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history and development of the modern woodies

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Post October 24th, 2006, 3:34 pm
Pad

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Hey guys!

The diploma work which I needed your help for, is now finished.
It is about the "history and development of the modern wooden roller coaster", from 1979 to today, quite complete and thoroughly researched. It's around 30 pages of text in a word document, complete with many great pictures (most of which you might know from the internet[;)]). If any one's interested in this detailed work about woodies, or parts or single chapters of it, I would gladly email the file to you; just post here or PM me.

It was written to be understandable for someone who has no idea about coasters, but there is certainly some information included that even enthusiasts don't know all about.

Here's the table of contents, so you roughly know what the work is about.

Foreword: Personal relationship with woodies and reasons for the choice of this topic

Introduction: Central questions, topic limits, documentation available at the moment 1

1. Wooden Rollercoaster Basics: General appearance; what is a woodie? 2


2. Differences to Steel Rollercoasters 6

2.1. General 6
2.2. Rarity and spreading 6
2.3. Ride feeling 7
2.3.1. G-forces 7
2.3.2. Atmosphere 9
2.3.3. Layouts 9
2.3.3.1. Out??????n??????Back 9
2.3.3.2. Twister 10
2.3.3.3. Terrain 13
2.3.4. Smoothness and Roughness 14
2.4. Aging 15
2.5. Technical differences 16
2.5.1. Construction in short 16
2.5.2. Maintenance 17
2.5.3. Cost 18


3. History and development 19

3.1. Brief summary of early history (before 1975) 19
3.1.1. The very beginnings around 1800 ?????? 1920 19
3.1.2. The ???????Golden Age of Roller Coasters?????? 1920 ?????? 1940 19
3.1.3. Roller coasters downtime and Renaissance 1940 ?????? 1979 20
3.2. New kinds of big projects (1979 - today) 20
3.2.1. Dinn & Summers 21
3.2.2. Early Intamin Woodies 22
3.3. Back to the roots with fresh twists and ideas (1992 - today) 23
3.3.1. Custom Coasters International, Inc (CCI) 23
3.3.2. PTC Wooden coaster trains 26
3.3.3. Great Coasters International, Inc. (GCI) 26
3.4. Modern Woodies ?????? Steel coaster approach (2001 - today) 28
3.4.1. Intamin AG ??????Prefabricated?????? Woodies 28
3.4.2. Ingenieurb?????ro Stengel GmbH 31
3.4.3. Gravity Group, LLC (GG) 32
3.5. Unique examples and marginal developments (1975 - today) 35
3.5.1. S&S Power, Inc. 35
3.5.2. Dennis Starkey 36
3.5.2.1. Rollercoaster Corporation of America (RCCA) 36
3.5.2.2. Stand Company 37
3.5.3. Vekoma 38
3.5.4. One-of-a-kind Woodies 39
3.5.4.1. The Rattler 39
3.5.4.2. Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain 40
3.5.4.3. Son of a Beast 40
3.5.4.4. Flying Turns 41
3.6. What could the future of wooden roller coasters look like? 43

4. Conclusion 44


And the title page picture, just to show you guys. [:)]



Image Insert:\nImage\n 104.47 KB

Post October 24th, 2006, 4:36 pm

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Looks like a decent thesis, Pad -- if it is not too much to ask, I would love to take a look at the whole thing if you are allowed to share.

tconwell@knology.net

TJ

Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all.

Post October 24th, 2006, 4:44 pm

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Post October 24th, 2006, 4:55 pm

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ohhhh, please e-mail it to me. ive got alot of coaster related pics, books, dvd/videos, models, memrobilia and so on. this would make a real nice addition to the collection i have.

gazag2006@yahoo.co.uk
Making screams come true

Post October 24th, 2006, 5:08 pm

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I'll check it out too, sounds like a fun read.
guitarplayer673@hotmail.com

Post October 24th, 2006, 5:12 pm

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I take a really keen interest in any information about coasters, Id really appreciate it if you sent it on over to coasterteddy@hotmail.com if thats ok.

