Homemade Coaster Construction Project

Started this topic over on the exchange but haven't received many replies, figured I'd post it here and see if any of you can be of help. If you are feeling lazy and don't want to read the whole thing, skip to the end for the question at hand. Thanks.

So, given my experience and knowledge of roller coasters that I have gained since I first acquired the interest some ten years ago, I have decided to embark on a project of my own. Seeing many homemade roller coasters there are maybe 4 or 5 really high quality ones out there? Some that come to mind are John Iver's Blue Flash and Blue Too, and specifically Jeremy Reid's Oklahoma Land Run. Both my grandfather and my uncle own construction companies luckily enough. So supplies like bolts, lumber, etc, etc, and equipment like saws, excavators, (and pretty much all types of tractors) are literally in my backyard and at hand, and they can deal with building permits and things of that nature. Many have probably seen the PVC roller coasters, I have long considered and intended on doing a large scale version of this, but the problem arises in that PVC is essentially plastic and not very efficient and the way the track is set up requires replacement very often. I have decided to do a small wooden terrain coaster, like Reid's Oklahoma Land Run, built on the hilly region of our property. I have access to a lot of land and most of it is woodlands, this track is intended for a drop off of around 50 feet in front of one of our lakes. I'm hoping both mine and with some help of my cousin's (A.S.) experience with roller coasters and design along with my grandfather and uncle's equipment knowledge, I will be able to make a top-class homemade roller coaster. Why, you ask? Well, why not! Just to be able to say I own my own roller coaster and to be able to ride it and upkeep it is enough of a reason for me. It has always been something I've wanted to do.
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Here is Jeremy Reid's website: http://www.jeremyreid.com/
Now that you have a background, here is the question at hand.

Turns out there is really not very much information at all online about wooden roller coaster track construction. I have been studying the construction pictures of many different wooden roller coasters, including OLR, and shot a email to Jeremy Reid and am waiting for a reply. But I figure you are all as knowledgeable about roller coaster design as I am and I might as well ask here and see if anyone can supply input.
The question being; How exactly is wooden roller coaster track constructed? From what I seem to understand it is basically a sandwich of roughly 7 to 8 layers of Southern Yellow Pine, cut into small portions that are layered over each other, the uppermost layers are of greater width and appear to be where the upstop and guide wheels run, whereas the road wheels run in the center of the track. But, the point being is that I can find very little information on how exactly the track is assembled, how the track is curved, being that the small pieces are assembled in that formation or some other method, etc, and wondered if any of you have any information on the subject matter.

What are your thoughts? Any links?
Thanks, all info and discussion is appreciated.
-Thrills

Gonna be a lot of work but if you do succeed, well, im gonna be owaejnoaknepbwnpeofjmaopwneg9unew-g9unaew-n9wr9-nur-wupawoejinwregbsdklsvbfanrwib9nwrb0aweufwru9 with awe. As for the coaster itself you should predesign a plan that will hold up to the forces the ride will pull, so you know how much of what kind of wood to get and how much bracing you need and etc. in fact the whole ride needs to be predetermined before you begin to even ponder how its going to be constructed. Any overlap of track is going to affect everything else. I suppose the way that real wooden coasters work is that they are attached to rail ties, like a railroad. that way, the train is free to move and the ties can be secured and manipulated. Don't know about the curve track though...

[Coasterkidmwm]

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

I have an old book that mentions wooden track's structure, and it includes a small section about tracking. If you're interested, I could probably scan it or snap a photo of the page.

Thanks for the reply richie, hopefully all goes well, and most of the ride is already being drawn out and scaled down. I ran lasers over in the area yesterday to get some measurements on the terrain (never used these before, but fairly easy to understand actually), the track and train are going to be built back in the shop and I'm going to do some tests before I start any actual trackwork. Right now the station area and decks are being built. The ride is currently being called Macaw and the area is going to and is currently being themed and landscaped to resemble a rainforest. Including rock canyons, misters, lighting, and real vines are being transferred from further back in the woods up into the construction site, its getting the works basically.

CK, obviously you would think so, but where is the originality in that? haha

No actually, I have separate funds that I split the money I earn into. Some of it goes towards music, I do have a car fund (with not a lot in it), and some goes towards this, etc. Luckily I dont have to pay my own bills yet so until then I'm good. Plus, remember that both my grandfather and uncle own construction companies, so I get a lot of material for free. [;)]

And Spl, I would love to see this picture if you are willing to scan it. Thanks. [:D]

This is lacking pictures. I want pictures.

No it isn't. This has just the right amount of images to keep us creative [:)].

Will the station house have a roof of any sort or will it just be open decks?

Good luck dude. Gonna cost a lot of money. I also don't know I'd try a 50' drop to start...that's pretty substantial. You've really got to know your stuff to make that work.

