X2 (roller coaster)

X2 (formerly known as X) is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. It was the world's first fourth-dimension roller coaster and was the final roller coaster installed by ride manufacturer Arrow Dynamics. The ride is unique in that the trains' seats pitch 360 degrees forwards and in reverse independent of the main chassis. The coaster initially opened to the public on January 12, 2002; numerous issues delayed it from debuting in 2001 as was originally anticipated. On December 2, 2007, the ride closed for its transformation into X2. It was completely repainted, received new third-generation trains, and featured new special effects including onboard audio, fog effects, and a pair of flame throwers. The ride reopened on May 24, 2008, following the upgrades.

History

The concept of a fourth dimension roller coaster had been conceptualized back when designer Alan Schilke had imagined a roller coaster combined with a Zipper, wanting to combine the high speeds, drops, and inversions of a roller coaster with the unpredictable flipping of the Zipper.[2] When he joined Arrow, he had tried numerous times to try and pass the concept past administration, but time and time again the company kept rejecting the design due to worries of nausea.

One day, former Six Flags Magic Mountain park president Gary Story had set up a meeting with Arrow, with Schilke attending the meeting, looking for their next big roller coaster. When Story disapproved of most models shown, Schilke pulled out a demo disc containing the fourth dimension roller coaster concept, which impressed Story.

Ride experience

The 3,610. ft long layout features two inversions including a skydive, two "raven turns", one backflip, and a twisting front flip. Each car on the train spins on its own independent axis 360 degrees forward or backward, which is being controlled by the outer rails of the track. Unlike traditional roller coasters, 4th Dimension roller coasters like X2 have four rails.

Layout

After departing from the loading station, the ride makes a 180-degree turn traveling over the queue and onto the lift hill. After ascending 175 ft, the train enters a pre-drop and then ascends an additional 15 ft to a maximum height of 190. ft. During this lift, riders are facing backwards. The first drop is 215 ft and is sloped at 88.5 degrees, at the base of which ride vehicles attain a maximum speed of 76 mph.

During the initial drop, the seat assembly is rotated so that riders are positioned facing the ground. There is a pool of fog at the base of the drop, however this effect has not worked in many years.[17] The train then enters an inside raven turn, where the cars are rotated again halfway through the loop to create a "lie-to-fly" maneuver; riders transition from lying on their backs facing backward to a prone position, facing forward. After exiting the raven turn, the trains traverse a hill, during which the seat assemblies rotate backward 360 degrees, simulating a backflip. This is followed by a sweeping fan turn and a half twist "fly-to-lie" maneuver, in which riders flip forward 180 degrees to return to the original position of laying on their backs. Flame throwing special effects can be seen overhead as the train enters an outside raven turn, with a brief pop of fog at the valley, immediately followed by another half twist. The track levels out and the train enters the final brake run before returning to the station.[6][18]

Trains

X2 is a unique prototype design in which the seats can rotate forward or backward 360 degrees in a controlled spin. This is achieved by having four rails on the track. The two rails that control the spin of the seats move up and down relative to the main track and spin the seats using a rack and pinion gear mechanism.[19] These "rotation" rails don't support the train. The other two rails are for the weight-bearing wheels, capable of supporting these heavy trains.

Weighing 5 t, each vehicle has a wing-shaped design that spans 20 ft. Riders sit on the outside of the coaster track in pairs. Four, 1 ft tall rack gears move up and down following the profile of the seat rotation rails below the vehicle. This gear rotates the seats forwards and backward throughout the ride.

The ride also has an on-board audio soundtrack that features five songs heard throughout the ride:

Harry Connick Jr. - "It Had To Be You" (heard as the train exits the station)
Portions of R. Lee Ermey's speech from Full Metal Jacket along with various movie quotes (heard on the lift hill)
Metallica - "Enter Sandman" (heard on the lift hill)

previousnames	X (2001–2007)
location	Six Flags Magic Mountain
section	Baja Ridge
type	Steel
type2	4th Dimension
status	Operating
soft opened	December 24, 2001
opened	January 12, 2002
year	2002
manufacturer	Arrow Dynamics
designer	Alan Schilke
model	4th Dimension Coaster
lift	Chain Lift
height ft	175
drop ft	215
length ft	3610
speed mph	76
inversions	2
angle	88.5
capacity	1600‡R1R‡
cost	$45,000,000 USD to build (2002) $10,000,000 USD to renovate (2008)
gforce	4Gs
restriction in	48
trains	3
carspertrain	7
ridersperrow	4
rowspercar	1
transfer accessible	available
rcdb number	750
coordinates	34.42101°N, -118.59288°W

X2 (roller coaster)

History

Ride experience

Layout

Trains

Similar roller coasters

Incidents

Awards

External links

References