Portable River Rapids Idea

[Gazza]

I have an Idea for a possibe transportable ride, a portable river rapids ride, Of course I doubt it would do well here but over in europe it could work especialy in Germany where traveling fairs are popular and water restrictions may be less of a problem. The course is level all the way along, but two drops are incorpirated, but all that happens is the water keeps flowing under the drops but a lift is installed thet diverts the raft up ot of the channel up to the top, then down a chute back into the channel. The rides flow is maintained by a large water wheel under each drop, Other equpment is kept under the drop too, The layout has plenty of fountains, a whirlpool, overhead waterfall, rapids and waves (like on S.R.R.) The boats would hold 6 as usual but would have a set of Shopping trolley style wheels underneath so the boat can just roll down the drops. Here It is Also on the topic of river rapids, I think there should be rafts with outward facing seating or barge style rafts with seating all facing the same way.

[pyro_man]

how is that portable.

[willsy]

looks cool, how big is it eg Lenght and width?

[Gazza]

I guess it would be arond 40x10m, but it is portable because we alredy have portable log flumes and because it isnt buried in the ground but rather in a fiberglass channel, The ride rests on a metal framework that can be easily bolted together then dissasembled. The channel segments would also be bolted together and have a rubber waterproof seal. The ride also lacks a resivior around the drops, Instead plastic gaurds are installed like on spash canyon. One thing I really should have drawn in was a plastic liner around the entire ride to catch any leaks.

[ScReAMmachine!]

Have you seen the pumps that drive the fixed versions of the TRR/SRR? Sounds good in theory but in reality is unrealistic

[Gazza]

Its powered by Two giant water wheels under the drops that force the water around, and anyway the ride is way smaller then TTR/SRR, maybe if you wanted to cut pumping power down even more, 4 rider rafts could be used and the channel could be shallower.

[Shaun]

Hay it's a great idea, but sorry to be the one who tells you but it has been done........ Check out Reverchon http://www.reverchon.com The reverchon version doesn't really look that good IMO, maybe it needs some themeing or soemthing? I've desinged myself a few coasters before too . Did you watch the James bond saturday night? I got the idea for one of my ideas from the part in the movie where he is racing throught the pipeline on the little taboggin thing. I'll leave it to your imagination Shaun

[Gazza]

Oh well, Their ride looks pretty cool, but their ride resembles more of a waterslide type ride. mine was more of a boat ride with turbulence and fountains. It would be fun to have more of those touring around. Your Idea sounds prety cool, Maybe a park could actually have a JB themed ride about that part of the movie. A ride similar to what you thought of is made by wiegand, It is called a bobkart ,http://www.wiegandslide.com/en/bobkart.htm but their ride is not fully enclosed but rather just a semicircle channel like on the tobbogan run at the big banana.

[Slick]

That one looks pretty cool/average.....

[Shaun]

How cool would it be I've been on taboggins before too, they're fun as. My idea throguh the tunnel you would also be able to control the speed and you would be able to swing the cars right up the sides of the tunnel. I was thinking maybe having the taboggins 2 people wide.. Just think of the themeing posibilitys. The taboggins would probaly go through the wheels like buggary though. Once the wheels were worn it would proably give a pretty ruff ride through the tunnel Shaun

[Gazza]

You should try and make your idea,I t wouldnt require as much know how as coasters etc, just make a simple battery powered buggy with an accelerator and brake, and a lever to control lateral motion, the lateral motion could be controlled by a simple steering system. for wheels, there is a very simple solution to prevent roughness, use inflatable tyres. The tunnel could be just a metal duct made out of the stuff they make public bin holders out of, you know, that perforated metal. I wonder waht you could call the ride, The tube twister maybe?

[Richard]

Nah, you wouldn't make them battery powered. You'd have a motor connected to some live cables running above the track. Batteries limit a lot of things including the power you can get out of it and the length of time you can operate it for, and limit safety/block systems you can have. With live wires you've got unlimited scope in terms of speeds, operating hours and you can have a great block system that could allow dispatches that give a sweet capacity even with only one or two people per car. You won't need anything for steering if it's in a tube. This thing's not going anywhere the track isn't and banking would be worked out by our good friend physics, as it is on toboggans, bobsleds etc. You'd make it out of some type of steel. It would need significant reinforcement to make the supports look nice. Run rails along the tube to create some strength. A standard toboggan gets away with nothing more than a relatively thin (perhaps 2mm) stainless steel chute because they use the ground as reinforcement. Ventillation and heat. This tube is going to get seriously hot on any day the sun is out. You're going to pump a heck of a lot of air conditioning into this thing just to keep it at a bareable temperature. Aesthetics - will this ride be visually appealing? Rides are quite often chosen because of how people can watch the ride. A person who doesn't wish to ride something can often achieve just as much satisfaction from watching people on the ride. I think a series of twisted tubes running every which way would look very cool, but as intriguing as it is, to non-riders it is just a big sculpture. To the park evaluating a ride's effects on particular demographics, when they consider non-riders, it's a big expensive sculpture. These are just a few hurdles you'd face when designing such a ride. I'm quite interested in ride design. Rather than the artwork, I perfer to get them working on paper, with appropriate calculations and whatnot. It's really nothing that'll ever go any further than paper, but just something to do as an extreme measure to kill time.

