American Eagle: Backwards Blue Starting August 8th

by **Jackluver18** on August 2nd, 2011, 8:08 pm

I won't get to ride it since Im going this weekend and leaving Sunday morning and won't be back in the Chicago area till FF.

by **DejaVu2001** on August 4th, 2011, 12:33 pm

Blue side is now closed for the backwards conversion. Current estimated wait time is 90 minutes :lol:

by **Cole** on August 5th, 2011, 9:23 pm

Blue Side was running backwards with passengers today! 2 days early!

by **ragingbull1331** on August 5th, 2011, 10:51 pm

Cole wrote:Blue Side was running backwards with passengers today! 2 days early!

Wait what... I was looking forwards to being one of the first rides lol

by **Patch** on August 6th, 2011, 11:26 am

ragingbull1331 wrote:
Cole wrote:Blue Side was running backwards with passengers today! 2 days early!

Wait what... I was looking forwards to being one of the first rides lol

WHAAAT?!?!?! Lets not jump to conclusions like we did with chang. For all we know, it could be testing and that could be like...a park manager or somthing? or a coaster enthusiast?

by **DejaVu2001** on August 6th, 2011, 11:35 am

^ It's open. Started testing around 12:30 yesterday, and opened between 5:00 and 6:00.

by **tribar** on August 6th, 2011, 1:29 pm

I have a random AE question and instead of creating a new topic i figured i'd just put it here

Did AE once have trim on the 1st drop. If not what are those brakes for.
They are here in 1996

but nowadays they arn't

by **FParker185** on August 6th, 2011, 3:32 pm

Yep, those were trims, due to skid brakes not being effective on steep drops, they used those brakes on the side. If you look around for a really old pic, you can see the brakes intact, I think some of those pics lurk on Steven Wilson's site. If I come across them I'll post.

by **Falcon** on August 6th, 2011, 4:31 pm

I thought those were holding brakes? My dad said that used to hold you at the top of the lift for a few seconds before you went down the drop.

by **FParker185** on August 6th, 2011, 4:43 pm

I think that was accomplished more with the lift chain rather than those brakes. Until they tore out the wooden track from the first drop to the barrel and replaced it with steel, I'm told it was ungodly rough which was the reason for the brakes.

by **Cole** on August 12th, 2011, 5:48 pm

Anyone else notice the trims at the bottom of the big helix on AER?

by **tribar** on August 12th, 2011, 8:13 pm

^Yeah haven't those always been there

by **DejaVu2001** on August 12th, 2011, 8:37 pm

^ They've been there since atleast 2002. They don't usually grab though unless Brake 5 (the brake at the top of the barrel) is off or trimming very lightly.

by **FParker185** on August 13th, 2011, 5:19 pm

They were off completely for the past 4-5 years, yesterday is the first time I felt them hit (I was on Blue though).

Website · by **Jerrykoala2112** on August 16th, 2011, 2:16 pm

I've always felt those brakes there. You can only feel the bottom brakes when the brakes entering the helix aren't grabbing. It's been like that for the past many years, as mentioned before. They're grabbing to help get the trains racing at each part of the ride and try to make it as close of a tie as possible.

by **FParker185** on August 16th, 2011, 3:03 pm

sweet, when did they install that system?

by **Necropolis** on August 16th, 2011, 10:37 pm

AE blue side totally dominated the race last time I went on. Red was slowly behind.

by **Patch** on August 17th, 2011, 10:11 am

Necropolis wrote:AE blue side totally dominated the race last time I went on. Red was slowly behind.

Now there are actual fair races. They start them at the same time, and the ride is a lot more fun. I was riding blue and red was coming up on the other side. It looked sooo awesome

by **Coastermonkey61** on August 18th, 2011, 12:14 am

It's nearly impossible to get a fair race on American Eagle when the trains go at the same time. Ride tracks aren't linked and Red picks up more speed in the helix.

by **onyxhotel08** on August 18th, 2011, 2:14 pm

tribar wrote:I have a random AE question and instead of creating a new topic i figured i'd just put it here

Did AE once have trim on the 1st drop. If not what are those brakes for.
They are here in 1996

but nowadays they arn't

Stunning picture

by **tribar** on August 19th, 2011, 11:17 pm

FParker185 wrote: Until they tore out the wooden track from the first drop to the barrel and replaced it with steel, I'm told it was ungodly rough which was the reason for the brakes.

When did they do this

by **FParker185** on August 20th, 2011, 4:54 am

I believe it was the late 80's or very early 90's

by **Necropolis** on August 20th, 2011, 2:29 pm

Coastermonkey61 wrote:It's nearly impossible to get a fair race on American Eagle when the trains go at the same time. Ride tracks aren't linked and Red picks up more speed in the helix.

Not to mention that Red side is on the inside of the helix too which gets a bit of an advantage as well.

by **RBullFan97** on August 20th, 2011, 9:27 pm

Necropolis wrote:AE blue side totally dominated the race last time I went on. Red was slowly behind.

It seems that when running backwards, the Blue side tends to win. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but it's just my observation.

by **Necropolis** on August 21st, 2011, 12:01 am

RBullFan97 wrote:
Necropolis wrote:AE blue side totally dominated the race last time I went on. Red was slowly behind.

It seems that when running backwards, the Blue side tends to win. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but it's just my observation.

Yeah I honestly do not know, but last time I went on the coaster it was before they started running it backwards. I wont be back at the park until Frightfest...hopefully not.

American Eagle: Backwards Blue Starting August 8th

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