Fury 325 Closed - Support Fracture
- Thread starter CanobieFan
- Start date
Yikes - pretty horrid! 
I suppose they will have to assess whether the short period of time it was running like that would have caused significant stress on the track / other supports, warranting more significant repairs etc (rather than just 'patching it up').
Thinking about it, gorilla glue is pretty strong. If they have a ladder tall enough, I'll sort it (for a nominal fee).
I suppose they will have to assess whether the short period of time it was running like that would have caused significant stress on the track / other supports, warranting more significant repairs etc (rather than just 'patching it up').
Thinking about it, gorilla glue is pretty strong. If they have a ladder tall enough, I'll sort it (for a nominal fee).
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
It's the latter. It's known as the baader meinhof phenomenon - it's that cognitive bias to notice something again and again after it being brought to your attention, after paying it no notice until then.
There is (almost certainly) no crack on Gatekeeper. It's a shadow, a dirty mark, etc. And the crack on Fury probably looked like a shadow to everyone who glanced at it too.
But now everyone is looking for cracks and seeing them where they are not.
In the past, I suspect a report like this would have been examined with binoculars before wasting the effort to get up there - but Cedar Fair have PR to worry about now. The notion that they are only taking it seriously now after the fact is daft - they would have always taken this seriously - but physically getting up there is safety theatre, unless professionals looked at it and went "huh, that does look like a crack".
Don't let this stop you reporting things you think you see, mind you!
Matt N
CF Legend
According to my dad, who's currently in Hamburg, this is making world news...
This is surprising, though; such a big structural failure on a B&M is almost unheard of.
Could this have any ramifications on Fury going forward? Do we reckon this is a simple case of "modify the support" or do we reckon there will be some kind of layout change?
This is surprising, though; such a big structural failure on a B&M is almost unheard of.
Could this have any ramifications on Fury going forward? Do we reckon this is a simple case of "modify the support" or do we reckon there will be some kind of layout change?
Fiender
Mega Poster
I'd be astonished if there was any layout change. That's such a huge modification for what was (most likely) a maintenance oversight. If anything was to change on the coaster, I've seen some people suggest that a trim break might be added somewhere, just in case. I sincerely hope that doesn't happen but if the investigation reveals some cause beyond maintenance oversight, B&M might insist on the change, and I don't see Cedar Fair refusing.
MLDesigns
Hyper Poster
Highly doubt it would need reprofiling. This video isn't your usual "enthusiast" speculation, I think it's very informational & on the money:
His seemingly informed opinion is that the diagonal beam's footer had sunk into the ground, overstressing the diagonal column and gradually leading to the crack. So the options would be remake the support to the length it needs to be in the current (sunken) state, or tear out, reinforce & repour those footers and install an identical original support.
His seemingly informed opinion is that the diagonal beam's footer had sunk into the ground, overstressing the diagonal column and gradually leading to the crack. So the options would be remake the support to the length it needs to be in the current (sunken) state, or tear out, reinforce & repour those footers and install an identical original support.
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
I mean, we've seen "layout changes" to other coasters which have caused damage to themselves. Lots of times. So it wouldn't surprise me, at all. They'll do something to it. Whether that's just more or different supports or finding a way to cause less force on that turn, idk. A lot of it probably depends whether they find anything else. For all we know, there's already existing "problems" with accelerated deterioration if, say for example... The wheels. Maybe. Who knows. They'll look at all the costs and weigh them up to deciding how to mitigate further costs, especially since this is their signature attraction.
It is "unusual" for B&M... But Fury is an unusual B&M. It has more forces than a Wacky Worm!
(That last line was a joke, don't let it undermine my point, you weirdos.
)
That said, like I mentioned before, Silver Bullet had a cracked track. So... Maybe it happens way more often than we realise and it just typically gets caught during winter maintenance? No clue. And without someone with experience coming forward to say what they've witnessed elsewhere, it's impossible to say.
It's also possible that yeah, it's a footer issue... The ground has sunken in, and it's got nothing to do with Fury at all.
Edit: just saw this...
I know nothing, but my guess is they will temp fix and reopen this season and do any major reworking over winter.
