B&M Introduce Another Great Coaster Type
Bollinger & Mabillard broke away from Intamin around 1990 and introduced their first coaster at Six Flags Great America (Iron Wolf). Then they introduced one of the most popular coaster types of the 1990's, the inverted roller coaster... and when no one expected it, they introduced the "Speed Coaster" in 1999 at Busch Gardens Willamsburg. Apollo's Chariot opened to rave reviews and showed that the firm could build good ride that did not go upside-down. Also in 1999, they introduced the first hypertwister, Raging Bull.

B&M uses the same track on all of their coasters. It is a box section spine connected to the inside of two steel running rails. This assembly produces an extremely strong track, compared to a tubular steel spine, which requires only small tubular supports. As with all B&M coasters, their hypercoasters are incredibly smooth.

The track gauge of B&M hypercoaster and all other B&M coasters, except their dive machines, is 1.2 meters (~47.8 inches).

B&M created a new train design for their speedcoasters. These trains feature raised seating that are tilted at an angle to allow your feet to dangle. As you can see in the photo, B&M has the most open trains of all the hypercoaster manufacturers. B&M cars hold 4 passengers in one row and each train features 9 cars.

B&M cars are attached to the track with two wheel assemblies. B&M trains use trailered articulation. Each car has one axle at the back. The front of each car is supported by the back of the car ahead of it. The first passenger car is supported by a "zero-car" which has no seats. Two guide wheels, two upstop wheels, and two side friction wheels are used on each wheel assembly. Unlike other companies, B&M lets each wheel assembly rest on a turntable instead of linking them by an axle. B&M also puts small springy pads in their guide and upstop wheels to clamp the train tightly to the track. This is what allows them to have such smooth coasters!

B&M uses a lapbar restraint that many refer to as a clamshell. It has a very large surface area and covers most of a passenger's lap. These restraints fit tightly on lap area but still provide airtime. The original two B&M speedcoasters featured the clamshell restraints and no seatbelts! But Nitro, their third speedcoaster, features seatbelts.

More Info Coming Soon!!!




Pictures courtesy of www.CoasterGallery.com, used by permission.