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Wicker Man - General Discussion - Part Two

I absolutely loved wicker man when it first opened. Thought it was very smooth and enjoyable. My opinion has been the same upto this year as I've never noticed the roughness as people were mentioning. But yesterday my god it was shaky and rattly. Yes I like an out of control woodie but it genuinely was uncomfortable yesterday and gave me a headache. First time that's happened and the difference between yesterday and when I went couple weeks ago is ridiculous
 
I can confirm after riding Wicker Man today that it is a LOT rougher than my previous visits, I've never found it to be a rough ride but today it felt like it was shaking side to side more than it was going forward. It crawled around the track, even at 8:30pm this evening, at which normally it would be flying.

I don't know if it's had its wheels changed or what but reading the previous comments I thought people were just moaning, but it is genuinely running no where near as well as it usually does, it was also stopping on the lift hill too today as said previously, I can only think this is because it's travelling (a lot) slower and isn't clearing the break run quick enough.
 
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siralgenon said:
I can confirm after riding Wicker Man today but it is a LOT rougher than my previous visits, I've never found it to be a rough ride but today it felt like it was shaking side to side more than it was going forward. It crawled around the track, even at 8:30pm this evening, at which normally it would be flying.

I don't know if it's had its wheels changed or what but reading the previous comments I thought people were just moaning, but it is genuinely running no where near as well as it usually does, it was also stopping on the lift hill too today as said previously, I can only think this is because it's travelling (a lot) slower and isn't clearing the break run quick enough.
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So im assuming the speed loss is caused by it shaking side to side
 
I sense another long period of downtime coming up... and I'm going in less than two weeks! :(
Safety first though, those issues don't sound good.
 
The loss of speed was something I really noticed last time too, that flat turn section is now taken at crawling pace almost. I put it down to weather conditions at the time, but it’s been the case my last few visits. Such a shame, as it’s lost that quality that had it challenging Nemesis for me. It’s nowhere near Nemesis now, off recent rides.
 
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Connor98 said:
The loss of speed was something I really noticed last time too, that flat turn section is now taken at crawling pace almost. I put it down to weather conditions at the time, but it’s been the case my last few visits. Such a shame, as it’s lost that quality that had it challenging Nemesis for me. It’s nowhere where near Nemesis now, off recent rides.
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I mean on recent rides out of the big 7 wicker man is 4th for me, so gone down a place. Smiler, Nemesis and oblivion are all better
 
I thought it was going to stall going around the flat turn. It's a good job they installed all of anti-rollbacks because I think it's going to need them if it stays how it is. Hopefully it's just a temporary phase.
 
Here’s a thought; could the roughness and the slower ride potentially go hand in hand with one another? As I’m assuming that friction against the track would generate roughness, and friction in turn would slow the ride down.
 
Matt N said:
Here’s a thought; could the roughness and the slower ride potentially go hand in hand with one another? As I’m assuming that friction against the track would generate roughness, and friction in turn would slow the ride down.
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Yes it could.

I noticed recently the wheels squealing more than they used to. I think i was the first person here to mention the train stopping on the lift hill. I've been a couple of times since, had four more rides, and have stopped on the lift hill on all four of them, having never had it happen before.

And the speed on the flat turn is slower i'm sure.

I would imagine they'll let it soldier on for the rest of the season and then have another go at rebuilding that first turn over the winter, i'm sure that will sort it out.
 
Are there any other GCI’s that run 3 trains. Even the larger ones like Wodan and mystic timbers run 2. the fact trains are passing through the layout at a more frequent rate might have something to do with the amount of wear caused in its short life span.
 
Connor98 said:
Are there any other GCI’s that run 3 trains. Even the larger ones like Wodan and mystic timbers run 2. the fact trains are passing through the layout at a more frequent rate might have something to do with the amount of wear caused in its short life span.
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I thought Wodan and Mystic both ran 3? They both run 3 according to RCDB, anyway...

Out of interest, is Wicker Man merely rough in relation to what it used to be, or is it rough compared to other GCIs as well? Only asking because I never hear people complain about the roughness of rides like Wodan, Troy, Mystic Timbers and Joris, to name just a few, as much as they do about the roughness of Wicker Man.

I definitely think Wicker Man seems to have slowed down lately, from what I can tell; having watched a lot of recent off-ride shots, the ride seems to absolutely crawl through certain sections that it used to go quite quickly through. Combined with the newly emerged roughness reports, I must admit that I’m very nervous to re-ride Wicker Man...
 
If the trains are running slower it could also explain why trains are now being block stopped at the top of the lift.
 
All these roughness complaints seem to have started after the trackwork they a few weeks ago. I wonder if that has anything to do with it? It seems to be the first turn into the structure that is the issue, which is where they retracked one side of the track I think?
 
I rode Wicker Man yesterday and even I thought it was rougher than I remember.

I'm not sure if it's the placebo effect and I just noticed it more because I've read about it here, but it did feel more rattly especially through the retracked area.
 
Could the speed of the trains have been affecting the wear of the track which led to the downtime and retrack earlier in the year?

To avoid further wear to the track they have taken measures to slow it down (new wheels?) which in turn has now potentially caused the increased roughness?
 
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