Article on Texas Giant Misstates Claim or...

[The Interpreter]

...or the park does.

Texas Giant will NOT have the steepest drop in the world. Was it supposed to say on a wooden coaster? Will it still BE a wooden coaster?

http://www.nbcdfw.com/around-town/events/Six-Flags-to-Have-Steepest-Drop-in-the-World-86279827.html

Terpy, who can criticize more than one park chain's marketing department and/or media outlet

[Dbfan]

2Mph faster and a 79 degree drop?!?!?!? Maybe if this was 15 years ago, it would be more impressive, but now, it isnt.

[The Interpreter]

It will be impressive if it no longer beats the crap out of you...

[nhimes90]

It will be impressive if it no longer beats the crap out of you...

I have never ridden the Texas Giant, but I have a question for those who have... Is it as rough and/or rougher then SOB? Or is SOB worse?

[The Interpreter]

Being the diplomatic sort I can be, I will say Texas Giant was on a par with Mean Streak, and the worst days of Hercules...all coasters of a certain era and built for a certain reason. Heck, you can throw Rattler in there, too...

[maverick2007]

I actually enjoyed Texas Giant... Much better than Mean Streak and SOB

[KIfan1980]

all coasters of a certain era and built for a certain reason

For those of us that are not up to date on our coaster history, would you care to share some more words that might better help us interpret this statement. I can obviously look up the era on rcdb, and recognize a common designer, but am lost as to the "certain reason"

[DaveStroem]

More info on the Giant http://www.amusementtoday.com/

I thought this was getting intamin plug & play track. But this is showing something entirely new. They call it Iron Horse coaster track.

[The Interpreter]

all coasters of a certain era and built for a certain reason

For those of us that are not up to date on our coaster history, would you care to share some more words that might better help us interpret this statement. I can obviously look up the era on rcdb, and recognize a common designer, but am lost as to the "certain reason"

These coasters were built to compete with each other for tallest, fastest wooden coaster. They had relatively little airtime, for what they were. And they were not, to be charitable, built in such a way that they would be easily maintained. Put another way, first costs were emphasized at the expense of more expensive and extensive future maintenance....so what did happen? You see what is happening with Texas Giant. Hercules was demolished. Mean Streak has been greatly braked in an effort to reduce its maintenance costs and, one surmises, improve rideability. Rattler was greatly reprofiled after its very first (and very litigious) season. And Son of Beast has had problem after problem, and when the season ended last year, had been closed for quite some time...

[CoastersRZ]

That new track seems interesting. So I wonder if they will be getting new trains? I would imagine they would at the very least need to change out the wheels on the old trains.

This brings up the whole debate of whether or not this ride will even still be a wooden coaster. In theory, it will not be much different from rides like Adventure Express! Granted, the steel track is in the shape of wood coaster track. It is not like the prefab- wood track on the Intamin designed wooden coaster.

And most of these wooden coasters that have had these problems are larger rides. The smaller rides have fared far better. Just look at the quality designs of GCI rides, that may cost more upfront, but their designs prove to be more cost effective in the long run because of less maintenance issues. Granted, every wood coaster is naturally going to require some maintenance, and usually more maintenance than a steel coaster of a similar size.

[The Interpreter]

...or they came from CCI. CCI usually built low cost coasters that required a great deal of maintenance. When maintained well, they ride well...see, for instance, Raven at Holiday World. When not, see Cheetah at Wild Adventures, Rampage at Alabama Adventure, Hurricane at Myrtle Beach, Twisted Twins at Kentucky Kingdom, Villain at Geauga Lake...and see how much maintenance rides like Boulder Dash have required....

[CoastersRZ]

Exactly. But a lot of how a ride handles is determined by how well a park maintains and cares for its rides. Even the best designed GCI coaster will eventually turn sour if it is not well looked after.

As an aside, I found the website for Rock Mountain Construction, the company that is doing the work on Texas Giant. It should come as no surprise, that they have worked on projects involving Intamin`s plug and play wood coaster track on rides such as El Toro. Check out their website here: http://www.rockymtnconstruction.com/rollercoasters/roller_coasters.html

[KIfan1980]

Exactly. But a lot of how a ride handles is determined by how well a park maintains and cares for its rides. Even the best designed GCI coaster will eventually turn sour if it is not well looked after.

For some reason - this statement made me think of Gwazi after my rear of the train ride on Sunday.

