#b&m

[one-time-i-dreamt]

Sonic the Hedgehog was the Doctor from Doctor Who and I helped him steal the TARDIS from a giant B&M (basically UK dollar store) while hiding from my family.

[hyper-coasters]

Ain't she beautiful? Kumba is still one of the most beautiful roller coaster's in the US, in my opinion. There are not many coasters in the world with a vertical loop AROUND the rides very own lift hill! This loop is one of the SEVEN inversions throughout the whole ride!

[flojector]

shapes from b&m

[fuzzkaizer]

Three boxes and then two more ... and the French case!

"Three boxes with the same Jumbo Tone Bender fuzz circuit. And then two more with a different circuit each. Ant Macari of @macaris_official has mentioned in the Vintage and Rarities book that “Having the three knobs in a row down the middle of the deal like that also allowed us to put the same circuit in the Colorsound Supa Wah Fuzz Swell Pedal”. I wonder if this is the right way round? It seems as likely that there were surplus boards originally destined for the SWFS and they were repurposed for “specials”, like the rebranded CMI and B&M - which uniquely used the long, flat “French case”. I wonder also if this was the origin of the French case, as this board format would have required the case to be drilled differently for both knobs and jacks. The CSL Power Boost/Overdriver had the usual knob layout in the French case, but jacks either side, not together. Another outlier was the Carlsbro, which was the same as a regular Tone Bender in all respects bar the graphics. My take on the side jacks on the French case - on the three in a line boards there was no room for end jacks - but there was plenty of room in the CSL. The CSL jacks are at the side (left and right side because there’s no room for two on one side with the larger circuit board) because the rear of the French case is curved top to bottom - so it was ** never designed for rear facing jacks, the Colorsound standard ** I think there were surplus SFWS boards, which dictated the format of the French case, with side mounted jacks and a rounded rear section because they never anticipated putting jacks there. The last few pics are of the 1976 Carlsbro, which has a germanium TB circuit, and the more complex CSL from three years earlier, which has the silicon Overdriver circuit. Now I’m really confused."

such a cool post, and at least we have learned about the French case!

cred: instagram.com/humphreybarclay

[aryburn-trains]

Merry Christmas - B&M 410

The B&M 410 under snowfall in Lowell, MA where it is on display at the Lowell National Park. In the background is the lighted tower of Lowell City Hall.

Photographed by Jon Hill, December 20, 2007.

[blitzcoaster]

Leviathan [August `4, 2018]

Some pictures of the other most important coaster to me from back in 2018 for National Rollercoaster Day, for good measure

[littlestsnicket]

title: good people by gellavonhamster

word count: 2.6k

bertrand baudelaire&montgomery montgomery

i love the little details about how the organization works, with monty perusing a degree and how rare that is even though learning and science are so valued. but i especially love how the two of them interact—their forthrightness in an organization that values secrecy and code, the way they care about each other and say it, the little details of how they make tea together, their desire to protect one another. yeah, this fic is so good!

excerpt:

“A murder, Montgomery! A crime story at its finest; the whole city is going insane! Come read.” At that, Professor grabbed him by the elbow and pushed him into the middle of the crowd, so that Monty found himself right behind the left shoulder of the guy with the newspaper.

He took a look at the page, found the piece everyone was reading, and grew cold.

“Poison darts! With snake venom!” Stein exclaimed. Monty winced as if in pain. The loud noises around him were distracting; he wanted to read carefully, turn each word round in his head, persuade himself it was not what he thought it was. Coincidences do happen sometimes, after all. “And where – at the opera! Right during the performance!”

“Yeah,” someone to the right of the newspaper chimed in, “straight out of Gaston Leroy.���

“Leroux,” Monty corrected mechanically. He was suddenly overcome with fierce and helpless anger. He stepped back. “I’m sorry, Professor, I really have to go.”

Walking quickly, even quicker than back when he was urged on by the unwritten report, he headed for the door.

