Slashdot Mirror
The Biggest and Baddest Backyard Roller Coaster
BoomZilla writes "Following on the heels of previously reported backyard roller coasters (here
and
here), I'd like to add Jeremy Reid's
wondrous beast to the list. This behemoth certainly takes the award for the
largest, fastest (and most likely the most expensive) labor of coaster love.
Located in Newcastle, Oklahoma, it has an initial drop of 20ft, pulls max
positive G's of 3.5 and max negative G's of -0.2. Overall it's a stunning 444
feet in length. Total cost is estimated at $5.5k. Jeremy is, clearly, a man with
too much time and money on his hands!"
Since this was a Slashdot article, I figured it must have been about a guy who built a 9-monitor roller coaster simulator running across 3 PC's.
I hope he has a lot more time on his hands - to maintain it. Maintaining a rollercoaster is not easy.
--a Cedar Point employee
Pretty slick, but you just KNOW some kid is gonna climb his fence, ride the coaster, fuck it up, hurt himself and sue the guy.
So... $5.5k + $1million lawyers fees + $5 million per kid that parents let run loose unattended.
what? no loops? ;) (i'm hoping some crazy guy will take this challenge so i can see another article entitled "bigger badder roller coster")
R.I.P.
bag of popcorn: 3$
300 yards of lumber: 5.5K
labor to assemble: 6.7K
watching the neighbors annoying kid puke his guts out: priceless
I'm really tired of hearing normative statements like that. If someone has earned that money and/or time to pursue a hobby, no matter how unconventional, it is their absolute right to do so. Before we humans started generating agricultural surpluses above what we could hunt and gather, one person's idle pursuits could impact the ability of a whole community to feed itself. We don't have that situation now, and shouldn't feel the need to criticize anyone's idleness, if they have earned the right to it.
Ah to be young and bored in Oklahoma again... this reminds me just how little there is to do there. You either work yourself to death, drink the boredom away, or find a hobby like this guy (which I assume involves both).
"Do not be swept up in the momentum of mediocrity." - anon
Since nobody else has said it,
"Great job!"
Of course, all of the early posts either talk about how much time it took, how boring Oklahoma is, how it can be dangerous, etc. People like Jeremy are actually DOING things instead of reading about them and being critical.
Well done!
A man with too much time on his hands builds a rollercoater? This is from people who spend all their spare time building kernels for a community developed operating system, pissing around with config files, fighting off RPM dependencies then telling the world how easy it all is?
Do you not think there's a little, y'know, irony in the whole thing? Maybe "Rolldot. News for people that make rollercoasters. Stuff that matters." runs the occasional story about people making operating systems in their back bedroom.
Dave
I write a blog now, you should be afraid.
The post immediately before yours said: Check his resume and you'll see that he has some experience with Roller Coasters: Not only is he a mechanical engineer, but also once woked for Arrow Dynamics, which is one of the foremost Roller Coaster companies in the world.
Just because the freaking thing isn't over-engineered in steel and concrete to last through Hurricane Andrew, doesn't mean it isn't properly engineered. As someone else said, wood rollercoasters have a distinct look/feel/sound to them that steel cannot hope to match.
If you're so smart, build one, or shut up. This guy has built a cool thing. What do you have to show for your life?