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ruffbn

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  1. That makes sense. I should have put 2 and 2 together...I was starting to wonder if they used the same design for permitting and construction purposes across different parks. It seems like a cost effective way to give parks new installations and probably helps expedite the projects overall. It's cool that the parks put their individual spin on them such as theme and food selection.
  2. By doing a quick property search on the Warren County website: http://www.co.warren.oh.us/property_search/summary.aspx?account_nbr=1202233 you can find some mention of what I assume to be permit fees for a few items under the memos tab. The ones in particular that seems interesting are "Harbor House Foundation", "Harbor House Shell", "Sprinklers-Harbor House". Could this be a similar restaurant to the Harbor House at Carowinds? The only thing that is a bit puzzling is that the name seems better fit for an installation in the water park. Regardless, it sounds like a place that would be serving up seafood. Thoughts?
  3. http://www.co.warren.oh.us/property_search/summary.aspx?account_nbr=1202233
  4. It's been a while since my last post but I figured I would go ahead and jump in. I've kindof been holding out to see if anybody else posted it, but since nobody has to this point I'll go ahead. All you have to do is search the parcel of land on the Warren County Auditors site and you will find quite a bit of info. Under the memos you'll find line items associated with permitting and or fees for the ride. More interesting though is the document under the recorder data that is a construction notice for the project and happens to list all contractors and companies involved. I would say that researching those companies will give you a clue as to what is in the shed.
  5. Sorry for the angle, but that's the best I could do from the WWC path
  6. I am currently on the train. They are setting up the podium on the back side of the Crypt Building. I will try to get a picture from the WWC path.
  7. Out of curiosity, has anybody else been to IAPPA? The last time I went was a few years back. I vaguely remember RMC's booth with a car from one of their coaster trains. It seemed like a prototype at the time. If I only knew how much they would be talked about a few years later I probably would have paid a lot more attention! Anyways, just wondering.
  8. ^^^ Ha! Not quite the parking lot. A few stop lights down on Columbia. Close enough to swing by 4 or 5 evenings a week.
  9. I've probably been on Banshee more than any ride this year at KI because it's about the best return on investment as far as time goes haha. It's about 15 minutes for me to go from my couch to sitting on the ride. My wife and I love to head up to KI on week nights for the last few hours or so. For us, Banshee has been the go to. It's typically a walk on type wait on most days because the crew really does a good job of moving people through. I don't have a huge list of Inverts like some of the guys on here, but I've ridden Raptor at CP, Batman at SF St Louis, and one of the Dueling Inverts at Universal Florida. Out of those rides, Banshee is the only one that is not constructed on a typical flat plot of land. I find it pretty awesome that after the zero G element at the top half of the ride, you find yourself diving further down into the terrain. It's almost as if the coaster gets its second wind. It's pretty cool. They seats and restraints are very comfortable IMO and lead to me enjoying the ride more than most. Hope this helps!
