GCI prototype steel track
- Thread starter Niles
- Start date
CrashCoaster
CF Legend
How cheeky of them, seems very similar to the I-Box. I bet their layouts would stay similar to how they are now though.
Stampida at Portaventura has very similar track on its brake run to this.
Apparently GCI are going to trial this track on a section of white lightning, which is why it was unveiled at Fun Spot. I could see Fun Spot Atlanta getting one the first woodies with this track.
Stampida at Portaventura has very similar track on its brake run to this.
Apparently GCI are going to trial this track on a section of white lightning, which is why it was unveiled at Fun Spot. I could see Fun Spot Atlanta getting one the first woodies with this track.
Fluorineer
Mega Poster
I've said before that GCI has become a little too good at what they do, and has too little else to offer once a park is not really interested in that classic GCI experience. They had a very ambitious model of a dueling wooden coaster with a Zero-G-Roll during last IAAPA, very reminiscent of something Gravity Group would do. I suppose that didn't spark all too much interest, unfortunately.
I still remember the impression Troy has left on enthusiasts in central europe. It was that one "wow, Wooden Coasters can actually be phenomenal"-moment. It completely blew everyone's hair back, and the Station-Fly-Through is to this day one of my favourite features on any coaster ever. Rarely will you ever get this good of a taste of what is to come while waiting for your seat.
I actually really like this track design, it looks a lot more boisterous than the pretty clean and simplistic look of I-Box track, and boisterous is right up GCI's sleeve. I wouldn't see this as a copycat-attempt at what RMC is doing with the I-Box track, I rather believe that GCI came to the realization that they can only further improve on their design language if they can overcome the natural limitations of their wooden track. The only reason RMC was able to develop their very own and distinct coaster design language that is influencing all over the industry right now, is because they invented one of the most flexible track types ever with the I-Box track, that can easily be plastered on top of existing wooden (!) supports and will remain silky smooth whatever the maneuver.
There's plenty of examples where a GCI-layout could potentially benefit from a more RMC-esque approach, like a Station-Fly-Through Barrel Roll or generally some sharper profiling of their larger hills. I don't think they would do themselves any favours if this was an attempt at strictly "winning" back some of the market share lost to RMC, so I am very much looking forward to see what GCI will be doing with this, and I am confident that it is actually going to be very different to what RMC does.
Also, since the Intamin Woodies never really caught on (probably because they are expensive as heck), I can totally see this fill in that gap. To me it's no surprise that GCI never really trusted it's current track and train design to go beyond the 40m that Wodan is tall, and since they pretty much mastered the "100 feet Woodie"-category, they never really had to. However, with the steel support structure as well as Hyper Coasters in general gaining popularity, I would love to see them plonk down a 200+ ft GCI-style Hyper Coaster with this new track design, I think it could totally work out and be something entirely different to what the industry is currently offering in the hyper-category. Just my two cents though.
I still remember the impression Troy has left on enthusiasts in central europe. It was that one "wow, Wooden Coasters can actually be phenomenal"-moment. It completely blew everyone's hair back, and the Station-Fly-Through is to this day one of my favourite features on any coaster ever. Rarely will you ever get this good of a taste of what is to come while waiting for your seat.
I actually really like this track design, it looks a lot more boisterous than the pretty clean and simplistic look of I-Box track, and boisterous is right up GCI's sleeve. I wouldn't see this as a copycat-attempt at what RMC is doing with the I-Box track, I rather believe that GCI came to the realization that they can only further improve on their design language if they can overcome the natural limitations of their wooden track. The only reason RMC was able to develop their very own and distinct coaster design language that is influencing all over the industry right now, is because they invented one of the most flexible track types ever with the I-Box track, that can easily be plastered on top of existing wooden (!) supports and will remain silky smooth whatever the maneuver.
There's plenty of examples where a GCI-layout could potentially benefit from a more RMC-esque approach, like a Station-Fly-Through Barrel Roll or generally some sharper profiling of their larger hills. I don't think they would do themselves any favours if this was an attempt at strictly "winning" back some of the market share lost to RMC, so I am very much looking forward to see what GCI will be doing with this, and I am confident that it is actually going to be very different to what RMC does.
