Schweizer Bobbahn
Specific Type: Bobsled
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Mack Rides is known throughout the coaster community for their bobsled coasters, and were recruited to construct one for Heide Park in 1993. Thrillseekers watched as an area overlooking Big Loop was transformed into an Olympic bobsleigh track, complete with multiple competing countries. The new attraction would debut as the park's third coaster, and was the first new coaster to be added since Grottenblitz, a Mack powered coaster, eight years prior. Schweizer Bobbahn (German for "Swiss Bobsleigh") opened as the longest coaster of its kind, and immediately thrilled riders with its serpentine curves and sleek trough. Although the ride's theming and landscaping were still under construction, it did little to hinder a rider's experience of racing through the steeply banked helices as they embarked on an epic bobsled adventure.
Schweizer Bobbahn stands firmly at its location between Limit and Flug der Dämonen in the park's Transsilvanien (Transylvania) section. The ride is adorned in a white and green paint scheme like its neighbors, while its regal station and Alpine buildings stand out brilliantly among the surrounding trees. Ridership is well supplied by five trains, each representing a different country. The trains provide some authenticity in the fact that riders are arranged one behind the other. Because Schweizer Bobbahn has five trains, block sections are located throughout the ride so that a train can be stopped if the one in front of it has encountered a problem. Throughout the three thousand, two hundred and forty eight journey, the trains are not directly locked to the track, instead gliding through the trough freely as they swing around corners. Every corner is specifically banked according to the train's speed to ensure that there is no danger of overshooting the edge, and a special section of track is located before every block section to straighten the train out for the brakes. After boarding their toboggans, riders are lead into a right turn out of the station and up the lift hill. As the train slowly climbs to the top, the winding helices that follow are visible below. After cresting the top and disengaging the chain, the train immediately picks up speed as it rounds a descending right hand corner. The track then banks to the left, sending riders hurtling through a 465 degree helix. The train then arises slightly and straightens as it passes through a block section. Riders then whip through a quick left turn, followed by an even quicker right turn, and then through another left hand helix. Suddenly the train screams through a tunnel, and into a steeply banked upper right helix. After blasting out of the tunnel, an ascending straightaway leads into another block section. Another left turn follows, sending the train into a final right helix before swinging into a brake run. Meandering through an Alpine building, the train makes a few right turns before going up a final lift hill and turning right into the station, concluding the one minute and forty second ride. Schweizer Bobbahn riders then disembark their toboggans, having indeed experienced an incredible bobsleigh adventure. |
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