With the increased popularity of modern coaster designs like the inverted, suspended and so-called 4D coasters, I am amazed that nobody seems to have built what I perceive to be an obvious evolution of the genre:
The three-rail roller coaster. In this design, there are three rails spaced 120-degrees apart in a circle. Each rail has a circular cross-section and the train rides in the middle of the big circle. The train is supported by three arms connected to wheels that ride along the rails, like this.
This design allows for the following advantages, which can not currently be achieved by current coasters:
[ol]
[li]Helical roll: by spiraling the three rails, you can achieve a perfect in-place roll. This can be combined with a loop or other maneuver.[/li][li]You can turn without banking, or bank in the opposite direction[/li][li]You could do a vertical “S”-type loop without twisting[/li][li]It would be super-awesome-neato-rad[/li][/ol]
Part of the fun of a roller coaster is the sense of “openness”. Your configuration, while certainly good for rolls, would be too much like going through a tube IMHO. It might be good for a Space Mountain type of ride, though.
I might be missing something, but what can this roller coaster do that others cannot? All the maneuvers you mentioned seem like they would still work if you removed the top rail (and then there would be wheels above and below the two lower rails like a conventional coaster).
Actually, I’m not overly fond of roller coasters that flip you over and over again. I much prefer the hills, the higher and steeper the drops the better.
If you want to not see the track, try Superman. It’s suspended from above (like the Batman ride), but after you get on, the seat pivots backwards so your, well, dangling (your legs are strapped in) in a Superman like pose.
I want to see a rollercoaster with a ballistic section - where the train is launched from a jump on the track, travels free through the air, then rejoins the track again after being caught safely on a suitably-angled and constructed landing ramp.
I don’t want to ride such a thing, but it would be cool if it could be built (I think the engineering of overcoming the variables with any kind of safe reliability is probably going to stop it ever becoming reality)
Although, I do love me some loops. Gotta do Batman. Also, the Spongebob roller coaster at the Mall of America is awesome. Vertical climb; vertical drop!
Raging Bull is one of my favorites as well. I was on it the day it opened, it’s actually kinda neat in that each time I go on it, the ride is less and less smooth.
Have you done Vertical Velocity yet? 0-70mph in less then 4 seconds (all done with magnets).
This video doesn’t really do it justice, but if you watch closely there’s a point where it comes to a complete stop. At that point you are facing straight down at the concrete and when it makes that stop, your stomach just up jumps out of your mouth…I can’t wait to go on it again.
