Just Wondering...

[hyyyper]

Why does the b&m floorless not have a small thingie in front of it's train, while the b&m twister and b&m stand-up have a small thingie in front, is there a serious answer to this qestion or did the guys at b&m thinking they where funny...

I know the B&M sitdowns have the extra car in front to help "guide" the following cars and create a smoother ride. Some inverts also have them. I'm not sure why their floorless coasters don't have them though.

[hyyyper]

well, i know the floorless has one behind the train, dont know if that counts...

Its not really a guide, but its how the cars are trailored.

Next time you watch a Floorless or Invert video, watch the front 2 cars VERY carefully. They will not bend into each other nearly as much as the cars behind. This does have some impact on smoothness, but that smoothness is defined by vibration. Im not 100% sure but I remember a debate and someone had the great point of what I just said plus pointing out that not trailoring the cars as such would produce a very unstable train or something like that.

that front car is also called a Zero-Car, since the first car is always the first row with seats.

[coolbeans326]

that front car is also called a Zero-Car, since the first car is always the first row with seats.

And that made no sence

we all know that for example a schwarzkopf train has a front car which has two ''gears''.that first two gears can't bench into each other. they stabilize the train and at a b&m floorless or inverted these gears are the first two cars because a thingie wouldn't look good and kill the drenalin on a floorless.
I hope that answered your question.

yah.. and a floorless coaster doesn't have the thingie in the back.. at least not the ones i've seen (i know for a fact that BTDK doesnt have a thingie in the back.. the back is my fav seat!)

There is only one inverted with a zero car: Alpengeist. The reason is to get some extra weight and then more speed [:)]

I doubt that's the reason for Alpengeist's zero car...

If anything, I think they took that front row off because of too much wieght. If you look at the triangle pieces between the wheel assemblies you can clearly see that that front car was planned into the design.

But of course, we are all talking out of our asses as none of us exactly know why

I don't mean that they discoverred after that they needed more speed. It was designed with this in mind. But it's to get more speed.

But if they designed it that way, why not just put an entire extra row of riders to boost the ride capacity?

Its not meant there for weight, it goes back to the principal of the way the trains are trailored.

Also, There was an actual photograph dealing with the Alpengeist row of seats that went there supposedly...something interesting.

It wouldnt increase speed by much, but it could help the train to carry more speed, BUT, that peice does very little for the trains speed. Its all there to trailor the cars correctly so it can take the really tight twists easily and to reduce vibration.

Doesn't the zero car need to be there in order for the first car to stay on the track? I know when wooden coasters are trailored, the first car has to have the standard 4 set of wheels, but the B&Ms do not have that.

An e-mail to the design folks might get you an actual response if worded properly. Like, if you were doing a school project or something ...

Intaminfan, thats why the first 2 cars on non zero-car trains are hooked together.

http://www.rcdb.com/ig24.htm?picture=1

Notice anything odd about the first 2 cars in relation to the third?! Its pretty obvious in that picture they are working together as those 4 wheels unlike the rest of the train.

I thought i was going insane when i thought there was less room in the second row of Nemesis than all the other seats. That seems to explain alot Real Also compare the first 2 rows with the last 2 rows if you needed some more evidence