HTCO Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Very cool and interesting blog post. Carpenters have been busy this winter working on The Beast roller coaster at Kings Island. Since mid-December, they've had to fight rain, snow and ice in their effort to re-track an 800-foot section of the ride's course. But don't worry! They'll have The Beast ready to thrill riders when the park opens for the 2011 season on Saturday, April 30! http://www.visitkingsisland.com/public/fun/blog/2011/2/14/Beast_of_a_project.cfm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 And before anyone asks, no they are not adding a tunnel. That plastic tarp with the wood supports is just there so that the carpenters can safely do their work in the winter months when Mother Nature is not as agreeable. Nice to see them retracking 800 feet of the ride! That appears to be the section of track right before rounding the bend and heading to the second lift hill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rcfreak339 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Very cool. The quote; "Beast of a project" is actually how The Beast received it's name, when workers would come in from the work site they would always say something along the lines of "That is a Beast of a project" or "We need to go back out and work on that Beast" shortly after The Beast was born. Lots of people probably knew that, something I learned last summer that I thought was very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrose530 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 How do we know that the video was The Beast? could of been the Son of Beast? No real proof that it was The Beast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium13 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 You can see the same color stain used for The Beast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16gwoods Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Im pretty sure it was The Beast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 How do we know that the video was The Beast? could of been the Son of Beast? No real proof that it was The Beast! SOB's track is wider and the layering of the wood would be different if it was SOB. Lord, can we have a topic void of SOB conspiracy theories for one day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 From my understanding, Beast's name came was determined by the "powers that be" from the roar of the train through the tunnels once the testing began. If i'm not mistaken, that information is found in one of these videos from Kings Island: Riding history to the limits: http://www.cetconnect.org/KingsIsland/index.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rcfreak339 Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 ^Myself and about 30 or so people were told exactly what I said by Don on a walk back last season. I'm not saying you were wrong, just saying what I was told. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyGuy4KI Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 So I noticed that the old metal track is sitting on the hand railing in the video. So does the metal track not get replaced and reused? If so, do they do anything to it when replacing the track or just screw it back down to the freshly laid track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 ^ That really depends on the condition of the track. Typically, there will be some small rust spots which will need to be sandblasted and if the metal track is not too worn or damaged, it can be re-used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muppetfan1999 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 What does "Re-Tracking" mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordSkippy Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I believe re-tracking is when sections of track on a roller coaster are repaired or replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 On wooden coasters, the track is made up of layers of wood, typically eight layers of wood. Over many seasons of the wear and tear of the heavy coaster trains running over them, sections of track, particularly in high speed, or high force areas, can wear out. I don`t know the exact science behind it, but would imagine part of it has to do with the nails and connections wearing bigger holes in the wood over time. Another possibility could be that the wood itself has become fatigued (ie has started to compress slightly from all the forces exerted on it). When people refer to retracking a wooden coaster, it usually means that the park`s maintenance team removes several layers, or all the layers of wood tracking in a section of ride. As you can see in that video, they are working on placing some new wood in that stretch of ride, which is a high speed section of the ride. Because of the amount of work involved, retracking a wooden coaster is typically a winter/off season project. Generally, retracked sections of wooden coasters run smoother in that section of track than they did the year before under the old track. And is this maintenance that generally results in wooden coasters having higher upkeep costs compared to their steel counterparts. In essence, wooden coasters are never finished being built, as wood is continually being replaced throughout the years. The blog post mentioned that 800 feet of Beast track was being retracked this off season. To put that into perspective, the 800 feet of track is roughly 10 percent of the total track length on The Beast. That seems like a high amount! Hopefully, The Beast will be roaring in excellent shape on April 30th! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordSkippy Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Or that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendrick Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Is this 800 feet in the last few turns right before the 2nd hill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I`m not sure if all of it is, but the section that was shown in that video appears to be from the area you described. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XGatorHead 8904 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 As you can see in that video, they are working on placing some new wood in that stretch of ride, which is a high speed section of the ride. The Beast has high speed sections??? I kid because I care. The Beast is still my #2 woodie for sentimental reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendrick Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I`m not sure if all of it is, but the section that was shown in that video appears to be from the area you described. Not saying this is the area, but if they did do 800 feet... here is the area that basically covers all of those turns. (The real high speed area of The Beast.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillsberry123 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I believe parts of the helix were retracked last year, so doing the turns before the 2nd lift would make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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