Homemade Coaster Construction Project

Are you pouring foundations or just standing the wood on the ground? One of the things I thought of when I fantasized about building one of these was using 6x6s on foundations for any heavily load bearing parts (valleys and turns) and running steel I beams across the ground with 4x4s for lesser load bearing parts (like hill tops, the straight part of a lift where iirc there is less torque on the structure than at the bottom or top), similar how to they bridge crossovers in real life. As long as your I beams are well braced so they don't shift (maybe a foundationed 6x6 every 4 bents or so) this should cut down a lot of cost and labor (pouring cement absolutely sucks). Calling local scrap yards to see if they'd be willing to sell I beams at slightly above weight cost should save a lot too.

I would also use 1" for tracking rather than 2" like on real coasters as it will be significantly easier to work with at smaller radiuses you're dealing with. A good set of clamps and an air nailer/compressor to run it are what you need here.

If you're serious about this, don't get hung up on things like layout and how big your drops will be. That's trivial at this point. Worry more about the practicality of actually putting it together and having it not fall apart. When I was younger I used to BMX bike and after we'd watch videos we'd go try to build ramps and have a skatepark in the driveway. It's a lot harder than it looks.

Edit: err, not I beams, standard channel is what you want. Heavy gauge. http://www.turnersteelcoinc.com/html/s_standard.html

Originally posted by Freddie

Are you pouring foundations or just standing the wood on the ground?

It's going to include concrete footers.

Aytrane *brakes.

As per request I will edit this post and put in the pictures from my phone as soon as I can figure out how to transfer them, because email isn't working.

Freddie, I am laying foundations for every ground support, but I haven't thought of using steel beams and now I am kind of intrigued. I may give it a try, or even use the steel beams as bracing rather. The PVC coaster I created before this for fun was created just by placing wood on the ground and to say the least that method didn't hold up and in the end it is much more efficient to merely take the time to dig a hole and pout some concrete into it (but you are completely right in saying pouring concrete sucks; it completely does... especially when you have roots everywhere that require taking a chainsaw to the hole to clear it up, no joke.) This week we took the mini excavator and crushed the PVC coaster (which now that I think about it I should have probably filmed) as it was rotting from sitting on the ground. You can also go the extra ten yards and pour the concrete into a fitting and attach a steel brace in the end of the cement that'll hook onto the wood when it is dry, or in other words make an actual "footer".

The fact that I live in a family with several construction businesses comes in handy in the fact that they have connections so I could probably get the steel on the cheap as I intended to do for the steel strips that are to run along the rails. Thanks for the tips. [;)]

You may or may not have to do steel bracing. Unless you plan on having a cross-over section. In which case it's probably recommended to do so.

^The camelback is to go over the station. [;)]

Alright, so here is the pictures, it's a large haul of showing basically where everything is being built, but it is what was asked for, I'll breifly explain each picture, but besides that, here you go:





Here is the little haul from a few days ago, I went out to get a lot more yesterday however knowing what I needed, and will be heading out this weekend to get more hopefully. It's a mess, but its a construction company so it gets dirty. haha




This is a strip of steel cut to get the spacing for the strips that run along the rails of the track.




A few shots of the shop and tractors and whatnot. Just to give you an idea of where the testing is going on and where a lot of this is being constructed.





Our lakes in front of where this is being built. The second smaller one is the one the coaster is being directly built by.







A few shots of the land the coaster itself is being built on. Note that this is from 2 weeks ago before any ground work was started.


Experimental pouring of foundations 2 weeks ago.





Here a few shots of the vines from back in the woods by the river that are in the process of being cut down and transferred up to the ride area and put up into the trees for scenery.



These rocks are going to be moved up and placed at some point to create the caverns I previously talked about in a similar fashion to this:



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Trusty old john deere gator, gets me around the property and helps with moving equipment. lol



A little shot (that doesn't do it justice in the slightest) of the lighting. In reality it illuminates the whole area.



The larger lake.

CURRENT WORK;
These pictures I took today as it is where I stand at the moment. You'll notice the stairs leading to the cobblestone decks that will follow. Clearer land, a few trees missing if your observant, and some randomly placed statues and palms.













So that is about all I have to show at this point until I get some scans of the blueprints and I finish up the logo and such. Not much, but hey, I suppose its better than nothing.

Looks like you're super serious about this. If it goes well, you should consider becoming an engineer. Also, will there be a NL creation for a teaser?

I luv teh hippo statue.

DON'T take a chainsaw to roots. You will ruin your blade so quick it's not even funny. The biggest thing my dad taught me when learning to cut logs was never hit the ground.

Instead take some pulling chains and hook em to that Gator or Bobcat to break them up. Then use something like bolt cutters to actually cut them out. It seems like more work but it's not worth ruining your chainsaw over.

Also, that lumber doesn't look pressure treated. Anything that will be close to the ground or laying flat (to have the potential to hold rain water) should be pressure treated or else it's going to rot much quicker than you want it to. You may be able to get away with non pressure treated if you stain it (water repellant stain), but it still won't last as long.

If you do steel beams in place of foundations remember that you have to find the balance of where to place it. Lower to the ground means it's bearing more load from additional structure on top of it, but it's also benefiting from that extra bracing to keep it in place. Higher up to the ledgers means you lose that bracing so it's more prone to shifting, but there is less weight for it to hold. Judging from your terrain I'm not sure that footing every bent is going to be practical.

