Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 44

'L I Section 3 Chteaao Tribune, Thursday, May 21, 1981 Marriott filled tall order to build the American Eagle, and the result is a scream hasn't changed from the old days," Schallen said. "You're looking at a typical wooden frame of horizontals, verticals, diagonals, and laterals. The columns rest on 2,000 concrete footers that go down below the frost line." Modern technology speeded construction, however. Big cranes made it possible to preassem-ble Moot-wide sections of trusses on the ground, then lift them into position. HOWEVER, THE greatest amount of sophistication went into the Eagle's safety systems.

At four points on the ride, there are braking systems where trains automatically stop if something goes wrong. At three points there anti-rollback devices that would prevent a train from running backward if its velocity somehow petered out. Sensors built into the Eagle measure train speed, location, and other data and flash it onto a control panel as an illuminated graphic readout Ride operators monitor the information. Humans do not really run the Eagle, however. Computers do.

And for good reason. Remember that the Eagle has two sets of tracks each simultaneously carrying up to three trains on trips that last only a little over two minutes. A human miscalculation of something such as the distance between trains could obviously be cata the calculations to make it come true. That's why tome of it looks a little peculiar." But even if the Eagle lacks, the symmetry and grace of a bridge or a skyscraper, it boast a form following function and the certainty of mathematics. "Before we built anything, we had all of our calculations computer-checked by a Swiss firm that specializes in this sort of thing," Schallen aid.

Construction of the Eagle began last July and kept 75 workers busy for nine months. Workers used 60,000 bolts and 16 tons of nails to build the coaster. "The truss structure that supports toe tracks strophic; Other horror scenarios are easily imagined. BUT THE COMPUTERS two for each set of tracks are programmed to handle every imaginable contingency and override human commands if given in error. "The computers also continually check each other to make sure that each is getting and providing the same Information," Schallen said.

So the coaster is as safe as engineers can make it. But as terrifying as possible, because that's the whole point. You'll find out for yourself when you take that iirst drop on the American Eagle! Tallest! Fastest! Continued from first Temps page by giving the ride its old-time look, feel, and sound. "The sound is terribly important," Schallen said. "Some of these new all-steel rides with plastic wheels are practically silent.

Nothing sounds like the roar of a wooden coaster. We ran tests with prefabricated track and explored other options. We even considered on-board electronic sound generators (Schallen's term for fake noise coming from loudspeakers). But in the end, only wood would do." AND SO THE wood was ordered one million board feet of Douglas fir, trucked to Gur-uee from Oregon and Washington. Meanwhile, fine points of the Eagle's design speed variations, banking, change of pace, deliberate surprises were being orchestrated by Schallen and a team of other experts.

Collaborators included Jim Figley and Leonard Wright, veteran coaster builders based In Richmond, Cstis D. Summers, a Cincinnati structural engineer; and architect Bleck. At this point, the designers already were buoyed by the knowledge that their Eagle would be 6 feet taller and about 2 miles an hour faster than the Beast, a Cincinnati coaster that previously held both records. They then began playing with gravity, because that is what coaster design is largely about. Gravity gives you initial and continuing velocity, minus friction and wind-resistance losses.

You ration your energy and velocity as you like, for the best possible ride. When they run out, the ride is over. Of course, this is an oversimplification. "YOU MIGHT 8AY we designed this back- wards," Schallen said. "First, we decided how the Eagle ought to look and feel.

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