Alpengeist

Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!
Had a little thing happen today. We were waiting in line, and right as we were about to board, the train in the station that had just arrived, it's seats got stuck. Luckly they had it up and running in no time, and of course we had to be on right after it got fixed.
 
One of my goals is to be able to ride Alpie again. Got some work to do.
Here is a pic from 1998 riding it with a good friend:
attachment.php

Notice the angle of the OTS restraint. my 6'5" is the cause, not the belly. :cool:
 
I ride this today, and you wouldn't believe the things that fell. I saw two cell phones, a hat, a headband, and a shoe.
 
Rode this over the weekend and it was way rough.. so much rougher than when I rode it just a few years ago. Maybe it was the cold, but I doubt that would explain all of it. They really ought to try to do some work to smooth it back up...new wheels or something
 
phareous said:
Rode this over the weekend and it was way rough.. so much rougher than when I rode it just a few years ago. Maybe it was the cold, but I doubt that would explain all of it. They really ought to try to do some work to smooth it back up...new wheels or something
Click to expand...

This could be from multiple reasons. The cold doesn't really contribute to ride performance unless it is way, way cold! It isn't really a rough ride the only reason it is a little shaky is because the type of wheels it has on it. See there are 2 wheels on the top of the track one is made of normal wheel material, and the other is made of a nylon plastic which is a very hard wheel compared to the other one. And since Alpengeist is the fastest inverted coaster the nylon wheel will shake/vibrate the train more than on a normal, slower inverted coaster. Usually age is not a contributing factor unless the age is really old. Also, it could be because of the spot in the train that you were sitting in.
The only parts I think that are jerky is the Batwing, and the roughturn into the MCBR. However, this is only my opinion, some people may like it a little rough.

And you can't really do anything to make the ride more smooth. Once it starts to get rougher that is it there is nothing they can do to make the ride smoother except replace the rails all together, or the ride. Changing the wheels won't help, and can't be done the way the ride manufacture's designed the wheel is the way it is going to stay until they come up with a whole different wheel plan which I doubt they will do.
 
Maintenance is constantly putting new wheels on it as they wear out. Putting new wheels on would not making it any less rough. Coasters just get rougher with age, no biggie.
 
JuniorBGWfan28 said:
And since Alpengeist is the fastest inverted coaster . . .
Click to expand...

I believe Alpengeist does not hold this record any longer?

My take on it is, there are many factors that contribute to a rough ride, the wheels would be the obvious problem, but if it is not them then there is a bunch more things that it could be.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad