Schwarzkopf box track

[madhjsp]

Just as the age of the multi-looping steel coaster was still in its infancy, Schwarzkopf built two custom loopers in 1978 with box-style track, highly reminiscent of the style Intamin would later adopt.

Mind Bender at Six Flags over Georgia:

Shock Wave at Six Flags over Texas:

This track style was dramatically different from that seen on their previous looping coasters, such as Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain:

... and yet as far as I can tell from browsing RCDB, Schwarzkopf never used this style of track on any of their coasters again. In 1979, they installed the first 3 of their Looping Star models, which used a completely new type of track that would essentially become their signature style for looping coasters throughout the 80's and into the 90's.

My question is, why did they move away from the Mind Bender track style so quickly? If there were flaws or drawbacks in the design that caused them never to employ it again, why then have Shock Wave and Mind Bender operated without major mechanical incident since they were built, and why would Intamin later incorporate a nearly identical style into their coasters decades later? Did Schwarzkopf's newer style represent a significant decrease in construction cost?

It just struck me as odd that they'd completely overhaul their track design three times in three years, so I was curious to see if anyone actually knew any information about this.

 

[furie]

That's really interesting actually :lol:

It could simply be that they used different steel manufacturers/fabricators to produce the track. Or it may be that (remember we're actually still in the infancy of steel coasters here and they're the people really pushing boundaries) it's simply a case of trying different ideas. Maybe even a mix of things. Obviously the standard track we see in the end must have been the easiest and most cost effective solution for them to take on. Do the box track coasters have complete box track for the entire circuit? If you look at modern manufacturers, the box track isn't used for the entire ride, just where the extra strength is required. There's often a toss up between extra steel and extra footers too. We've moved on a long way from those days in working out the best way of reducing costs (and the costs of materials and construction will also vary regularly).

It's odd to look and see them go from box track to single spine in the same way Intamin did over the last 10 years or so :lol:

 

[Martyn B]

... and yet as far as I can tell from browsing RCDB, Schwarzkopf never used this style of track on any of their coasters again.

Didn't they use that track design on all of the Jet Star coasters?

 

[furie]

Jet Star coasters pre-date Revolution.

You're in need of these pages:
http://schwarzkopf.coaster.net/achterba ... nen-GF.htm
http://schwarzkopf.coaster.net/achterba ... kss-GF.htm

Essentially the answer though is "box track for permanent installations". Anything that was a portable coaster (a lot of their stuff was considered portable) had different track.

 

[madhjsp]

Wow, so that's it then. I hadn't considered that, but it actually makes a lot of sense in hindsight, since so many Schwarzkopf rides have been relocated over the years, many of them multiple times. The compact layouts on many of them is another obvious clue that this was entirely the designer's intent.

Anyway, thanks for digging that site up, furie! There seems to be a lot more to it, so I'm going to have to check out the rest of it now.