woody colors

Does anyone know why modern wooden coasters are all stained in natural colors instead of being painted like the old days? Ive always wondered this but no one has ever really brought this up before that I know of.

It might be a cost issue rather than simple colors. A stain will most likely last longer without re-staining, compared to the white painting of the older coasters.

Consider this, most people (GP) consider woodies as "old and rickety" despite the coaster's age. Add to that some white paint that flakes off after a harsh winter. End result is people might think them to be older than they are, and that they are not well kept.

For example, Colossus at SFMM is white and looks great, from a distance. Once you are close to it, the flaking paint shows through.

It might be cool, however, if some woodies were painted crazy colors, like bright red or green. (I have not ever heared of one)

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Gotta ride 'em all!

I'm fairly certain it's the cost factor, I know that the Thunderhawk at Dorney Park is painted every 2 years to maintain it's appearance. But this does get pricy, especially if a park has more than one coaster which needs to be painted.

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Long Live Cedar Fair ;)

The Idora Wildcat (I think) was painted yellow. The parts of it that are still standing are pretty interesting to see...

http://www.defunctparks.com/parks/OH/Idora/idora.htm

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

The Beastie @ PKI is light purple, not the best paint job, but hey its still purple. :)

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CABEWNCP stands for:
Cousins Against Bob Evans When Near Cedar Point

The Ghoster Coaster at PKD is blue. Is the Racer at Kennywood painted red or is it stained.

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Parks hit for 2000!
PKD,BGW,Knoebels,Dorney,Hershey

Didn't the Beastie at PKI use to be yellow? I thought I rememberd seeing it yellow when I was young.
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THE BEASTmaster
www.geocities.com/byostie

WildOne at Six Flags America and Rebel Yell at PKD are both painted white, as is American Eagle at Six Flags Great America, and they all look fine, even up close.

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Six Flags America IS a Six Flags park! *** This post was edited by WildOne on 5/23/2000. ***

Yes, BEASTmaster, the Beastie was yellow back in the day it was known as the Scooby Doo. Ah, fond memories....
-JJ

Another Factor to deel with a wooden Coaster that is painted is that water could get trapped in the paint and or under the paint and deteriate the wood. But a stained and or treated coaster does not have this problem and never has to be repainted. The paint if not repainted looks like crap because of weather effects.
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#1 Steel-Incredible Hulk
#1 Wood--Timber Wolf

Cost is an issue, and not to mention time. Painting every individual board would take forever. Just think about how long it would paint SOB. But...as long as it's taking to actually get the ride running, they could have painted the whole thing 3 times over. LOL!

I am pretty sure they use paint that helps preserve the wood. I find painted woodies to be pretty good Kodak moments.

In the days before pre-pressure treated lumber painting was necessary to preserve the wood. Also alot of the older woodies were both smaller and confined to a smaller footprint making painting them a managabe job to paint, such as The Cyclone in Coney Island.

Could you imagine the effort (and cost) it would take to paint The Beast or Mean Streak? *** This post was edited by Mad Dog on 5/24/2000. ***

I kind of like the wood-chipping effect on some of the older coasters. It adds to the element of "danger."