[Shaun]

It would be cool to have some clear bits of tube every so often so you can see the cars fly past but obviously they wouldn't stay clear for long. With a lot of work and perservirants you could proably neally design a prototype and build it, and then try to sell it to someone Anyone got a hill? I know where we can get some big old concrete pipes to build the proto track. Just imagine how the station would look. All dark and dingy with cars heading off down into pitch black pipes. A cold brezze flowing through the room and a flashing safety light above Shaun Thorpe

[Gazza]

Sorry, I should have worded my post better, Whem I said steering, I sort of meant the roll of the vehicle, Shaun said he would have it so the car would swing up on the sides of the tunnel, and thats what I meant. The roll could be controlled by a swiveling tyre that would force the vehicle to roll, and the swiiveling of the roll tyre would be controlled like car steering. I am assuming the vehicle would take up the whole of the tunnel, so the car could quite happily run at any angle, wether upside down or right way up. If perforated steel was used there would be plenty of ventalation , light inside the tubs, and people could easily ee what was goiing on inside. If you wanted to make dark sections an sheild would go around the outside to darken things up a bit. The ride would look quite cool I think, It would just be a a big pipe twisting and turning around, waterslides are essentally big tubes and they are not ugly so I see no problems there. In terms of power supply, There would be a ring shaped contact around the vehicle that would make contact with an electrified rail, providing power. When I get some time Ill try designing a vehicle an track.

[Shaun]

It wouldn't even have to be powered, I'd just let gravity take it's course and have it like neally everyother coaster and tobaggon run where it just rolls down the track. All you would need is a lift hill somewhere and a good blocking system incase one of the cars got stuck The only thing is though it would probaly have to be quite high to keep a good speed through out the course (like taboggan tracks) so it would probaly be best built on the side of a hill. If it was up to me I would make it so the passangers could controll the speed of the cars just like on a tobbogan but i don't know how well thiswould work in a theme park where you want high capacitys. Interactive rides are always a winner though and are very re-rideable. Ay gazza, Geelong rocks! we'll be in the top 6 this year Shaun

[Gazza]

Heres one I drew up last night, It is a front view. The pod holds 6 passengers, one of them controlls speed with foot pedals, the roll of the pod is controlled by a lever on the restraint. There are four sets of wheels, this means the car could run at any angle, upside down or right way up and two swivelling wheels attached to motors that make the car roll. (The top and bottom one turn in opposite driections to make the car roll around its center of gravity) There is also a computer mounted onboard that helps control the pod and a transponder that is used for blocking etc. Power is delivered by two electrified rails inside the pipe, a ring of metalic brushes mounted around the vehicle near the rear is what recieves the power. a non powered version would work, but I had drawn a powered one up already. In a gravity controlled one, the roll mechanisim would be modified so it could be done manually without electric motors. Here it is:

[Shaun]

I wish I could draw like that How I would build it would be much simpilar, it would be very basic. It would just be a 'tobbogan.' Just like yours it would be round, fitting the tube perfectly with the wheels on the outside and the passangers could control the speed with a lever much like a tobagon. The lever would be inbetween the 2 passagers so iether or both could controll the speed. Just like a tobboan the faster you go the higher you get on the turns and the more exciting it is. In some spots you could also have gide rails that stick out the sides of the tunnel to guide the tobboogan in the right position and speed. I think simple is the key but maybe my idea maybe a little too simple, requireing a lot of maintainance. Also i think all the passangers need some controll over the speed if your gunna do it liek that. If you were after a high capacity rollercaoster I think your design would be much better but not quite as 'fun and reridable' Sorry about the speeling and stuff, I'm going to bed Shaun

[Gazza]

I suppose a gravity powered on would work quite well, and I doubt matinace would be too much of an issue. You could create really cool courses with dual lift hills and steep downhill curves to provide maximum amounts of "wall time" If you did the severly enough the car could even complete a full barrel roll. just thinking about one of these really makes me wanna ride one You really do have a cool idea.