Post October 24th, 2006, 5:32 pm
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Post October 25th, 2006, 4:15 am

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I would realy like to read it too! Sent you my e-mail on Pm[:)]

Looks very intresting.
Coaster count: 153
Moving to Singapore in july!

Post October 25th, 2006, 10:30 am
Pad

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Thanks for the great response! [:)]

I just mailed a download link to all of you (instead of the file itself, as it was kind of large - 14 MB).

If anyone else is interested, again post here or pm me, and I'll send you the link.

Post October 25th, 2006, 11:33 am

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I'm very curious 'bout this as it sounds really interesting. What do you exactly study at High School/University?

rubentheys@gmail.com [8D]

Post October 25th, 2006, 11:54 am

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Sounds a good read.

leveldesign.info [at] gmail.com

Post October 25th, 2006, 12:01 pm

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Right up my alley...

brennakj@rose-hulman.edu

Thanks in advance!

Post October 25th, 2006, 1:07 pm
hyyyper User avatar
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Post October 25th, 2006, 2:45 pm

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Sound Awsome, can i have a look at it?

j.ruyven@chello.nl

Post October 26th, 2006, 1:10 pm
Pad

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Originally posted by Mikado

What do you exactly study at High School/University?

I am at "Gymnasium" in Switzerland - I guess you could compare it to a highschool, yeah. But in Switzerland, every student has to do a diploma work on a topic you choose yourself, with certain rules to follow. So I sadly don't really study anything related to coasters actually ;)

EDIT: Sent to y'all [:)]

Post October 26th, 2006, 2:06 pm

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Got is Pad, I'm looking forward to reading it this weekend.

Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all.

Post October 26th, 2006, 2:18 pm

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Hi Pad I live in the near Italy and I would be really interested in reading your thesis[;)]

barone_938@msn.com

Thanx and byez!

Post October 26th, 2006, 5:28 pm

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Could I get the full thing in a .PDF format?
chocolatebunnystaff@yahoo.com

Post October 27th, 2006, 9:06 am
Pad

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^Unfortunately, I've got no idea how to make a PDF file.
Would you still like to have it if I can only send a .doc file, or does that serve you nothing?

Post October 27th, 2006, 10:33 am

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Sounds cool. Send it to me through my e - mail above.

Post October 27th, 2006, 2:08 pm

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Great reading! Maybe you could have added some more about how Raven was CCI's first big success, and how Mike Boodley was a prat of CCI for the first year. Also I've heard about quite a few CCI's being very bad maintained. But all this is nit picking.All in all very good work, and very instresting to read. Also fun being quoted in something like this[;)]

And a typo[;)] Lightning Racer was built in 2000, not 2003.[:P]
Coaster count: 153
Moving to Singapore in july!

Post October 27th, 2006, 4:43 pm

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Pad I will still like to have it, thanks for trying though...

Post October 27th, 2006, 4:49 pm

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I would enjoy having the thesis also if possible, sounds like a good read.

jwelliott@insightbb.com

Post October 27th, 2006, 5:52 pm

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Post October 28th, 2006, 5:04 am
Pad

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Originally posted by Nosferatu

Great reading! Maybe you could have added some more about how Raven was CCI's first big success, and how Mike Boodley was a prat of CCI for the first year. Also I've heard about quite a few CCI's being very bad maintained. But all this is nit picking.All in all very good work, and very instresting to read. Also fun being quoted in something like this[;)]

And a typo[;)] Lightning Racer was built in 2000, not 2003.[:P]

Ah, I hate typos! Glad to learn more about CCI though.[:)] What bad maintained CCIs do you know? Medusa, maybe Ghostrider (one train only, as off TJ's review) come into my mind, but what others?

Thanks for reading and glad you enjoyed it!

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