I use this stuff for my track, it bends really easily and screws right into the bents:

http://www.azek.com/azek-trim/styles/


Video of my coaster:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC-2nfikMFY

Thanks for the replies guys. NightwindElf, if you guys desire to see construction photos I will certainly upload pictures as soon as I have something substantial to show. But there really isn't a whole lot to see at the moment, because as I said, I am doing tests back in the shop and going to construct the car/train (may be two cars) before I do any work on the actual ride. I want to make sure I know exactly what I am doing before I start this so what I do start isn't wasted effort. So the station queue area will be constructed for now, but apart from that it will sit construction-less coaster-wise for a couple months, which is part of the reason for this thread in the first place. Unless you'd care to see concept art and photos of the area, there isn't anything great to show. Come spring break my grandpa, cousin, and I are going to work on the main deck out to the station, and a sign for the area. It isn't much but it may be worth showing, and I will being experimenting with track as soon as I go out and buy the right kind of lumber. And as for the station, again one of the perks of being in a family with a construction business is that I have a lot of materials. There is hundreds of shingles sitting back by the shop that haven't been used, so I imagine I will probably put a roof on the station area. Whereas the queue will be open in-order for better interaction with the aforementioned scenery. I already have a good amount of the SFX equipment and misters as every year I build a haunted house and I have dj lighting from my music room. So a lot of that is supplied it just comes down to a matter of assembling it.

DC, I probably should have clarified, it is a 50 foot drop, but the 50 feet is in elevation change of the ground. This is planed for a drop off/sheer hillside of about 40-50 foot elevation in front of our smaller lake. Think of the way Boulder Dash scales its surroundings, and imagine that on a much smaller scale and you have essentially what I am going for, a mini boulder dash of sorts. I am aware of the costs, Reid's was pushing 10,000 dollars, and mine is intended to be roughly the same length, just more interaction with the scenery so I expect by the time it is finished to have blown a good amount of money on this thing. Which is why testing is crucial beforehand so nothing goes wrong and it isn't wasted. My grandpa has around 40 years of engineering/construction experience plus he served as an engineer for planes in the army, and my uncle has about half that of experience, so I'm hoping they can help out with a lot of things that may stump myself personally. Whereas I have the knowledge of coaster design and construction and am banking on that our two "areas of expertise" if you will, will in turn work in favor of each other. Regardless though, this is a summer project (although it will likely not be finished for around 2 years, depending on the rate at which we work, I have honestly no idea though at this point)and hopefully will be a fun learning experience either way.

And that stuff looks cool Jonny, I'm just not sure how it would work large scale. I also want to stick to a traditional wooden method. However, that stuff almost makes me want to create a bobsled coaster. haha. I've seen your coaster as well, looks cool and well built for what it is. [;)]

I would actually like to see some photos of the proposed build site along with some concept art that shows planned theme elements.

Alright, can do. I will draw some up over the next day or so and try to get them posted.

are you going to include a chain lift or is it going to be a classic waterslide-layout backyard coaster?

I intend on doing my best to make it accurate to real wooden coasters, so yes it will include a chainlift. [;)]

Noah, were you planning to have a lift out of the station? Or a drop first and a lift at the end to bring it back up from the lake area?

I've finally scanned the pictures. I'll send them to you in a private message.

Sounds good. I look forward to seeing them.

Alex, to answer your question... current design has it as a lift out of the station right after a short pre-drop.

Spl Eagles, thanks man, those are actually really interesting and may be of service. Thanks for the help! [approve]

EDIT/UPDATE: Okay, so I started the station decks (primarily just the stairs leading up to them), cleared some of the land, starting tomorrow I am going to begin work on the cobblestone walkway leading to the decks. Been working rigorously the past week on this thing. This weekend my cousin and I are hopefully going to run out to Home depot and get some of the wood to start testing with building the track. Spl's photo's he linked me have actually proved to be of great help, so thank you for that. Temporary blue and green lighting has been set up, a few vines have been cut down and moved up, and lastly I bought a couple of palm trees and placed some mayan looking statues through-out the area. It isn't much really, but it's a start. Rocks from back in the woods are going to be moved up to create rocky caverns at some point in the near future. I can provide pictures if wanted but be warned that they are taken with my cell phone so quality is garbage until I get myself a new camera (hopefully soon). [;)]

[hyyyper]

I do hope you are going to thouroughly design the layout before constructing anything.

An idea: make it a 45 foot drop instead and use the remaining money to buy yourself a camera [;)]

Make it good, not like one of those poopty ones you find on youtube with 1 15 foot hill and a huge straight section back to the station.

Hyyper, of course. I have a sketch book full of designs, and not just cheap doodles, legit blueprints. I have also done a quick model of it just to get an idea. But I fully intend on constructing a few sections of track and the car back in the shop before I start any work on the actual track. I'm not going to start and not have any idea what to do. Jeremy replied and gave some tips and Spl's pages were of nice assistance too as it answered my original question. Currently I am just building the decks and the station. I've spent only right around 150 dollars so far, the rest of my lumber I was given.
Boneplaya, not a bad idea, haha. I've been browsing ebay in search of a good deal on a nice camera, we'll see.
RWN, that's the idea. Elements I have planned are: lift, pre-drop, post-pre-drop (small drop), 270 degree (roughly) turnaround, actual drop, airtime hill, 1 s-curve, a small bunny hill, and a turn around into the breaks.

[AyTrane]

[i]...and a turn around into the breaks.

I sure hope not.


Any photos are better than none.

Get some photos of where the coaster will be [:)]