DeltaFlyer

I’m also pretty sure that those were also purchased while the company was still S&S Power/Worldwide, not the current S&S-Sansei that also owns Vekoma. It will be interesting to see if that makes any difference.

Part of what you are seeing is the oxidation on the exposed steel part of the rails. Without the train wheels keeping that oxidation from forming, that orange rust color really starts to show through. It's just like how brake rotors get a thin layer of rust on them when it rains.

Question: why not make the first drop go all the way to the ground?

The Big Red Machine - a ground-up RMC on The Vortex plot of land....

I wish the safety brakes would be retrofitted (or supplemented) with some magnetic brakes. Would make that stop way less painful, and would probably cut down the friction brake wear.

If you haven’t heard, there will be a new sports complex opening in Hamilton in late 2021. Spooky Nook Sports Hamilton will be the second Spooky Nook location, after one in PA. This complex will become the largest indoor sports complex in North America upon completion, over 700,000sf. Here are a few links outlining the project: https://www.spookynooksports.com/hamilton https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/10/26/spooky-nook-hamilton-butler-county-sports-complex/1772078002/ Just recently, the steel for the pre-engineered metal buildings began to arrive- with foundations and steel erection to follow. https://www.journal-news.com/business/newest-signal-spooky-nook-progress-hamilton-truckloads-steel/GjJFEDDtjULbZuoKIMu5iL/ The facility will also contain a full size restaurant, rock climbing walls, and a sizable arcade.

Source

The crane that was next to the lift hill is now disassembled in the parking lot and in the process of being transported out.

It was SO COLD. It felt far colder than Mystic in the snow if you ask me.

iPhone in my pocket wired to a cheap lav mic, used different placements to get the "alternates".

Over the last few weeks that Vortex was open, I made some audio recordings of different parts of the ride. There was quite a bit of background noise in many of them, so I did my best to filter it out. I also converted all the files over to Apple Ringtone format (.m4r) so that they can be used as text/ringtones. I love having the station bell as my default text tone. Includes: Lift Ambient + Alternate Lift Ascension (in-car) + Alternate Lift Block Clear (bell) Train Stopped in C brakes (bell) Ready Brakes Opening Station Brakes + Alternate Here is the link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ifinL5Jen_6C6Kwy2OvD-hV---jMsx1b?usp=sharing Hope you enjoy!

Today’s perk.... 50% off fudge. I have never had the park’s fudge before.

I actually cried I laughed so hard.

I did see Charlie tonight.

What time did you go? I went around 8pm and found it abysmal compared to last year. I had to ask several times to get more desserts brought out, and I never got to try the turkey. The Macaroni was probably the most disappointing thing to me- incredibly dry and tasteless. Once the dessert did get brought out, the lemon bars and the key lime pie were both very good. I’m hoping that next weekend some of the kinks are worked out and I will try it again.

As much as I would love for this to happen, I just don’t see it. It would make more sense for the next ride station to take on the same architectural style- the current station is nearing 40 years old and isn’t in the best shape, especially the roof. RMC I-box is wider than the Arrow track, so it would take some serious work to get that to fit in there, not to mention the low clearance underneath the track for mechanical equipment. I hope they prove me wrong, but it will be a sad day when the station comes down.

Whatever track was in that photo is not the storage track or the transfer track.

I will ask them today...

I rode this twice today- it’s actually really fun! After you are loaded onto the ride, you get a cycle going one direction. After waiting in the air for the cars at the bottom to load, the rotation switches direction, and you get another “cycle” that is different than the first. Capacity didn’t seem to be too bad since they are consistently loading people on, versus something like our Monster which has to be loaded separately before they run a full cycle.

Bump. I hope S&S brings one of the ride vehicles for the Axis concept.

Twisted Timbers valleyed while I was at KD on it’s opening weekend in 2018- is that the type of breaking in problems you’re talking about?

Can a B&M Dive go beyond vertical?

I’d like to see the 48-seat model of the Zamperla Endeavor. I know it likely won’t be a ride, but something for the future. I miss Witches’ Wheel.

They're just really, really sad.

Tennessee Tornado's trains are different from a "standard" Arrow train- at first glance they look very similar, but the wheels are much larger thus the bogies are different. They allow for more range of motion (while still having the side friction wheels on the inside of the rails). Right around when Arrow Development became Arrow Huss, the trains went through some changes- most notably in the train bodies themselves (Couldn't tell you the year). Corkscrew at CP would be an example of a 1st gen Arrow train- much tighter restraints and the fiberglass car bodies are not as wide. Vortex would be a Gen 2 Arrow train, where Tennessee Tornado would be Gen 3. I am sure someone knows more about this than I do. You can also see how on TT's cross ties the way they are formed and welded to the rails is different- it is a single curved piece of steel that is welded to the rail, versus the old design of (what appears to be) an HSS cut and welded to shape. I would imagine with Alan Schilke's philosophy of cutting everything possible on a CNC table, that these cross ties would be far more precise than the guess-and-check of the old Arrow design. Computer-driven hydraulic roll benders can precisely bend the steel rails to exactly the right radius- in multiple axes. It is truly amazing what Arrow was able to do without the technology we have today. The trains on Phantom's Revenge are actually the same chassis as they were on Steel Phantom- Morgan just swapped out the bodies and restraints. It looks like they may have also made the wheels larger to handle the additional speed. vs, vs,