What's new

Mindbender at Galaxyland to be retired

ricklap77

Roller Poster
I bet Gene Staples wishes the Mindbender had become available for sale before he bought Quimera! I believe Mindebender was one notch above Quimera.
 

Steely Dan

Mega Poster
^ According to RCDB stats, mindbender was a notch above drier looping, being taller, faster, and longer, but apparently the latter pulls a little more G-force.


Mindbender:

Length4,198.0 ft
Height145.0 ft
Drop127.0 ft
Speed60.0 mph
Inversions3
Duration1:13
G-Force5.2


Dreier looping:

Length3,379.3 ft
Height108.3 ft
Drop100.9 ft
Speed53.4 mph
Inversions3
G-Force6.1
 

roomraider

Best Topic Starter
What really set Mindbender apart from Dreier Looping for me was the backwards car. It made the ride SO SO much more intense. One of the most insane rides I've ever been on. I love an intense ride and I had to have a sit down after that.
 

TPoseOnTantrum

Giga Poster
A few days ago we had a guy in Edmonton alleging that as per insider info, Gene Staples had been impressed with the condition of the trains and subsequently bought them, some usable track pieces, and any spare parts he could get his hands on;

Then yesterday said trains were spotted heading East on the Interstate in Minnesota;
pEL2-zdFw-IynNTR61URrvu-vdo5tVWynItVgSLRyJw-1.jpg
Like a pipe dream, it does seem like part of the coaster will live on in Indiana.
 

Indy

Hyper Poster
I honestly have mixed feelings about this. It is certainly great to see the trains live on, but I'm not sure this is going to be an improvement unless they are simply using the trains for spare parts. Quimera is definitely more jarring than Mindbender was. Those first few drops are particularly unfriendly, but the ride was tolerable before because it had a belt/harness-type system with its lap bar as opposed to the accordion-style OTSRs. I worry that, if kept, those OTSRs will deliver some pretty brutal shots to the neck and jaw.
 

ricklap77

Roller Poster
Good news! Glad to know that the trains and some track pieces were saved. But again, the whole ride should have been saved and moved to Holiday World!
 

Lori Marie Loud

Giga Poster
Good news! Glad to know that the trains and some track pieces were saved. But again, the whole ride should have been saved and moved to Holiday World!
New rumor making the rounds is the coaster was unsalvagable due to too many cracks in the track. So saving the whole thing was impossible. Same rumor also correctly stated the trains were going to Indiana.
 

ricklap77

Roller Poster
New rumor making the rounds is the coaster was unsalvagable due to too many cracks in the track. So saving the whole thing was impossible. Same rumor also correctly stated the trains were going to Indiana.
Possibly true but if there were many cracks all over the track I don't understand why other Schwarkopft didn't have any or very few!? They're all intense coasters. Maybe because the Mindbender operated all year round, but again, it was operated indoors always under the same climate.
 

Fluorineer

Mega Poster
Possibly true but if there were many cracks all over the track I don't understand why other Schwarkopft didn't have any or very few!? They're all intense coasters. Maybe because the Mindbender operated all year round, but again, it was operated indoors always under the same climate.

An indoor coaster is built on a continuous concrete slab rather than individual footers placed in more flexible ground. Is it possible that the coaster was too rigid?
 

Indy

Hyper Poster
Possibly true but if there were many cracks all over the track I don't understand why other Schwarkopft didn't have any or very few!? They're all intense coasters. Maybe because the Mindbender operated all year round, but again, it was operated indoors always under the same climate.
The controlled climate isn't going to protect the ride from fatigue. Cracks are generally a product of use/wear. The ride essentially operated continuously for 36 years. That is a ton of cycles and a lot of flexing that the track is being subjected to. And to your point, other Schwarzkopfs have had a lot of track work completed. Mindbender at SFOG was retracked. Olympia Looping has had track renovations. SFOT's Shockwave has had a lot of track work.

An indoor coaster is built on a continuous concrete slab rather than individual footers placed in more flexible ground. Is it possible that the coaster was too rigid?
No. No designer wants the footers to move. Rides are designed to live on a rigid surface. Footers will eventually settle (sink ) slightly and that has to be accounted for, but you want reassurance that the settlement will be very small. You're going to have much bigger problems if your footers are flexing than you will if they are perfectly rigid.

If the cracks in the track rumor is true, and it is a believable rumor, then it is almost certainly due to fatigue from year-round use. Give two people a plastic credit card and tell them to bend it back and forth. A person who is constantly bending the card back and forth will break their card a lot sooner than a person who alternates bending it for a minute and then taking a minute's rest.
 

ricklap77

Roller Poster
Thanks for the info. It makes sense. In the end all good things must come to an end. Mindbender was such a good, powerful, elegant coaster. It's sad to see it go. But despite it's sad beginnings with the fatal accident in 1986, it managed to thrill many people for all those years and we all have to be thankful for that.
 

TPoseOnTantrum

Giga Poster
And as anticipated the trains have arrived at Indiana Beach. Not to be run on their Schwarzkopf according to Gene Staples, not as is at least;
4ECF990D-7509-4D1B-A5B7-F410654C392B.jpeg
Photo from OneClickGang on Insta
 
Top