Engineered Precut Track • The Gravity Group, LLC
thegravitygroup.com
As a proof of concept, they have already installed 600ft of this track on Racer at Kings Island
Gravity Group introduces engineered wood track
- Thread starter I305Evan
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As a proof of concept, they have already installed 600ft of this track on Racer at Kings Island
I could be wrong, but I believe Intamin is the only ones to have created engineered track. Everyone else still went the route of laying and bending each individual piece on-site.
ElToroRyan has a whole video on Intamin prefabs, the tldr version is that they're a lot more expensive than a standard woody especially with the rails. And even though everything is assembled like an erector set on site vs requiring carpentry experts to cut and shape raw lumber, track pieces still require replacements over time along with the structure, so it's not like a park can just drop the money on the build and not expect further expenses down the road.
The GG announcement seems to be a similar product, though not sure if it's the same expensive materials Intamin used or just regular wood for the track; assuming their factory is stateside that'll probably save a bundle on shipping costs vs Intamin's factory in Germany.
The GG announcement seems to be a similar product, though not sure if it's the same expensive materials Intamin used or just regular wood for the track; assuming their factory is stateside that'll probably save a bundle on shipping costs vs Intamin's factory in Germany.
Prefabricated makes sense when you are repeatedly building the same thing and gain efficiencies from tooling and processes. I can see why custom coasters would see little savings going the prefab route as its basically the same labor just at a different location.
However, when you think about it, this mindset doesn't really apply since unless you're dealing with the exact same size flat/level piece of ground ground for duplicates (or really interesting footer sizing adjustments) each wooden coaster will still need some level of customization even when they're clones.
And to my understanding, even rides similar to others in the same chain (Grizzly and R75's cousins) aren't exact copies... Though most parks seem to want to use wood as a way to offer a cheap to construct custom ride vs cookie cutters like Skyrocket IIs or 4D FreeSpins. (Yes, I'm aware it's not an exact comparison, just pointing out that from a marketing and ROI perspective it may be more convincing for a park to go with a woody as their new ride vs a duplicate of something that may exist elsewhere in their region... Though the trend is generally towards new steel or hybrids).
Next new project GGI steel track in future against RMC and GCI?
Coasterguy95
Intimidator 305 enjoyer, I make yt vids, watch em!
As much as I would like to see it, that won’t happen for a while unless gravity group really wants to do it.