Voyage Trains

[BLADE]

Holiday World confirmed on facebook that the new timberliner trains being built for the Voyage will not arrive until fall, which means they will not be put on until 2013. This will completely waste the money they just spent on retracking and reprofiling Voyage.

[FParker185]

Well, I don't think this info is shocking for anyone, and the work they did had to be done anyways. There was no way they could leave The Voyage running like it was running last year, and it had more to do with poor initial structural design more than the the rolling stock it's running. Honestly I'd bet that Voyage won't be running Timberliners anytime in the next 2-3 years if ever, and the park probably knew this ahead of time. They know that the Timberliners for Voyage are a work in progress if even that.

[BLADE]

They sold two of the ptc's back in 2010, so they definitely were counting on these. HW was so close to having them on when I went there back in June 2010. They have to do something with this coaster.

[BLADE]

Here's a video of the Timberliners apart in an office I found. Man, I hope they get these operational. Back in 2010 at Holiday World, I was so close to these new trains I could almost touch them. I was hoping they would be getting installed on Raven and Legend around next year, after running on Voyage for 3 years. Then other parks would feel more comfortable about ordering them and it could lead to more coasters being improved than just Holiday World's. I'd love to see one on Hades.
I wish Will was still here. They might be on already if he was, since he was involved with the designing of Voyage. It seemed with his passing that momentum was lost and delays started around then.

http://www.thecoastercritic.com/2010/02 ... .html?vm=r

[FParker185]

Don't forget, last year they bought a bunch of new PTC cars for The Voyage.

Also I've ridden Timberliners, they're really not all that great. If they are on a rough ride, it's going to be quite a miserable experience, there is literally no padding what so ever.

[BLADE]

Oh, forgot about that. What other coasters are using them? Since you are a big woodie connoiseur what brands do you like best? You don't think timberliners could keep Voyage as your #1?

[FParker185]

For Voyage it would depend how it rode. If it ran smoothly, I don't see why I'd take it down from #1 for me. If it doesn't ride smooth, it'd drop like a rock for me along with pretty much everyone else.

For Woodie trains that I've ridden, if I ranked them it'd be...


1. Ed Vettel trains
2. Vekoma
3. NAD Century Flyers
4. Millennium Flyers
5. PTC drop bars
6. Intamin (prefab)
7. PTC's with individual lapbars (not counting American Eagle or any other "in house" jobs)
8. New Gerstlauer's with the L shaped lapbars.
9. Timberliners
10. Gerstlauer (old with U bar)
11. Intamin (vague PTC clone when viewed from a distance)
12. Arrow, though I think the last set is now gone was on Pegasus at Efteling, also a vague PTC clone.
13. Morgan (I only put them this high cause they always track nice)
14. B&M, as featured on Psyclone at SFMM, and now during fright fest on Colossus.
15. CCI in house train, it's so bad it's been moved between 3 different coasters, settling on The Underground at Adventureland in Iowa.
16. Premeir
17. I've never ridden these, but will this fall, but the Kumbak trains look utterly horrible on Stampedia at Port Aventura, so I'll default them to last.

The rankings are mainly determined by comfort, since there are really only 3 mechanical designs out there for rolling stock, Boxcars, single articulating axle and steering wheel bogies.

[BLADE]

That is an impressive collection. I have not even heard of a couple of those brands. Millennium Flyers have probably been the best I've been on with the Intamin prefab next. Didn't know Morgan, Arrow, Premier, or Vekoma made any. Where are the B&M trains operating now?

[FParker185]

Will cover a few of the rarer trains....


Ed Vettel, no seat dividers, no lapbars, generally a very loose non adjustable seatbelt. Thick soft padding in spades, just plain Old School awesomeness, they currently run on the Lakeside Cyclone, Conneaut Lake Blue Streak has a set that currently doesn't run, and the trains on Jack Rabbit at Kennywood are of the same lineage, but not actually vettel I hear, also that one had modern seatbelts installed :/



Arrow trains sold by Intamin:


Vekoma Wood Coaster Train (super giant, extra comfy seats, no seatbelt, non restrictive lapbar and they even track nice)



B&M ( look like PTC's but with no padding at all, and almost double the weight, today they only run during the month of October on one side of Colossus at SFMM)


Premeir monstrosities, they have no concept of what shape the human body is comfortable in, also track horrible, worst out of any manufacturer in that department.



The CCI in house train that ran on Screachin Eagle at Americana, then Pegasus at Big Chief/Mt O, then finally settled on The Underground, basically a junior coaster/dark ride at Adventureland in Iowa, they are quite uncomfortable and have a single position lapbar that comes down quite low.


And last, Morgan Trains, aka the bathtubs...


Also somewhere along the line I forgot the other CCI in house trains, the one's that run on Lost Coaster at Indiana Beach, I'd put those somewhere like upper middle, though that'd be if they ran on something else as designed, without the netting, as they run at IB I'd put them right in the middle of the list.

[CoasterDemon]

I find the GCI Millennium Flyer trains to be the most comfortable 'new' trains - until that lap bar drops down. Then, not as comfortable.

Coney's Cyclone trains pretty much rock, love that ride. Thunderbolt...
I have a huge soft spot for the old trains. I don't think I'll ever "get over" this:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hp ... 5731_n.jpg

That ride was perfect. I have sat in the Gravity Groups Timberliner seats (at Holiwoodnights, when they had them on display) but have yet to ride in them. The side of the cars seem to be a little squeezing on the shoulder - but other than that, they seem OK. The reports of people who have ridden in them all seem positive; they have more of a free feeling.

Steel: Since we are talking about trains and comfortable-ness, I can't help but think about the old Schwarzkopf/Intamin trains. I was just looking at some Mind Bender (GA) pics I have, and it reminds me how comfy those trains are. Even though (at 6'1") my knees hit the knee pads, they provide a great ride. Even with individual lap bars, you still move around and slide into your riding partner because there are no seat dividers.

[FParker185]

Nice pic, unfortunately I never got to ride Blue Streak in that configuration. By the time I got there in 1999, all the padding was removed, headrests were added, individual lapbars replaced the buzz bars and the seats were narrowed with the extra thick aftermarket seat dividers, though I understand that all didn't happen at once, they modified one or 2 things a year until a perfectly good and awesome train was butchered to the point of being virtually unrecognizable.

I was never really a fan of the Coney Island Cyclone trains, though I'm a bigger guy and with all the mods over the years to the seats and the lapbars, it makes for a poor fit, though I guess the trains are going to be rehabbed now rather than replaced, maybe they could take a the add on bar off the lapbar so anyone bigger than average can actually fit, either that or reduce the padding some.

And my only real problem with the timberliners is the complete lack of padding, all the "padding" on the ride is that high density molded foam, it's like sitting on a solid surface. If the ride rides really smooth, it's a non issue, but if there is any roughness what so ever, every single bump is going to go right into your spine. Oh, also I banged my elbow really bad on the wraparound metal bar just outside the car, but above the side of the car, it left a rather large bruise, but I think that was a freak accident thing. You can see the silver bar in this pic sticking quite a bit up above the side of the car, I just had my arm in a funny spot I guess.

[FParker185]

I found a better picture of Morgan cars with this blast from the past....



And to boot they offered a view that couldn't be beat!

[CoasterDemon]

^Yikes, that brings back memories. My first ride in those awful plastic coffins... in the back seat of the red train. *Ejector air* then I was slammed straight down on that hard plastic seat divider. As a hearty 16 year old kid, I literally thought I had broke my hip.

Another crazy site is the PTC coffin cars that were rigged up before they got those Morgans on the Texas Cyclone. And a very rare site - the over the head metal *cages* that were built (but I don't think ever used) for the Riverside Cyclone (Six Flags New England)

[tp41190]

I really liked the trains on the Coaster in Vancouver. Tons of room which led to completely stand up airtime.

[Ilovthevu']

So, I have a question for everyone. What will happen first? Will the Voyage actually get to run the Timberliners, or will Flying Turns be open? lol

[monsterfan99]

^I go with option C; the inverted, launched wooden coaster opens.

[FParker185]

be careful what you ask for....


http://www.gordonrides.com/concepts.html

[DejaVu2001]

Although we have made progress testing the new Timberliner trains designed for Voyage, they were not delivered to us in time to complete testing. We intend to resume Timberliner testing following our daily season. We thank everyone for your patience, and promise to post updates when testing resumes in late August. Meanwhile, we plan to run PTC trains on Voyage during our daily season this year.

Is anyone here surprised by this? Anyone? Bueler?

[Luxornv]

I didn't know they retracked Voyage last season. They need to do it again.

[BLADE]

This blows. I was planning on stopping there on my way down to Branson this summer. I wanted to ride Voyage when it was fresh. This is taking longer than Disney takes on projects. I may go somewhere else instead now. These were so close to being on when I was down there in 2010. No excuse for this. In 4 years you can design and build an entire coaster from scratch.

It's looking like FParkers prediction is coming true.