  10. I want to go ahead and add my thoughts about the discussion of the classification of the RMC Coasters. It seems that there are many different opinions about what a Wood, Steel, or Hybrid coaster consist of. I guess I consider myself a coaster enthusiast, but I also would say I am a construction enthusiast as well. I definitely love coasters and love the ride experience, but I would say I am equally fascinated with how they are designed, how they are built, and just the overall construction process in general! These things are truly remarkable when you consider everything that goes in to one! Having said that, I think its very difficult to classify an RMC in any given category. I say this because I am construction guy, and I usually evaluate things by the way they are designed and put together. My initial thought was to just throw RMC in the Hybrid category because of the building materials. After doing some research on all of their products and installations, I am backing off labeling anything RMC as Wood, Steel or Hybrid. I think its most appropriate that RMC has its own classification quite honestly. Ill explain why: When I look at their I-Box installations, I see a huge variety. There is the new projects that are all steel, all wood, or wood and steel. The layouts seem to be more aligned with Wooden Coasters, but the features tend to be more like a Steel Coaster. I have a hard time calling them a Hybrid, because I see those as more of a Mine Train or Gemeni type Coaster. Then you have to throw in the I-Box rehabs of traditional Wooden Coasters. I think at that point it looses the Wooden classification, but again, its hard for me to call it a hybrid. I took a good look at their Topper Track system too. I think this is probably closest to a Wooden Coaster, but I wouldn't commit to calling that a wood coaster. From what I can see, most of boards of a traditional wooden track stack on top of each other with the topper essentially in place of where the top 1 or 2 boards would be. If this was the only difference, I would still consider it a wood coaster. When you think about it, there is still steel on traditional wooden tracks, it just happens to be the surface the wheels make contact with. The track topper system essentially mimics the shape of that top assembly to create a more durable version. The tricky part comes when evaluating how it is secured. Most of the pictures I was looking at showed some steel lateral members underneath the track. I believe this system allows the stack of wooden boards to be sandwiched in-between the topper and the steel lateral members. At that point, I consider that to be too much steel involved for me to call it a wooden coaster. It still doesn't seem like a hybrid either. I think RMC is probably one of the most innovative companies the coaster world has seen in a while. Their designs allow for some pretty unique elements that make their rides special. I think we will probably be seeing a lot more rides like these in the future. In a way, its probably as ground breaking as the first steel coaster was back in the day, or even the first coaster inversion. I think this is a type of coaster that others are going to recreate with their own similar technologies. Just my thoughts!
  11. Hi guys! Long time follower, first time poster. Just wanted to finally join in on the fun! This is the first season I've had a pass in probably more than a decade! I grew up in the area but I moved away for some time as I started my career. This is my first full year back in Ohio. My wife and I decided to get passes for the heck of it and I can say that it has been a blast! We've been about a dozen times so far this season and have enjoyed every bit of it! Hopping on KIC and following the KI community has been really fun and has added to the excitement for me! Sorry for the long winded intro I wanted to throw out a few observations about the rivertown construction. I am only going to give it my best guess based on my experience with Engineering/Construction. I have a bachelors degree in Construction Management with a focus in Civil Engineering Technology. I'm probably non the wiser than anybody else on here, but I work with Engineering/Construction drawings on a daily basis as well as the actual construction activities on various projects. Here are my thoughts of what I have seen so far: The land clearing for this project is shaping up quickly. I've seen a lot of development in the last few weeks from riding the train and WWC. A lot of folks have commented on the surveying stakes for this project. While they are a good indication of construction in the area, they may not always have direct correlation with the layout of the ride. For example, any time the shape of the land is altered in any significant way, there is usually a large undertaking in the grading and drainage efforts. A lot of those stakes could be limits of the grading and or clearing or even just mark a buffer zone between the actual area of work and the limits of the construction area. I think the best bet is going to be getting a hold of some more in depth drawings in order to map out the layout. I wanted to speak up a little bit earlier when there was a lot of talk around the North indication on the plans. I saw it stated a few times and I would agree with the folks who have said that this most likely represents a "Project North" as opposed to a true north direction indication. There are a few reasons this is done in construction depending on the project. I'm actually working on a project right now where the project north is closer to East than it is North. My guess is it is based around the orientation of a major part of construction other than the track itself. Most likely a station building, or something of that nature. Lastly, it looks to me like the steel in the pictures that is laying in the construction area is most likely for the civil work, and not the ride itself. I am making this assumption based on a few reasons. One is that I think it would be unlikely that anything touching the ride itself would come untreated or unpainted. Most steel for structural support comes from the shop either galvanized, painted, or at least primed. These do not appear to have anything on them. That leads me to believe they are for piling. The I shape is ideal for pile driving. If you look at retaining wall piles or even guardrails for that matter, you will most likely see something similar to those. Additionally, the lack of any pre-drilled beams also leads me to believe they are not intended for the ride structure itself. I would be highly surprised if anything steel arrived on site for the actual ride itself that wasn't pre-fabricated. It's a pretty typical practice in construction to do anything and everything you can in a shop setting to control cost and quality. You want to limit the amount of field welds or bolt up connections on the construction site in order to ensure a quicker build and less worries of and quality control issues. Anyways, sorry for the long winded post. I've been meaning to throw in my thoughts but haven't had an opportunity until now. Look forward to the discussion!
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