Jump to content

Mean Streak closed?


Recommended Posts

Not to mention that they also closed it early last year, again for retracking. Last year, it actually caught on fire right beforehand, causing many people to ask why the Sandusky fire department acted so quickly. :lol:

Fortunately, the retracking seems to be doing the ride a lot of good. I had fun on MS for the first time ever this year.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Hm... that's odd. Those first two turns were actually quite good when I was there at the beginning of September. There were actually laterals up there, rather than obnoxious shuffling. When I hear MS's track was missing in spots, I'd imagined it would be at the bottom of some of the drops, where the jackhammering is still rather unpleasant. Oh well, must be for some good reason...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ I don't think it's roughness that's got the trims on there. There are maintenance benefits to be had as well, and, given MS's size, I bet that's one of their primary reasons they exist. In fact, I'm willing to bet that's got something to do with why the ride has gained what roughness it has... The train's constant searching for either rail in the large turns, due to the lack of force keeping the train against the outside rail, surely did something to the track. Several thousand pounds smacking against a couple pieces of wood and steel is bound to have some effect.

If I had to guess, the trims have probably cut down on their amount of maintenance at the bottom of the drops (since the train isn't moving as fast and thus isn't pushing as hard against the track and supports) but has worsened the high turns, thus creating the necessity for the retracking we're currently seeing.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I rode it back in July the trims were off the first drop and the ride was just fine until that first banked turn-I felt like Pete Puma in that Bugs Bunny cartoon from that point on. ( How many lumps do you want? Oh three or four.) You know the rest. ( LOL.)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I rode it back in July the trims were off the first drop and the ride was just fine until that first banked turn-I felt like Pete Puma in that Bugs Bunny cartoon from that point on. ( How many lumps do you want? Oh three or four.) You know the rest. ( LOL.)

I like a lotta lumps!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The problem isn't the track, it's the ungodly horrible trims on the first drop. IMO they should just remove the trims and let the "It'th jutht too rough" crowd walk down the midway to Camp Snoopy.

The trims are not there to decrease roughness, but rather decrease maintenance expenses and increase uptime.

From what I have been told, removal of the trims would cost over $1,000,000/ year and decrease uptime by almost half the operating season.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To sort of echo and reiterate Browntggrr's point, trim breaks are there to decrease the speed of a train (on any coaster) to ensure that the riders have the safest ride with a decreased number of bumps (although in this case, that's not enough). Having a trim break that does this significantly cuts down cost on maintenance of a coaster from the wear and tear of a coaster traveling at fast speeds and bouncing.

I do wonder though, if the trim breaks on Mean Streak were retrofitted or were a part of the ride when it opened. If they were retrofitted, it would cost less to remove.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe the figure he's referring to is not the construction cost necessary to remove them. It's the added wear and tear per year. In other words, without those trim brakes, an additional $1,000,000 worth of work would need to be done each year. Keeping the trim brakes prevents $1,000,000 worth of damage per year, in a sense, according to his source.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...