Dragster Trains Modified

I was at CP last night and walked past TTD just to see the trains, etc.. I noticed that four trains have been modified in such a way that there are now two extra seats in the back. The blank space left when the spoilers and slicks were removed is no longer there, having been replaced by the extra seats. There are still two trains that haven't been modified, but I imagine that will be taken care of shortly.

So, one of the reasons for the ride being down right now (though, of course, it's not the only reason) is this modification.

Although it's definitely sad news that the spoilers and slicks won't be back, increased rider capacity won't be a bad trade-off.

I cant believe that they can just add two seats on each train so fast and affectively. I would think that they would have had to send the train back to the ride manufacturer.

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2003 Statistics
Top Thrill Dragster: 5
Millennium Force: 17
Trips to the point: 13

Well, even if you find it difficult to believe, I saw it with my own eyes. If you're close enough to "get to The Point," you can, too.

Another thing you'll notice is the queue rails in the station. These, too, have been modified (actually, they are in the process of being modified right now) to accomodate the extra line of riders.

And, really, adding extra seats could never be more trouble than shipping the trains back to Europe. CP is a first-class operation and they obviously employee people who are more than capable of handling the tasks at hand.

I thought for sure that black add on to the back of the trains (for lack of a better term), was for theming to return. There is way to return the theming, some company knows how to do it. But I guess safety is no accident.

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"This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!"
TTD Status: "Contaminates in the system" S.K.

Hooper, what you referred to as the "black add on at the back of the train" was actually what was left over after the slicks and spoilers were removed. What they've had to do is modify the train to fit the seats in what was formerly occupied by the themed things.

And you are certaily right about safety. Better to have the stuff removed than have something untoward happen.

Having seen Intamin trains stripped down, I don't see it as being a big deal to add the seats.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED!

No, after the spoilers and slicks were removed, the back of the last car was bare, with nothing. Then about 3-4 weeks ago the black add on appeared. That sure pointed to theming coming back. But I guess it isn't coming back.

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"This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!"
TTD Status: "Contaminates in the system" S.K.

I would think that each of the cars on the train is really identical in terms of the main structure and that CP and Intimin envisioned that this change COULD happen in the future.

It IS unfortunate that they have had to make this change to the ride. I always thought that the theming was very cool. Hopefully, there is a long term plan in mind to re-design the engine and tire assembly so that it is light enough and safe enough to put back onto the ride.

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Jeff said, "Someone got it all right. Nice." C-Bob says, "Someone is ME."
*** This post was edited by CoasterBob 6/26/2003 12:10:08 PM ***

I don't think there is anything wrong with adding two seats to it. More people can get on it in an hour now. Better capacity if they can 12 more people on it total.
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At least it's an INTAMIN!

Nobody is saying that it's wrong, it's just that you'd think that if the park can design a 420 ft coaster, they can figure out how to put two tires, a spoiler, and an engine onto the back of a train..

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"What time does the 10 pm laser show start?"

After hearing about the tires falling off, I don't know if I want to sit in the new seats; I am afraid they might fall off! J/K! Lol

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Race For The Sky!

This kind of sucks. I loved the theming on the trains, and would trade that very small amount of capacity for that anyday. Are you positive they are 5 car trains? I thought someone said the other day that some of the back cars had been pulled off and there were 4 car trains on the transfers.

Is it possible that Intamin just made new back cars and shipped them over while the current ones were still on? Seems like it could be a possibility to me as opposed to modifying the existing trains.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. If the theming is gone for good, that means I will have been one of the last people to be on a train with theming. The train that lost it's wheel was one train behind mine.

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-Chris Woodard
"We got pop and Gatorade over here for $100 a bottle, so have your credit card ready. Seriously, the food here is so expensive, I just eat the condiments because I can't afford a meal." - MF que DJ 6/16/03
*** This post was edited by Ralph Wiggum 6/26/2003 10:44:31 AM ***

Westside7th said:
After hearing about the tires falling off, I don't know if I want to sit in the new seats; I am afraid they might fall off! J/K! Lol
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Race For The Sky!

The ejector seat! Just give me a parachute and I'm ready!

That being said, now they need to make modifications to the station.

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Dear Valued Guest, I regret to inform you that Cedar Point’s newest roller coaster, Top Thrill Dragster, is not currently in operation because of mechanical problems.

Since the trains are modified now, will the still have the smoke that shoots out just as your launching? I know it hasn't worked much but I liked that.

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"I need a yes or no answer to this, how many people get into Yale each year?"
"No"

I'm amazed that they would give up on the train theming this fast. If they are worried about the original rubber tires, I wouldn't think it would be to hard to design a light weight plastic tire that could be securely attached to the train.

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Bob M.

I think if CP gave up on the themeing We all should too.

Why is CP choosing to do this now? Are the extra seats really necessary for operation? Why couldn't they have just removed the theming and waited til the off season to add the seats?

I still haven't read anything this tells me officially that the two extra seats have been added.

But, if they were somehow able to do that while the ride was experiencing this major downtime then they might be able to return to operation with a positive spin. The could say that they increased capacity to decrease the wait time and get everyone to focus on that instead of the reason for it being down.

Just a theory and again, unless Jeff tells me the seats have been added I won't give this much weight.

Westside7th said:
After hearing about the tires falling off, I don't know if I want to sit in the new seats; I am afraid they might fall off! J/K! Lol
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Race For The Sky!

Afterr hearing about the tires falling off, I'm not sure I want to wait 4 hours in the coral for this to happen again. Do you? I'd be willing to bet that a 100 pound dragster tire & rim, traveling in excess of 50 miles per hour would kinda hurt when it hit you. I suppose that if you were lucky, you'd need a ride to the hospital.

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If I win the lottery, I promise not to quit my job. Although, it may not take very long for me to be fired.
In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?!"

Odds are the trains were designed with the idea that the theming might be replaced by seats. There are probably seat mounts under the diamond plate "shelf" that the theming was attached to, at least that's how it should have been done.

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Scott W. Short
mailto:scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com