As most of you know, Eagle Blue stopped running backwards after the 2005 season, and many people (myself included) thought that it would never be done again for various reasons. Well, looks like that assumption was probably wrong.
The second picture picture was taken yesterday, July 15th, 2011. This is a car from the 3rd Blue train on the storage track facing backwards. Notice that it also has the tall wings on the inside side of the train like it did last time it ran backwards. In the first picture taken on July 12th, they had the backwards car on the main track in place of that train's last car.
Last edited by DejaVu2001 on July 30th, 2011, 5:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
^Looking at that picture, they need to paint that thing. Are you sure it's about it going backwards? Maybe, it's for spare parts, and they put it backwards so they know don't put it in service.
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I don't believe anything until its announced or it happens, but I can be hopeful. i could def see this as bein just a "misunderstanding" so to speak, but if it truly runs backwards again, that'll be fantastic!! The few times I ride blue, I hear people in the station say things like "omg i thought this side went backwards?!" which is crazy cause that was a few years back & some still don't know. But not everyone visits like we do haha
It's more than just the way it is facing. The car is configured to run backwards. In the second picture, under the car, you can see that the brake fin is on the right side. To run forward, it would need to be on the other side to line up with the brakes on the track. Also, those tall wings seen on the left side of the car are only used during backwards operation.
And yes, all 3 blue trains have been run forward at one point or another since 2005, so that is not a car that was never switched back.
I would love to see this happen! I never got to ride it last time it ran backwards and thought id missed out on something cool. But now to see that it may happen again gets me really excited.
Don't fight the Bull, ride the Bull!
Best 2011 Moment: "I lost my phone on Raging Bull!" "WELL I LOST A SOCK!!!" Best 2012 Moment: "No good! DREAM ON!" Best 2013 Moment: "I came here for Auntie Anne's pretzels and coasters......in that order!"
Just got back Thursday and I did not even see any cars backward and nothing on the transfer track...unless I missed it, but looked where it was suppose to be.
I was also at the park yesterday and AE Blue is still running forward. This whole thing just seems weird. Was maintence just experimenting with it to see if it could run backwards again or what? Very strange.
6Flags4Evr wrote:I was also at the park yesterday and AE Blue is still running forward. This whole thing just seems weird. Was maintence just experimenting with it to see if it could run backwards again or what? Very strange.
One of the words in the "classified file" on the SFGAm page leading up to the big announcement Monday ends in "rds." Could part of the announcement be running Eagle backwards at Fright Fest? We shall see.
RagingFanatic wrote:I for one think that it will just be another rather unimportant event based on the "Confidential File". But you never know, I could be totally wrong.
I worry about this too. It probably doesn't even involve 2012. It had better, though, or people are going to be ticked, after last year's announcement. If Iron Wolf is indeed leaving, they have to announce it soon, though, to give people a chance to get their last rides in here. If something is replacing it, it would make sense to announce that at the same time. We shall see.
onyxhotel08 wrote:Did Six Flags announce Deja Vu was leaving to give the PUBLIC time to get their last rides in? Yeah, forget about it.
Deja Vu was an unreliable coaster they couldn't wait to get rid of. Iron Wolf is the first B&M that has run for 21 years. Can't compare the two. Yes, I do think they'll announce Wolf's closure beforehand.
There was a topic about this a long time ago. I'll try to find it and bump it to the front, but I remember most people saying they stopped running it backwards because the axles on the trains moved in the front of the car, not the back, so when it went backwards and hit the turns, it put a lot of bad pressure and force on the track. If thats true, then they would have to be attempting to re-build the cars somehow to keep this from occurring, otherwise it'll never happen. So perhaps they were indeed trying something with an un-used car to see if a new design would work! Anything is possible.
Found it! "American Eagle - Retracking/New Trains". Go to the fifth page of the topic. Very interesting. I have also posted the most relivent part in this reply, quoted from FParker185:
"The trains come assembled from PTC, parks cant go around changing stuff around.
I'll try to explain the setup more clearly.
The front 2 wheels of the car are bolted directly to the frame of the car (actually on a spiffy square nut slide in job). On the back of the car there is a bar (axle) that attaches to the car on sort of a swivel, on the ends of that bar are the wheels. when the car is running forwards the fixed wheels bank the car then when the rear wheels make it to the banked track it compensates. Cause of this the cars are designed to roll forwards so the axle follows along (kinda like a tractor trailer going down the road, the trailer always does what the tractor does). When you turn the car around, it's leading with the axle, so there is nothing steering it and it shimmy's, shakes and hunts up as it tries to turn and bounce back and forth between the rails keeping it straight, there is nothing steering or guiding it, then all that bouncing screws up the track, especially when the axle tries to turn, it's like wedging a huge crowbar between the rails trying to spread them apart. Only thing I could think of would be if it were possible to just turn the car body around on the chassis, but then the well for the axle would leave basically no legroom for people sitting in the "front" of the car."
Patch wrote:Am I the only one that thinks it should be ENTIRLY retracked as done on The Texas Giant?
Not necessary. I keep seeing people talk about a TG renovation for Eagle. TG was hurting people and in horrible shape to the point people wouldn't ride it (ala Iron Worlf), from what I have read. The only part of Eagle that is rough right now is the end of the double helix, and that's going to happen on any wood coaster. Eagle is running really well right now, actually. Take it from someone who has been riding it since year 1 in 1981. People need to understand that full wooden coasters always have a bit of roughness.
ilrider wrote:Not necessary. I keep seeing people talk about a TG renovation for Eagle. TG was hurting people and in horrible shape to the point people wouldn't ride it (ala Iron Worlf), from what I have read. The only part of Eagle that is rough right now is the end of the double helix, and that's going to happen on any wood coaster. Eagle is running really well right now, actually. Take it from someone who has been riding it since year 1 in 1981.
Hm...then i say not a FULL renovation. Just bits. Youre absolutly right about helixes. Always rough on wooden roller coasters. At least do SOME work on it, Or get some new trains for eagle. The trains right now are old :S
Xlight total rides: 50 times and in every row except front row left wing.
i could def see this as bein just a "misunderstanding" so to speak, but if it truly runs backwards again, that'll be fantastic!! The few times I ride blue, I hear people in the station say things like "omg i thought this side went backwards?!" which is crazy cause that was a few years back & some still don't know. But not everyone visits like we do haha
