How much, is too much for a woodie?

How many Lats, Vertical, and linear gs is too much... for a woodie?

My guess would be that the accelerational g's are going to be really hard to overdo, unless you use a launch. The Lat's should be within +/- 1.9, and the verticals should be less than 3.5 and more than maybe -1.3. These only apply to CCI and GCI woodies, GG style woodies can be a bit more extreme in the verticals but still no less than -1.3. Intamin pre-fabs should be minimal lats, under +/- .8 and with positives up to about 4 and down to -1.5.

To see how long you can sustain these g' look http://coastercrazy.com/news/g-force-lesson/35

That would be very helpful to him but what if he is building an older style? You can't just include info for 20 years when wood coasters cover over 100 years. Although I will admit that the older coasters fall between the limitations already listed, I'm just saying to include them.

GCIs range from 4gs to 0g.

^Really?? Dang, which ones pull 4 g's?

Originally posted by GerstlCrazy

^Really?? Dang, which ones pull 4 g's?

i think gwazi does, that coaster is brutal even with the new trains

There's no way in hell any real wooden coaster pulls 4G, unless you count one of the jackhammery shakes. Then all of them pull like 12 Gs. For an older woodie, I'd say 3G, and the same I'd say is true of a GCI. GG/CCI might be able to hit 3.5G. For lats, I'd definitely say CCI is strongest, reaching about 1.5 sustained. GG might be second at 1-1.2, and GCI is definitely the least (besides, of course, Intamin prefabs) with what I would say is a strict maximum of 1G.

Intamin, on the other hand, probably would be able to sustain 4G for a little while, and their lats are all but non-existent.

^Yes, RCDB states that the new GCI at Europa Park pulls 3.5Gs and I heard it's the strongest for a GCI.

^^I don't think I'd go as far to say GCI pulls the least lats. If you've gotten aboard Renegade... the s-bend and second raised turn-around on that thing in the front- DWAMN. Perhaps it's correct in general, but again I would be 100% confident in saying Renegade exceeds but 1.0 lat. Again it's just the level of scrutiny you apply but I don't think strictly 1.0 lat is accurate....

But I think the rest of what boneplaya laid out is accurate, I'd refer to those guidelines.

*Forgot about the front seat of Renegade on that last left turn into the brakes... 200% sure that exceeds 1.0 lat, hoooly poop lol.

I bet the S&S woodies get into 4+ sustained territory. J2's helix at least before the brakes were added is one of the strongest helices, wood or steel, that I've ever been on. Which is probably why that ride is falling apart.

Ehh I doubt the S&S woodies have that strong of positive forces. To be fair, I did ride J2 post trims, but it's just hard for a ride to sustain something like 4G on a horizontal curve where you don't have the extra G from gravity like you would in a straight pullout. Combine that with the fact that the turn even when trimmed had a bit of laterals from what I remember, and I don't see there being that high of positives. I could see something like Batman helices being 4-4.5G, with the near horizontal banking, tight radius, and lower height/significantly higher speeds.

I don't know how it rode when you went on it, but when I rode that helix was exciting, but incredibly violent. That terrible tracking could increase the sensation of intensity.

Side note, that layout may be one of my favorites of any ride. So well done. Too bad the individual element shaping and tracking quality was horrible lol.

I just remember it being really strong and hard to keep my hands up, especially on the inner rung. It was a little shakey but not many laterals. It could have been unbanked slightly during one of it's many rebuilds to try to lessen the train hunting, similar to the third rail thing they tried on Hercules in it's later years.

That is true about the extra G though, didn't think of that. Maybe it just felt so strong because it's so sustained.



Not to stereotype, but they look like some of the finest carpenters the local Home Depot's parkinglot had to offer. lol

I've been told by someone who works for GCI that they design between 0 and 4gs.

Which includes 3.5 g's hahaha

Originally posted by CKidd

That would be very helpful to him but what if he is building an older style? You can't just include info for 20 years when wood coasters cover over 100 years. Although I will admit that the older coasters fall between the limitations already listed, I'm just saying to include them.

If we go back to the Roaring 20's and coasters pre-war - they would actually most likely be outSIDE the listed numbers as they were known to be far more extreme than they should have been. Really depends on the period you want to design.

Then again, not sure I can advise that its a good idea to have a nurses station at the exit just because you are trying to kill people.

The Traver rides weren't really all THAT bad force wise, violent yes, especially dangerous, no. After all, the Cyclone at Crystal Beach lasted 20 years, and it was only a rather high maintenance bill that finally closed it, not low ridership or lawsuits or anything like that. Some of the older rides had VERY intense forces, albeit for short times. 5g in some of the pullouts would not surprise me.

Look at the bottom of the first drop on Screechin' Eagle for instance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqoGfB6jN6o&t=7

Huh? *wakes up from nap* This thread is still alive?!

What is with you and your pointless posting.... lmao.

^ok. Imagine a thread, that hasnt been alive in months. Then, imagine an epic bump. There.

Originally posted by Coaster Hero

Huh? *wakes up from nap* This thread is still alive?!

Originally posted by Coaster Hero

^ok. Imagine a thread, that hasnt been alive in months. Then, imagine an epic bump. There.

You take month long naps?? That has to explain some things...! [^]

^ I meant like... you know, the tired effect like when you wake up. [:)]

I'm not an engineer nor do I know how much G force a wooden track can handle or how much G force a person can handle but there is a limit. I CAN tell you this, since I worked on the Screechin Eagle for nearly 10 years doing maintenance with two other men. Wooden tracks are not designed to take much lateral force. The hill that gave us the most problem was the hill after the lift hill. That's the hill that made the curve to the right. And that curve is, or was, not extreme at all. Nevertheless, the side friction steel going down that curve was always coming loose because of the side pressure from the train. The side steel was in 15 to 20 foot lengths and held on with 3 inch wood screws spaced about 1 foot apart. The only bolts holding the steel on were placed at the ends of the steel. On modern wood coasters they don't use screws anymore. They only use bolts spaced about 1 foot apart. The top steel or road steel never gave us any problems at all. Neither did the under-friction steel. When we walked the track we just looked for missing screws on the side friction steel. Each morning when I walked the track, I usually replaced at least two side friction screws coming down that second hill. One fourth of July, the train ripped off 20 feet of side steel going up into the back turn. Dave found it laying on the ground as he did the mid-day coaster inspection while the train was still running, sort of shooting the gap, you might say. It's a well known fact that when The Beast was built in 1978-79, the track coming out of the first tunnel wasn't banked enough and neither was the helix banked enough. During the winter of '79 they rebanked those areas I think up to 40 degrees and during the summer of 1980, when I first rode The Beast, they were letting the trains run at maximum speed, something they couldn't do in 1979. They advertised the "new" Beast as, "Faster and meaner that ever." So that's why wood coaster tracks have to be banked properly to reduce the lateral G forces. Now don't ask me how much force a wooden track can handle. I don't know. I just know that wooden tracks can't handle excessive lateral forces. And neither can humans, for that matter.

Interesting. To be honest, I think in your case a major contributing factor was the trains. Those 3 bench PTCs track like a lead cow. If you'd run something like say, the modernized single bench Prior and Church-based trains that Walter Phare built for the PNE Coaster (Based on the _actual_ P&C Trains running right across the border at Pulluyup), I think the maintenance would have been a bit less intensive. Lower axle load too.