It is "unusual" for B&M... But Fury is an unusual B&M. It has more forces than a Wacky Worm!
(That last line was a joke, don't let it undermine my point, you weirdos.
)That said, like I mentioned before, Silver Bullet had a cracked track. So... Maybe it happens way more often than we realise and it just typically gets caught during winter maintenance? No clue. And without someone with experience coming forward to say what they've witnessed elsewhere, it's impossible to say.
It's also possible that yeah, it's a footer issue... The ground has sunken in, and it's got nothing to do with Fury at all.
Edit: just saw this...
I know nothing, but my guess is they will temp fix and reopen this season and do any major reworking over winter.
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roomraider
Best Topic Starter
Can't wait for the experts in the field to fix it and then a load of half informed internet keyboard warrior to point out how theyve done it wrong.
On the serious side its interesting to see such a failure on a B&M. If for no other reason than they are so so rare. B&M have the reputation they do for being the rolls royce of coasters (Although i once heard that said about Tornado at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid so
) because they are so over engineered and reliable, As far as I know theres never been an accident on a B&M thats the fault of the ride hardware and the fact this ride was still running just fine with essentially a support missing shows how well it's built.
The support subsidence theory makes sense to me (although god knows where that guy got his info) but i reckon this could be quite an easy fix, just might take a few weeks.
On the serious side its interesting to see such a failure on a B&M. If for no other reason than they are so so rare. B&M have the reputation they do for being the rolls royce of coasters (Although i once heard that said about Tornado at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid so
) because they are so over engineered and reliable, As far as I know theres never been an accident on a B&M thats the fault of the ride hardware and the fact this ride was still running just fine with essentially a support missing shows how well it's built.The support subsidence theory makes sense to me (although god knows where that guy got his info) but i reckon this could be quite an easy fix, just might take a few weeks.
toofpikk
Hyper Poster
Honestly the conversations and speculation on my twitter feed has been absolutely wild the last few days.
Higher up people in the industry commenting on it making huge, sweeping, genuinely incorrect statements on the matter. thinking they know better just cos they work in the industry.
All the little goons buzzing away all excited with the sweet sweet nectar of something so harmless but so shocking taking place.
AND THEN the fact the repair job so far looks like something out of a saw movie. It's incredible.
So funny. So juicy. So good.
Higher up people in the industry commenting on it making huge, sweeping, genuinely incorrect statements on the matter. thinking they know better just cos they work in the industry.
All the little goons buzzing away all excited with the sweet sweet nectar of something so harmless but so shocking taking place.
AND THEN the fact the repair job so far looks like something out of a saw movie. It's incredible.
So funny. So juicy. So good.
Dar
Hyper Poster
My thinking is that repair is to take some of the strain out of the track and stop it sagging while they wait for the proper repair?
Love the experts in the Facebook comments questioning why the support is braced on the inside when the forces are obviously pushing outwards!
Besides how Impressive it is that it was still running, I'm surprised that people on ride didn't seem to notice anything different to normal
Love the experts in the Facebook comments questioning why the support is braced on the inside when the forces are obviously pushing outwards!
Besides how Impressive it is that it was still running, I'm surprised that people on ride didn't seem to notice anything different to normal
Geeky Pastimes
Mega Poster
I volunteer as tribute, on our trip I will gladly ride it with that 'repair' in place
If it was caused by cyclic strain, there must have been one cycle where it finally gave in and the two pieces separated with a jolt and a snapping sound. I wonder whether anybody on the ride noticed, but thought no more of it.Besides how Impressive it is that it was still running, I'm surprised that people on ride didn't seem to notice anything different to normal
CanobieFan
Strata Poster
Assuming it gave way while the train was passing if it did eventually separate with say more than half a train already passed... odds are with the speed the trains moving, you'd be so far from that section before you probably wouldn't even process hearing something out of the norm. Although people on the ground watching the ride might have heard something. In the video of it cycling already broken, it clearly sounds different
Honestly, I expect this to have significant ramifications. It's making the morning national news (Good Morning America). It's not like with El Toro, where the ride actually did hurt people, but there were no viral visual bites to share. This is the most dangerous video of a roller coaster that I can remember seeing.