[RailRider]

This new track will make Texas Giant no different than something like Gemini or Adventure Express, steel coaster with wood supports. Should be interesting to see how this turns out and I wonder about the welding of the track. Seems like it could stay as rough as it is currently. Can't wait to try it out though.

[Hank]

I have a problem with people calling the "new" Texas Giant a steel coaster. The new track is steel, but the old track is steel, too - it's just that the new stuff is not wood ply with steel on top but rather all steel in place of the wood ply. It's not "tubular" like B&M track or mine train track (think Gemini) - it's flat.

[coaster_junky]

...but you agree that the running rails are steel, which in theory, would make texas giant now a hybrid coaster, like gemini, the voyage, cedar creek mine ride, hades, ect...

*yes, i know that hades and the voyage are in the other category of hybrid coasters (steel supports with wooden track)

[The Interpreter]

Same claim, made AGAIN, in a more extensive article:

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/03/03/2012892/six-flags-ramps-up-work-on-texas.html

Sigh.

[Hank]

I, personally, shall call it a new, third hybrid - maybe the phrase "Texas Hybrid" will stick!

[The Interpreter]

That's not the issue I don't understand. There is no way this coaster has the world's steepest drop. I believe the park is trying to avoid the issue of whether it is a wooden coaster or not after all this, but in so doing, is accidentally ignoring the fact several steel coasters have much steeper drops than the new Texas Giant will. Three of them, as a matter of fact, are in Sandusky, Ohio. Another is in Jackson, New Jersey and is owned by the company making the claim in Texas.

[Hank]

Yes, I know. I think the term "for a wooden coaster" is missing. WE know what the steepest drop is - and I'm sure Six Flags is gonna get a lot of sh** about this.

[The Interpreter]

I suspect the claims were ready to release, when at the last minute, someone noticed...oh, my, it may not be a wooden coaster any more, the words on a wooden coaster were deleted, and...problem solved. They thought. Mistakenly.

[coaster_junky]

over on screamscape there is a poll asking what you think texas giant should be considered now.

texas giant poll (you have to scroll down the page a little to come to it, it's located on the right.)

choices are:

• it's still a wooden coaster.
• it's now a steel coaster.
• it should have it's own category.

the last one, isn't that what a hybrid is, a sub-category for coasters with support structure material opposite of running rails material?

[The Interpreter]

Not really. Coasters like Gemini are generally considered by most hyperclassifiers* to be steel, as the track in the past has been what has ruled the designation...and it has tubular steel track, as have virtually all, if not all, steel coasters in the past. Most hyperclassifiers* have considered the Voyages of the world to be wooden coasters...not unlike, say, The Coney Island Cyclone...

See, for instance, Roller Coaster Database:

Voyage---wood.

Cyclone at Astroland--wood.

Gemini---steel.

Only once you get down to the categories (I'd call them subcategories) under wood or steel do you find hybrid listed...then there they are:

Voyage--Hybrid (steel structure)

Cyclone at Astroland--Hybrid (steel structure)

Gemini--Hybrid (wood structure)

The new wicket here is the track on the new Texas Giant is unlike any seen before. So, rcdb is usually very fast at redoing things...goes to see:

now:

Texas Giant--Steel

Category (I'd call it Subcategory):

Texas Giant--Hybid, (wood structure)

I'd agree with this...to me, it's now going to be a steel coaster with a wood structure...and since I rode it when it was a wooden coaster, I will continue to count it, but as a coaster that no longer exists, of which, sadly, I have many.

*hyperclassifiers: Fussy, technical types who love putting things into arbitrary categories and coming up with reasons and reasoning so to do.

[coaster_junky]

i'm sorry interpreter, but the way i read your post, you kind of disagree with me, but you just went into more detail with what i said, even using "sub-category"

maybe i just read it completely wrong, but i read it like four different times and am still seeing it the same way.

[The Interpreter]

I don't disagree with you...I just find all the classifying and sorting, etc., to be amusing, as I noted in my asterisk. Heck, I don't even bother counting coasters I've ridden, except wooden and hypers and Volcano: The Blast Coaster (the last one made me...). Endless, and fruitless, arguments can result over all this. For instance, what is Superman The Escape at Magic Mountain? Besides boring, that is...

And I rode Texas Giant when it was undoubtedly a wooden coaster, so on my list it shall stay. Reminds me of the funny story of the coaster enthusiast who rode Son of Beast, then subtracted one coaster off her count!