Also, since the Intamin Woodies never really caught on (probably because they are expensive as heck), I can totally see this fill in that gap. To me it's no surprise that GCI never really trusted it's current track and train design to go beyond the 40m that Wodan is tall, and since they pretty much mastered the "100 feet Woodie"-category, they never really had to. However, with the steel support structure as well as Hyper Coasters in general gaining popularity, I would love to see them plonk down a 200+ ft GCI-style Hyper Coaster with this new track design, I think it could totally work out and be something entirely different to what the industry is currently offering in the hyper-category. Just my two cents though.
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
I would hate to be the person who has to install all of those rivets. If they're actually installing a section on White Lightning, I think they'll find out that installing that many rivets will be quite laborious. A full track installation would easily see a couple million rivets.
Full disclosure: my robotics team fastens our components together with similar rivets using two compressed air powered rivet guns. They're strong and allows for faster assembly than nuts and bolts, but we use less than 200 on our robot - probably a third of what's used on that tiny demo track.
Full disclosure: my robotics team fastens our components together with similar rivets using two compressed air powered rivet guns. They're strong and allows for faster assembly than nuts and bolts, but we use less than 200 on our robot - probably a third of what's used on that tiny demo track.
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
I don't think they are trialing this track on White Lightning. They are showing off their new trains on there but not this new track. Think somethings got lost in translation somewhere.
SilverArrow
Certified Ride Geek
Was pleased to see this as a) I personally prefer the better GCIs I've done compared to RMCs (although Steve and Zadra are close) and b) because it's good to see some competition in the hybrid arena rather than everyone holding RMC up on a lone pedestal. haha there I said it. Basically yeah it's a cool idea!
Hoping someone actually buys one though as we still haven't seen their inverting woodie come to light (although China is supposed to get one at some point but that still hasn't been built).
Now we know why RMC had a sale on!
Hoping someone actually buys one though as we still haven't seen their inverting woodie come to light (although China is supposed to get one at some point but that still hasn't been built).
Now we know why RMC had a sale on!
TilenB
Strata Poster
There's a video from Fun Spot that shows a piece of the track in the OP. Perhaps it was shown both at IAAPA and Fun Spot?
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
Sorry I don't mean it wasn't at fun spot. Just thay they aren't going to replace a section of track on White Lightning with this track as a demonstration/test as was mentioned in the 2nd post
CrashCoaster
CF Legend
Your saying they're putting Infinity flyers on there? Temporarily or permanently?
I noticed the Infinity Flyer on display this year looked differently designed than last year's, didn't look quite as cool?
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UKCoasterFan
Mega Poster
RMC must have their track well protected from copying so I guess this will have to be different enough in some cosmetic fashion to be allowed. But maybe ride wise GCI would be able to do similar things as RMC. Will be interesting to see where this goes.
Fluorineer
Mega Poster
I would give GCI a little bit more credit here, I think the main reason for the design choice is that they have a pretty big stake in their current ecosystem of wooden coasters as well as their Millennium and Infinity Flyer Trains. Some of their coasters will turn 20 years old soon and if they will be able to provide modifications or complete redesigns to their existing coasters (think of something similar to the Hades 360 conversion) while keeping basically everything else intact - trains, the lifthill and brakeruns, maintenance procedures etc - they could offer an attractive modernization-option at a fraction of the price of what an already comparatively cheap RMC-conversion would cost. Also parks like to stick with manufacturers they are comfortable with and have worked with in the past.
From an historical point of view, this sort of development is an inevitability for GCI no matter whether RMC exists or not. Not only for GCI, if you see Magnum XL-200 as the turning point of modern coaster development, then plenty of perfectly fine coasters will turn 30 throughout the next decade, which is the expected lifespan for most modern coasters. So far, we mainly had to witness demolitions of coasters, that hat a combination of outdated/subpar design and age going. Soon however, plenty of coasters will be facing the chopping block despite still being very much entertaining and popular with guests, just because economically a repair or partial refurbishment would not be viable. In that scenario, having attractive modernization options on the table while still offering compatability with the legacy-technology from 25 years ago is worth potentially millions and millions of dollars, as plenty of theme parks will face just as much challenge with keeping their existing coaster line-up intact instead of just adding new coasters on top of it.