Re: Carowinds: It felt like Cedar Fair was trying to make Carowinds a destination park with the amount of investment over the past decade or so. This incident has already created an enormous stigma for the park, and I can see business declining for this. I would imagine the park would need to do something more drastic than just replace the beam to get much of the GP to feel comfortable buying a ticket. Carowinds' public response to this is laughable. Even if it's not completely their fault, they need to at least feign more outrage over this. All in all, I think this will really hurt Carowinds' present business and potential future investment.
Re: B&M: I wouldn't be shocked if we don't see any more Gigas because of this. They're already expensive rides, but why would a park risk having a viral moment like this get out and damage attendance if it needs to pay $30M-$40M or however much it costs to build one.
Re: Carowinds: It felt like Cedar Fair was trying to make Carowinds a destination park with the amount of investment over the past decade or so. This incident has already created an enormous stigma for the park, and I can see business declining for this. I would imagine the park would need to do something more drastic than just replace the beam to get much of the GP to feel comfortable buying a ticket. Carowinds' public response to this is laughable. Even if it's not completely their fault, they need to at least feign more outrage over this. All in all, I think this will really hurt Carowinds' present business and potential future investment.
Re: B&M: I wouldn't be shocked if we don't see any more Gigas because of this. They're already expensive rides, but why would a park risk having a viral moment like this get out and damage attendance if it needs to pay $30M-$40M or however much it costs to build one.
Is it though? https://news.yahoo.com/repairs-carowinds-fury-325-not-214244049.html
You're welcome to your speculation, but there's also an arguable good amount of evidence that points to park goers understanding isolated ride malfunctions/accident as being specific to the ride, rather than the park.
Staying mum on official word until full assessment is conducted is a perfectly legitimate approach, especially given the 4th of July holiday on a Tuesday means (frankly) the headline got buried for a lot of U.S. domestic news coverage.
By that rationale, Intamin should have quit building in 2004.
Looking at the video of the coaster running, I would highly doubt a rider noticing the couple feet of sway on a high-speed turn. Or at least, no more than when riding a coaster with wooden structure that can have similar sway.
Is it though? https://news.yahoo.com/repairs-carowinds-fury-325-not-214244049.html
You're welcome to your speculation, but there's also an arguable good amount of evidence that points to park goers understanding isolated ride malfunctions/accident as being specific to the ride, rather than the park.
Staying mum on official word until full assessment is conducted is a perfectly legitimate approach, especially given the 4th of July holiday on a Tuesday means (frankly) the headline got buried for a lot of U.S. domestic news coverage.
By that rationale, Intamin should have quit building in 2004.
Looking at the video of the coaster running, I would highly doubt a rider noticing the couple feet of sway on a high-speed turn. Or at least, no more than when riding a coaster with wooden structure th
Is it though? https://news.yahoo.com/repairs-carowinds-fury-325-not-214244049.html
You're welcome to your speculation, but there's also an arguable good amount of evidence that points to park goers understanding isolated ride malfunctions/accident as being specific to the ride, rather than the park.
Staying mum on official word until full assessment is conducted is a perfectly legitimate approach, especially given the 4th of July holiday on a Tuesday means (frankly) the headline got buried for a lot of U.S. domestic news coverage.
By that rationale, Intamin should have quit building in 2004.
Looking at the video of the coaster running, I would highly doubt a rider noticing the couple feet of sway on a high-speed turn. Or at least, no more than when riding a coaster with wooden structure that can have similar sway.
at can have similar sway
The incident didn't get buried though. It went viral and was on the morning national news at a time that the U.S. had like 5 mass shootings over the holiday weekend and there was cocaine found at the White House. Granted, we live in a time where everything is sensationalized and blown out of proportion. The one link you shared is from locals and I imagine the local news source isn't incentivized to denigrate one of the few tourist attractions in Charlotte.
To put it another way, if this happened at Magic Mountain (near where I live), and I invited a non-enthusiast friend there within a year or two after this happened on Goliath or X2 etc., they would say fck no. Most people don't have the patience to read about what happened, attribute fault, and evaluate how unlikely the same thing is to happen again. They just see the video and say, "no thanks. This place isn't safe." The wounds will heal over time, but I think the near future will be tough.
