Video-Initial Drop Retracking for Our Backyard Roller Coaster

If you ain’t screwing up; you ain’t doing anything.

Believe it or not, I have a written goal of to “fail” once a day. Yep, we learn more from our failures than from our successes, so why not fail more?

This time, it was in calculating and building the proper bank in the first valley. I knew what the calculations said I should do, but didn’t do it because I thought I knew better. I believed that my dive angle would make up for the lack of bank.

Rides like Top Thrill Dragster and Viper as Six Flags Magic Mountain are evidence that at a steep enough dive, you don’t need to bank the track. Well, my drop was no where near steep enough to compensate. – Design Error

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The second error was just a lack of roller coaster design experience that I have since gained. (There is plenty more to learn, don’t worry). This was determining what radii to work with and how to support and address the actual construction of the project.

The result was 3 days of tearing up the old track and reconstructing it to a 53 degree bank angle. Enjoy!

Corey Rasmussen

Corey Rasmussen is an award-winning professional engineer (NC and TX) with over 20 years of product design and development experience. He has two patents related to aerial lifts machinery, has advanced certifications in hydraulics and electronic controls, and specializes in designing mobile equipment. Corey is the principal engineer of Rasmussen Designs and is based out of Durham, NC.

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