Space Mountain starting test and adjust

M

magicmaya

Active Member
sillyspook13 said:
Also possibly worth noting: the pile of skyway debris is gone.
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:eek: woah! That Fast!?!?! Wow :sohappy:
 
JediMasterMatt

JediMasterMatt

Well-Known Member
majortom1981 said:
Like i stated before maybe the saw they didnt need new track.

The wheels on the car can be the producers of all the roughness. Maybe they changed the wheels on the cars and noticed that the ride was much smoother.

Why replace the track if you dont have too ?
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I've been relatively quite on the subject of track replacement and roughness, less to stir up a firestorm; but, you just hit the nail on the head. One of my other passions, is being a roller-coaster enthusiast (400+ different coasters at last count) and I can tell you that on a steel coaster the primary source of what is perceived as roughness are directly related to the wheels. Well, not necessarily the wheels themselves; but, how the wheels make contact or more importantly - a lack of contact with the track. The "slop" allowed between the wheel and the steel rail is what causes the majority of roughness that is present in a steel coaster.

The comment about Space receiving new wheel bogeys has peaked my interest. An example of how the engineering of a proper wheel assembly can make a huge difference in roughness can be experienced a few miles east of Disney at Islands of Adventure.

The undisputed masters of smooth, highly engineered coasters is the work of Bolliger and Mabillard (B&M). Islands of Adventure is a perfect showcase of how wheel assemblies make a huge difference in how smooth or rough a ride is. Compare Fire or Ice Dragon with Hulk. Hulk is much rougher and much more prone to roughness caused by the condidtion of wear and tear on the wheels in use than either of the two Dragons. This is because the wheel assembly on Hulk is designed differently than any other B&M ride to allow for the launch mechanism to function properly. The story is Hulk is that Universal wanted a launched coaster and B&M doesn't offer them because of how the launch system would require the tolerances of their wheel assemblies to be off and this would cause roughness. For the pinch-wheel tire drive system on Hulk to function properly, they have to be able to grab and center the train via friction to propel it up the hill. This means when the launch tires grab the train for the launch, the side friction guide wheels (that steer the train left to right) have to have enough slop in them to allow the launch tires to line up on the train. This extra bit of slop between the track guage and the wheels on the train is what causes Hulk to be rougher than an average B&M on most days. On a good day, when Hulk receives a new set of wheels, this slop is lessened and the ride is smoother.

So, if that is what makes Hulk rough. What makes Fire and Ice so much smoother. Most B&M coasters have spring tensioned wheel assemblies that take up the slop between the wheel and the rail. Thus the wheels always stay in contact with the track. Hulk cannot have this due to it requireing slop for the launch to work.

B&M's first official coaster, Iron Wolf at Six Flags Great America, didn't have the spring tensioned wheel assembly and when it has a set of bad wheels on it, it's as rough as any Vekoma or Arrow coaster. If you catch it after the wheels are replaced, it's as smooth as any new B&M.

So, the news of Space getting new wheel bogeys could be the brightest piece of information for those hoping for a smooth Mountain. If the trains on the Mountain can keep their wheels in contact with the track at all times, then Space should run as smoothly as it did when it first opened. That is unless, over the years, new track pieces were added that changed the profile. It would be VERY, VERY rare that normal wear and tear would cause any sort of reprofiling of a piece of steel track that would cause excessive roughness. The only downside of all the wheels staying in contact with the track at all times is that it WILL cause the ride to be slower due to the added friction.

Personally, I was excited for the new track and support as it would've allowed for heavier trains with onboard audio.
 
dandaman

dandaman

Well-Known Member
JediMasterMatt said:
1. The "slop" allowed between the wheel and the steel rail is what causes the majority of roughness that is present in a steel coaster.

2. The undisputed masters of smooth, highly engineered coasters is the work of Bolliger and Mabillard (B&M). Islands of Adventure is a perfect showcase of how wheel assemblies make a huge difference in how smooth or rough a ride is. Compare Fire or Ice Dragon with Hulk. Hulk is much rougher and much more prone to roughness caused by the condition of wear and tear on the wheels in use than either of the two Dragons.

3. B&M's first official coaster, Iron Wolf at Six Flags Great America, didn't have the spring tensioned wheel assembly and when it has a set of bad wheels on it, it's as rough as any Vekoma or Arrow coaster. If you catch it after the wheels are replaced, it's as smooth as any new B&M.
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1. QFT. The one Vekoma SLC I've ridden literally had a full inch between the upstop wheels and the rail when I glanced at it in the station; it rode about as well as I expected it to after that. :lol:

2. I've had mixed experiences with B&M smoothness, but that's likely due to the second point you mentioned about Hulk. Back in '07 when I first rode it I thought it was quite rougher than I'd expected based on rider reviews and was rather disappointed; rode it last week, considerably smoother. Newer B&M's like Behemoth and Manta have been consistently smooth (and awesome!) no matter which train I've sat in.

3. July was when I first rode this painful piece of coaster history. It could certainly be improved by some new wheel assemblies. :dazzle:
 
TalkingHead

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
sillyspook13 said:
I rode TTA twice this morning and sadly I missed getting to see the train on the lift hill by a matter of seconds. I did however notice that the lift effects were on and have obviously been refurbished (note: 10 seconds to launch sign).
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Is the "Launch Control Alpha" sign that's on the left underneath the window a new addition? I don't recall seeing it before--it looks like the right side has something similar (probably Launch Control Omega?).

Anyway, hope it's new...and hope there's some new details we can't see with the lights ON.
 
Exprcoofto

Exprcoofto

New Member
TalkingHead said:
Is the "Launch Control Alpha" sign that's on the left underneath the window a new addition? I don't recall seeing it before--it looks like the right side has something similar (probably Launch Control Omega?).

Anyway, hope it's new...and hope there's some new details we can't see with the lights ON.
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I wondered the same thing. So I looked for a video on YouTube posted a while back it those word were there. They are just popping out more because they've been repainted against the bright white in the background.
 

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