Wooden Roller Coasters

[Guest Chippy]

Heres a question are all wooden roller coaster rough like the bush beast and the scenic railway. mrgreen

[Richard]

No they're not. I've not experienced a ride that's anywhere in the league those two are. Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa is the roughest I've ridden, and it's bumpy - not at all causing pain like our two do. Wonderland haven't spent nearly enough on maintenance, nor do they realise how much good full retrackings and whatnot do, and Luna Park's Scenic Railway looks to still have much of the original wood, which says a lot. Considering its tallest drop is all of about eight metres and so gently taken, it's amazing that it could be so painful.

[HussRainbow]

im used to the bumpyness of the scenic now, it doesnt seem to worry me anymore

[Guest Chippy]

Well I could never get use to it and yah. mrgreen

[Richard]

I don't see why you'd want to get used to it. As great as it is riding a 90+ year-old ride for the whole "Wow, look at me, I'm riding a 90+ year-old coaster!" factor, but as far as coasters go, it's forceless, slow and well, boring.

[Nightshifter]

one of my favourite ride would have to be the bush beast, if you want a smooth ride, well soother ride than sit in the first 3 carriages, the back is the roughest being that the carriage is always hitting the carriage in front of it. The bush beast really isnt that bad, i think it's very much fun, it's one of the fastest roller coasters in Australia: ALL MEASURES ARE WRITTEN IN kM/HR AND ARE IN ORDER Tower of terror: 160. 9 BUSH BEAST: 90 Cyclone: 85 leathal Weapon: 80 Demon: 77.2 Corkscrew: 70 Road runner: 45.9 Scooby Doo: 44.6 Rugrats: 41.5 It also has a unique drop that sort of twists. Another large drop, a fan turn which is one of the best parts of the ride, 2 U-turns, one which is on an angle and in total 7 drops on the ride. It looks appealing to people, however its more expensive than steel roller coasters, but in my rating i would give the bush beast an 8.5/10

[Daniel]

90 km/h my left whatsit mate. How long do you think it's been since it did 90km/h? 90 km/h when it first opened and was looked after...

[Nightshifter]

keep in mind that not all the roller coasters are brand new. Bush beast would still be in the lead anyway. Becasue bush beast has aged, lethal weapon, demon they have all aged.

[Daniel]

You don't need to explain that Shifty, all I said to you was that it does not go 90km/h anymore.

[Richard]

Actually, it really is that bad. If 75+ year old Giant Dipper at Belmont Park can be smooth, then there's no excuse for a 20 year old coaster. It can't be too far from 90km/hr. How do you propose it completes the course if it's lost any significant speed over the years? There's an incredibly fine line between making it and valleying. If I were at home I'd pull out some of my friend Newton's formulae and go about proving it, but the bottom line is you're not going to loose more than a few km/hr off the designed speed before it valleys.

[Nightshifter]

and thats correct and with those statistics i gave you the bush beast still tops second fastest roller coaster in Australia with it's initial speed, this initial speed aplies with all the other roller coasters. But Richard has the Giant Dipper ever had siginificant redevelopments through it's 75 + life? Like the bush beast hasn't really had a big refurbishment and really at this time it doesn't need any becasue it's not really that old, i mean they replaced a few pieces of wood here and there, but with this wooden roller coaster your talking about there must be some sort of major reconstruction.

[Flea]

I'm with Daniel on this one. The only reason I say that is because it barely clears the hill. On the transition from the hill to the (slow and boring) turn around, there seems to be a metal strip with a cable through it. I've seen an empty train clinging on to this object, so it's obviously an anti roll back system. Daniel has suggested that the cable is a winch to get the train rolling again. However, on recent rides, I've noticed that the cable is spinning furiously (at least to my eyes) as if it were giving the train a "boost" to clear the hill. This suggests that the train doesn't go as fast as it used to. Also, I've heard reports from inside the park stating that a large piece of wood broke off from the structure when last operating two trains. Apparently BB can't handle two trains, which is why there is only one train operating at the moment. Just a rumour though!

[Nightshifter]

sometimes the weight of the carriage has a big role in the speed of a roller coaster. The heavier the carriage the faster the train will normally go. Who knows these new carriages may have ball bearings or something heavy underneath the carriage to keep it's momentum. The speed is never constant through many circuits. There could be a 1-2 km difference through each ride depending on the weight the people carry on each ride.

[Daniel]

I still have no idea where this cable is you're talking about, but my thoughts would be it's a winch. Tell me where exactly it is and you might get a more detailed answer. If it's on the back curve, it's a winch. Just so 10 people don't have to get up there and push it when it stops like the old days.

[Richard]

Actually, by saying Bush Beast doesn't need any major work itself shows that Australian wooden coasters are needlessly rough and painful. Yes, a wooden coaster is supposed to have a bit of character, but seriously, Bush Beast crosses that line and then some. You mightn't think it's really that bad, but trust me, it is. Just because it's not 75 years old doesn't mean it doesn't need serious work done. It's painfully rough, so it's time. Some wooden coasters get a complete retracking every season. That's not just replacing a piece of wood here and there - that's replacing 4-8 layers of two inch thick wood from station to brake run.

[Bussy]

It's all good to say that Bush Beast should be re-tracked every year, but how long does this take? Could you imagine the response on this forum as well as the general public at the park if it was closed for a couple of months each year? We all know that the wooden coasters in North America are a lot smoother than the Australian ones but that is probably beacause a lot of the parks over there close down over winter therefore allowing much more work to be done on the rides every year. Even if a park does not close down over winter in North America they can still afford to have a coaster closed for a month or so due to the fact that people will still have the choice of about 5 or 6 other coasters (wooden and steel) to go on. "The Bus is now leaving for Micronesia"

[Daniel]

They wouldn't need to re-track it every year, but it needs to be done, just once! I'd say it's never had a complete re-track. They only ever patch up where people have injured themselves. It needs more than serious work I'll tell ya. A bulldozer would work pretty well. Whenever I went on it, it was at the front. I sat at the back once and it was unbelievable. What does it tell you when maintenance won't let their own family ride it?

[Nightshifter]

Richard all i can say is that the first drop on the bush beast is painful but the rest of the ride doesn't seem to be rocky. i mean the thunderbolt was worse and the bushs beast really isn't that rocky through the second drop and after that. i know your in America and you've been on rides that are very smooth and stuff like that, but fro australian standard i think it's a mad roller coaster.

[Guest Chippy]

you left out Thunder bolt at 87km/ph and rcdb Record holder search is wrong and it says thunder bolt is closed. mrgreen

[rappa]

Last time I checked The Bolt aint exactly open for business dude!

[Guest Chippy]

mm its true har. |

[Flea]

Actually Nightshifter, I'd say quite the opposite. IMO, the first drop is the smoothest part of the ride (you'll know if you've ridden recently), and the rest of the track just bumpy. Not extremely rough, just very bumpy. The most brutal part of the ride is when exiting out of the fan turn at the back. Thankgod those seat dividers are there! Liam

[Guest Chippy]

I wonder this wooden coaster is rough. :mrgreen: http://www.totalthrills.com/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=99 http://www.totalthrills.com/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=100 http://www.totalthrills.com/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=101

[rappa]

What is that coaster? I know I've seen those pics before...

[Guest Chippy]

Son of Beast at Paramonts kings island.