies here in Texas, they all seem to be in pretty good shape with Cyclone getting the best care (nightly watering even).

Watering? Call me stupid, but why?

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87 different coasters for this year and counting... 149 total!

If I remember correctly, Mean Streak made a horrible high pitched squeeling sound both Saturday and Sunday last weekend. I think it's the ride is bad enough, the squeeling just makes it worse.

Blue Streak, on the other hand, seemed pretty normal to me with no squeeling.

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The ice age killed the dinosaurs, we killed ourselves.

MarimbaGuy 87 said:
Watering? Call me stupid, but why?

You have to keep coasters made of woods like douglas fir moist, if they dry out too much the ride will get a lot rougher. Astroworld has sprinklers on Cyclone that water the coaster every night and it runs fairly consistant. Texas Giant on the other hand doesn't have the sprinklers, and the kind of ride you get is far more effected by the weather (on cooler, wetter parts of the season it operates like a different ride than on hot dry spells).

I'm not saying that SFGAm doesnt take care of American Eagle, they really do. The ride is in great shape, but man-oh-man do those wheels screech in the helix... whew... earplugs...

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