Haha, okay I'll take your word for it from here on out. Let's just say I got fed up after the spud bar and hedge clippers weren't working, so I resorted to extreme measures of getting rid of the roots.
And it's not, the decks are being built out of regular lumber as it is what I had access to. To make up for this I put 3 coats of stain on it as well as a polyurethane water resistant lacquer finish.
All the wood for the station building and coaster itself is going to be pressure treated (I already bought some infact), not only because of the better lasting abilities, but because the train riding over it needs more durable wood and everything I've read on coaster construction says it requires a pressure treated wood.

I am Nightwind, music is probably where I am heading for a career, but it is a side-plan.

Thanks Oinz. lol [;)]

Originally posted by thrillsentertainment
CURRENT WORK;
These pictures I took today as it is where I stand at the moment. You'll notice the stairs leading to the cobblestone decks that will follow. Clearer land, a few trees missing if your observant, and some randomly placed statues and palms.

"...if YOU'RE observant,..." [;)]

Alright, just a quick update on where I stand. It's pouring out now, so I'm not going to go out and take a few pictures just yet, but I've gotten the main deck frame basically completed and am soon going to begin laying down the cobblestone walkways. I've not worked on it that much since I've been busy with school, but I get off for summer this Friday, and the week after I am going on vacation down to Virginia Beach and am going to hit up Kings dominion and Busch gardens Williamsburg while I am down there. After that though, I am pretty much set to work on it for most of the summer when I am not doing anything and I expect to get more done.

I do have a question to ask you though. I am undecided on the theme for this thing. So I am asking for your opinion on the matter.

Here are what I have narrowed it down to:
-The original rain forest theme, set to temples and such. Would include canyons, misters, scented fog, and animals galore.
-Pirate theme, given that I am fond of halloween and that this overlooks a reasonably large body of water for its size. Would include skulls, pirates, special effects such as fire and misters, etc.
-Prehistoric, given refuge to the theme of the previous coaster I had begun constructing. I would build dinosaur models similar to this: http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween ... urs-2.html

Thoughts?

Why even bother "theming"? Just f.ucking build the thing.

if you get this built
let me know
im willing to be a ginny pig for you
and i think homemade coasters are amazing

Rainforests are better than dinosaurs and pirates. Whatever you choose, it may be wiser to get the thing working before going too heavy on theming.

I agree with Freddie. Don't even think about theming until after it's all built. After it's built, then you can figure out what theming you want. haha

Well of course I wouldn't work on that now, haha, I just wanted to get a general idea of a theme so I could give it a name and stop calling it "that wooden coaster I am building". Not going to start any of that for a while after I start the track.

No. Call it that coaster you are building. The name/"theme"/station building are of absolutely zero importance. I care more about your braking mechanisms and lift mechanics than what a station (which should really just be a deck so you can climb in, if that even) looks like. You arent building a major attraction for Universal Studios, you're making a coaster in your yard. The only thing you should care about are the logistics of actually making it work.

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

Shouldn't you sink this money into a car or something?

CK, could you PLEASE say something constructive for once?

Originally posted by OinzCEO17

I luv teh hippo statue.

THIS!

If you're wanting a theme, I'd just go with a woods theme like Ravine Flyer, Boulder Dash, etc. That way you don't have to buy anything... the woods count. That's if you're dying to call it something. Other than that, I agree with Freddie... worry about that later and try to get this thing working lol.

Aight, thanks guys, haha. I get what you are saying Freddie, so for now I shall continue calling it "my project" etc. I'm just a sucker for art and scenery, so I eventually intend on adding those things regardless. I think I am just going to keep it simple and stick with the rainforest theme for the time being.

Not a bad idea AJ, but I still want to build a few objects at some point.

Either way guys, here are a few pictures of what I've done today. It's not a lot, but keep in mind that I am primarily building this and paying for it by myself, with some help from the guys. The most help I get is from A.S. when he visits, but that's only every other month or so now.

Note: the quality still sucks as its my phone, sorry about that.






Soon I'll start laying the decking and cobble stone, then I'll work on the walkway to the station.

This project is amazing. I say all able Coaster Crazians should swing by your place to test ride it. I'll pay 20 bucks.

I'm starting to make a turn for my coaster, I'll be sure to tell you how it goes

Haha. Thanks bandman, and nah, fellow coaster nerds get on for free, its my friends who have to pay.
Sounds cool jonny, look forward to it.


Aight guys, so little update here, nearly done with the primary deck, which'll lead to the bridge, which goes over to the loading deck.
Some info, which hopefully wont discourage anyone, but we've decided that the track style is most likely no longer going to be wooden. My uncle and I crunched the numbers and figured it'll cost around 25,000 for the whole track. I simply cannot afford that being currently unemployed at 16. So we intend on reverting back to the original method of piping but sprucing it up a bit, and I can guarantee it'll be better than any out there by a long shot. It will still include a fully operating lift, and full circuit, and be the same length, etc, I may even raise the height up now, but I can't afford the full on lumber tracking.

Anyways, here is the update:
The side board are not attached at the moment, they are there for measuring the railings. I need to run out to the hardware store and buy some more nails and stain for when I finish this portion. It will all be stained to a dark walnut like the steps up front(very rainforest esque) when I finish this portion of the deck.
Here you go;

Front view.

Side view.

On deck shot.

Current lumber supply, I actually went dumpster diving at my grandpa's construction site yesterday and pulled all of this and more out, seriously, if you need lumber, go to your local development being built before anything else and ask if they have anything. I got around 700 dollars of great condition lumber for nothing more than a thank you. Oh, the advantages of being born into construction families. lol They were going to throw all this away. It's all cut up now, due to the fact most of it was used for decking.

Back shot.

Different angle.

The under-workings.

Shot from about a quarter down the drop.

Shot from about three quarters down the drop.

That's all for now guys, stay tuned. I'll update as soon as I can.
Getting closer and closer to actual track work!

Deck is looking very nice.