Trim Brakes...

I know we all hate those two words, but I was just wondering what coasters you guys think are neutered the most by trim brakes. My home park (Valleyfair) unfortunately has lots of them. Wild Thing, High Roller, Excalibur, and Mad Mouse are all neutered in some form. Both WT and HR could have some amazing airtime moments, but because of the strong brakes, the airtime they do have is okay at best. I don't get why they have to trim Mad Mouse because it's a slow ride to begin with. However, Excalibur is a pretty jerky ride, so that's one instance where trims aren't necessarily evil. I've also ridden Raging Bull, which is infamous for the trim on the first airtime hill, but I don't think it kills the ride like a lot of others think. Maybe I just hit it on a good day, but I floated out of my seat on that hill and got airtime in a lot of other places I didn't expect to. Also, even though this technically isn't considered trimming, Viper at Six Flags Great America slows to a very slow crawl at the top of the lift hill. Viper is a great ride to begin with, and I can imagine it would be a bit better if they sent it over the lift hill at a faster speed.

You need to understand that there exists a delicate balance between "excitement" and "reliability." Wild Thing isn't trimmed at the MCBR any more than any other Morgan, and if it was trimmed any less, airtime, especially in the back row, would get a little intense. These mildly excessive forces over time cause maintenance concerns and unnecessary reliability issues after the long term- all things avoidable with simple trimming. I personally love High Roller, Wild Thing, and Excalibur all very much even with the trimming. All of those rides have perfect and appropriate forces in my mind.

Raging Bull is absolutely superb and graceful and badass, even with the airhill trim.

The only ride that I've actually felt trimming bitterness towards is Montu. That ride provides one of the most insane first half experiences; the giant loop and Immelmann, the insane batwing element whose power cannot be explained unless you've ridden it. But the MCBR trims so hard that the heavy banking in the drop out of the MCBR and the secondary loop cause some leaning into the harnesses which is kind of weird to feel on a B&M. I definitely feel at one point the MCBR was a little more relaxed, given the banking of that drop. But it's still an amazing ride, and like I've already explained, with time, any ride is subject to a little trimming to extend its life. And we need to be understanding of that.

^
Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoy those coasters even with the trims, but if I could just get one trimless ride on Wild Thing and High Roller, that would be amazing, though I doubt it would happen.

You would not survive a bunny hop trip on Wild Thing without the trims. And High Roller's structure would not survive a bunny hop trip without the trims hahaha.

I know that they have run both of them without the trims for some time in the past (I believe High Roller's brakes weren't added until sometime in the 90's), but I understand I won't ever experience them that way for maintenance reasons. I actually found this video on YouTube of the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain getting a brakeless WT ride in 1999.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Some parks or management have done that in the past. I doubt parks are doing this now-a-days. Maybe this above is the somewhere around the same story as with a different video I've got around here:


To include the description of the video:
"This is probably the oddest roller coaster footage you may ever see - On the day the RCCGB visited this park in 1999, a disgruntled employee wanted to get the sack...and did so by running the Outlaw coaster straight through the station with no brakes, sending it flying through the station, around hairpin bends, and halfway up the lifthill. Apparently the employee (Dennis) managed not only to get the sack, but also added about 5 years wear and tear to the coaster in under an hour. This footage is now legendary, and is something you will probably never see again on any coaster, anywhere. Hold on Tight, and enjoy the ride!"

[TTD03]

Intrimidator 305 was really bad, but at least that got fixed.
And I always wished the airtime trim when the ride starts heading back to the station was unnceccesary. But I have found out that they are necessarry because then the Magnetic brake run wouldn't be long enough to slow down the train enough to a speed where it could go safely around the turn and then stop in the hold behind the station.

Dirk_Ermen wrote:

Some parks or management have done that in the past. I doubt parks are doing this now-a-days. Maybe this above is the somewhere around the same story as with a different video I've got around here:


To include the description of the video:
"This is probably the oddest roller coaster footage you may ever see - On the day the RCCGB visited this park in 1999, a disgruntled employee wanted to get the sack...and did so by running the Outlaw coaster straight through the station with no brakes, sending it flying through the station, around hairpin bends, and halfway up the lifthill. Apparently the employee (Dennis) managed not only to get the sack, but also added about 5 years wear and tear to the coaster in under an hour. This footage is now legendary, and is something you will probably never see again on any coaster, anywhere. Hold on Tight, and enjoy the ride!"

Man, those laterals look insane. But that's a really strange way to get fired.

[Mr. Freeze]

I guess if you want to get fired, mine as well have fun in the process