socialmedian: Why Don t Roller Coasters Fly Off the Track

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Why Don t Roller Coasters Fly Off the Track

Submitted by Motown Terri from blog

Nov 05, 2009

Summary

Author : Andrea Smith

Have you ever watched a roller coaster and thought to yourself, "Why don't the cars fly off the tracks?"Have you ever been on a roller coaster and wondered how the train stays on the track?

If so, you're far from alone There are several explanations as to why roller coaster trains stay on their tracks

On top of the rails are the train's running wheels on which the train cars run Further more the wheel assemblies on their axles go on both sides of each rail, so that they "hug" the rails And if that weren't enough, the wheel assemblies have guide wheels in the middle of the assembly These wheels help prevent lateral (side to side) motion The guide wheels on wooden roller coasters are on the insides of the rails But on steel rails the guide wheels might be either on the inside or the outside

And finally, there are special wheels underneath the rails called upstop wheels that prevent the trains from lifting off the rails

But the most important reason roller coasters don't go off the tracks is that the curves and turns are banked properly ...Read the full article

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