Xcelerator structure problems?

http://www.westcoaster.net/update.php?id=0217031

looks like more supports have arrived for xcelerator! some kind of structural problem perhaps?

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Nemesis Inferno - The Pressure is Building!
Rare RollerCoaster Resources - http://clik.to/rrcr

Looks like things are shifting/tilting and those devices are to help pull it back into place.

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CBClub member #30 and #364 (renewal)

My guess would be diagonal bracing on the towers or perhaps a triangular support for the tophat. Don't look for any work to be done until post-Solace.

Moosh

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Humor Ingredients: all natural flavors, some artificial additives. Sold by weight, not volume. 100% satisfaction not guaranteed. Void in Texas and Puerto Rico.

Rumors have it that CP will be adding extra supports to Wicked Twister. Perhaps the tower design used on both of these rides just ain't up to snuff??

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Scott W. Short, "A-Lister"
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

From the looks of it, it almost appears that they are adding cables to supports somewhere... It's not very clear right now, but I'm suprised that they are doing support mods to Xcelerator. Maybe they missed something, or Cedar Fair is concerned with vortex shredding...

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Last 2002 public ride on MF's front row

Gosh, sure hope they aren't going to need anything else for TTD and we find this out in the middle of the season!

Dragster tower isn't going anywhere. It is rock solid and extremely bulky. They didn't let that concrete cure for 6 months for nothing.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

I agree, Dragster shouldn't have any structural problems. It looks like it might actually suffer from over support. Xcelerator on the other hand (along with any impulse) just looks flimsy. It's just too much track sticking up there without any support.

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Eastcoaster

geneticfreak - the way Intamin box track is structured means it can span longer areas without support. There is nothing unsafe about it.

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Humor Ingredients: all natural flavors, some artificial additives. Sold by weight, not volume. 100% satisfaction not guaranteed. Void in Texas and Puerto Rico.

I don't think thats what he meant Moosh.

I do think the way the towers sway may lead to stress fracture problems eventually.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

Brent - he specifically mentioned lack of support.

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Humor Ingredients: all natural flavors, some artificial additives. Sold by weight, not volume. 100% satisfaction not guaranteed. Void in Texas and Puerto Rico.

He never said it was unsafe though, thats what I meant.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

True, he never used the word unsafe but he said flimsy, which IMO implies unsafe.

Anyway I'm sure we're both in agreement that despite how it looks it is neither flimsy nor unsafe ;)

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Humor Ingredients: all natural flavors, some artificial additives. Sold by weight, not volume. 100% satisfaction not guaranteed. Void in Texas and Puerto Rico.

Any word on when (if) Xcelerator would go down for these "repairs" or if they'd pull a Wicked Twister and do it at night?

[edit: I just got off the phone with Knott's. They said Xcelerator is not scheduled to go down any time soon. Although they seem to deny the fact that they have parts sitting in their parking lot. Gosh, I hope it's open the week of March 10th...]

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- John
Dag, yo
Support Rob in the Great DDR Challenge!
*** This post was edited by Michael Darling 2/19/2003 7:13:07 PM ***

I thought I heard the train got stuck up on the top of the tower between a track joiner that had shifted. All of you have heard of the dropping of bolts that the structure is well known for... both of these "mishaps" could be cause for a need for extra support.

Very true Moosh

I always use the idea of bending a green stick. Well sure it doesn't break. But eventually it gets weaker, we saw what this can lead to on WT before it was stiffened.

I think it move a bit more then they were expecting.

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

well after looking at those pieces for awhile i'm bettin that its going to be some bracing for the center of the tophat.... they look like they'll be clamped onto the existing supports to avoid having to dig additional footers.... my guess is that those cable-like things will be the part to actually connect to the track, thus allowing it some movement.

at least that's my prediction :)

goliathkills: i'm pretty sure if a train got stuck up there the whole thing woulda come down. think about it.... a multi-ton train sitting on several hundred feet of unsupported track.... a gust of wind and the whole structure would suffer massive stress fractures if it even survived at all with that much weight being blown around on top of it. its only designed to handle the train for a few seconds during each crest and descent. plus it'd be pretty stressful on the structure to begin with if a train just came to a dead halt all of the sudden

hmm... yeah i wonder what'll happen to WT? those pics i saw last season w/ the new crossmembers being welded on didnt look too promising.

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"It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone"
*** This post was edited by JD 2/19/2003 8:28:58 PM ***

JD. I'm pretty sure that the track is strong enough to hold the train at any point. I can't imagine engineering that thing without taking making it at least that strong. The box track is pretty darn strong as is.

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It was like that when I got here."
"faster, cheaper, and more often" that's somebody's new sig -UpsideDawnGrrrl

Yes, it very well may be a rumor, but the track should be able to hold. The track could come just a little out of alignment and may be able to stop the train when it is moving at such slow speeds as it does when cresting the top hat.

GoliathKills said:
Yes, it very well may be a rumor, but the track should be able to hold. The track could come just a little out of alignment and may be able to stop the train when it is moving at such slow speeds as it does when cresting the top hat.

Especially when there are 12 wheel assemblies rolling over that mis-alignment.

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