Kemah Boardwalk Bullet - New Gravity Group Woodie

It sounded like they wouldn't stop tweaking the track until they got 51mph. That's what the engineering figures predicted.

One of the crew said (after the 3rd run, when it hit 44mph) "FORTY-FOUR??? If it's already at 44, it'll go faster than 51!"

I don't think anyone will be upset if it goes faster than predicted.

Oh, and by the way... for those who were worried that there would be no airtime on this ride:



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It snarfed this hill at about 40mph. I was expecting to see test dummies flying out of the car!

Except maintenance. But itll keep them with steady work. heh.

IMO the ride from the video looks awfully rough...but what do I know about GGs?

Gas to drive down to Kemah: $10
Steak dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse: $30
Getting a window table literally 15ft from a badass coaster:
PRICELESS
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It's a wooden coaster, it's supposed to be rough! The little kink in the drop should provide a wicked back seat ride.

^ what about the Intamin woodies? Why are you making such a broad and general statement that ALL woodies are rough?

Intamin woodies are in a different category because they are made in shop...all other woodies that are made on site will be rough.

A few shots from inside the station. The queue line is going to be nearly as exciting as the ride itself. You are SURROUNDED by track, there's a nice view of the bay to the east, and the coaster does at least three fly-bys, plus one really sick section directly under the part where you wait for individual seats.



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Originally posted by minicoopertx

Gas to drive down to Kemah: $10
Steak dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse: $30
Getting a window table literally 15ft from a badass coaster:
PRICELESS
Image Insert:

156.4 KB

Nice

What was funny was that there were all these tables of people eating lunch. Then they saw the train roll out of the station and start to climb the lift.

Suddenly, EVERYONE ran to the windows to watch. Diners, waitstaff, bartenders... cameras came from nowhere and everyone was snapping pictures.

I think they've got the makings of a very popular attraction. This town is STARVED for a coaster.

How loud was it in the restaurant?

Ooh... nice. It better go a lot faster than the video, lol. From the videos speed, I was expecting the train to stop on one of the anti-rollback sections on a hill.

From the restaurant, it wasn't all that loud except when it roared right next to the window. Granted, I was in the seat next to the window, so that might have an effect.

The waitstaff all said that they were really surprised at how little difference it made. They were expecting it to shake the restaurant.

The video was taken on the 2nd or 3rd run. By the 8th run, it had gained a full 10mph.

It will go faster.

^ How does it go faster? More weight or faster lift?

It will go faster with each run for the first several weeks. Wood coasters have a break-in period. Some coasters take a full season before they get up to their happy speed.

Here's a video I slapped together in about 15 minutes. Sorry for the bad vid quality. It was shot on a still cam in movie mode.

Going to take my vid cam tomorrow.

http://coasterguy.squarespace.com/stora ... t81307.mov

Thanks for the pics, it looks killer.

Man, the ride is going to FLY in a few weeks. I can't wait to ride this monster. The airtime looks like it will be sick too...it flies over some of the small hills that act as leadins to some of the turns.

Why, why in Texas? lol As I said somewhere else...anyone want to start a fund to get MS demolished and a clone of this installed in its place?

It's one more thing that makes Texas that much better.

Good news and bad:

Bad news is that they were doing trackwork today and didn't run any tests. No new pics or video.

Good news is that weather permitting, a Labor Day Weekend opening should be a no-brainer.

Oh man... this thing is just cursed, apparently.

Now there's a tropical storm heading for the Tx coast this weekend. While projected path info looks like it will hit well south of Kemah, we'll be on the "wet side" of the storm and could easily be dealing with heavy rains for a couple of days.

Not exactly the sort of weather you'd be test running a coaster in!

That does suck. At least they have got it to run a few complete circuits before all that hits.