Well then, La Forza del Destino. Poison darts. Snake venom.

And his flatmate, who went to the opera yesterday and didn’t come back home.

[ahsokajedi]

oblivion, alton towers (19.03.22)

[20th-century-railroading]

Inbound

Delaware & Hudson EMD GP39-2 7407 & Boston & Maine GE U33B 192 ease their train into Enola yard. 7407 is ex-Reading & 192 is ex-Conrail, exx-Penn Central.

Enola, Pennsylvania August 1986

[tacoma-narrows]

Dorney Park! - 5/19/21

Decided to not let this trip report have a two week long gap like my Great America post did, so I'll write it out now!

Made my first trip of the year to Dorney Park this past weekend! I went by myself for about 5 hours or so and got on everything I had wanted to ride. Lines were very minimal, with the longest (not accounting for a short maintenance delay) being maybe 20 mins. Got a bunch of re-rides on the park's major coasters and I'm sure I'll be able to get more later in the summer, since Dorney is my home park lol. But here are some pics I got, and then like for my Great America post, thoughts about my individual rides will be below them!

Here's my breakdown of what I rode!

Iron Menace - Coaster Credit #169! (Rode twice) I am so glad Dorney finally got a brand new coaster after so long! Their last new coaster was Stinger in 2012 (which was a relocation, and closed in 2018), and their last custom built coaster was Hydra way back in 2005 (Possessed, opened in 2008, was also a relocation). I really liked Iron Menace for what it was though! It looks absolutely FANTASTIC for it's plot of land, and it's directly in front of you as you drive into the park. Makes for a fantastic first impression! The ride itself was pretty much what I expected (in a good way), it's definitely the weakest of the three dive coasters I've ridden, since it doesn't have the scale of Valravn and Sheikra, but I thought it had some fun elements and some surprisingly strong positive forces. The main downside is that it's a short ride, at only maybe 40 seconds or so after the drop. But all things considered, I think it's a great fit for Dorney and I LOVE it's theme! The Steelyard area around it looks pretty good as well! Currently, I have Iron Menace at 56th in my rankings between Flight Deck at California's Great America, and Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure, but that could be subject to change once I decide if I like this or Hydra more lol.

Steel Force - (Rode twice) I'd heard during the park's Winter Chill Out event back in March that they we're speeding up the chain lift on Steel Force this year since (I believe) they had gotten a new lift motor or something to that effect, so I was excited to see how it rode this year. I didn't really notice a significant difference in the speed or airtime, but that wasn't a huge deal to me since I really enjoy Steel Force. A lot of people give it and the other Morgan hypers flack for not having any airtime, and I just don't see that. I always get tons of air over this hills, especially on the return trip. Then the double helix turnaround acts as a good change of pace with some good positives. So Steel Force still retains it's place as my favorite at the park.

Thunderhawk - (Rode once) Thunderhawk is a ride that's had my opinions on it change a lot over the years. When I first rode it the first time I went to Dorney in 2012, I did not like it. I remember it being really rough and uncomfortable. Over the last few years though, the park has been doing a really good job taking care of it and it's running really well now. My ride this time had surprisingly strong airtime, which I was not expecting. The main problem I had this time, and why I only rode it once, was because I got stapled BAD and the surprisingly strong airtime made for a rather uncomfortable experience lol. But for a ride that's celebrating it's 100th birthday this year, it's still really solid I'd say.

Hydra the Revenge - (Rode twice) Hydra is such a weird little ride but I love it. Lots of funky inversions, especially for a floorless coaster, and you gotta love the hangtime on the jojo roll out of the station. It's running a little shaky this year but not too bad as long as you keep your head forward, as is the case with a lot of B&M loopers. That's nothing new for Hydra as well, since in my experience it's always had a bit of a rattle. I love how dynamic its forces are though between hangtime, airtime, positives and a little bit of whip coming down the first drop in the back row. At the moment, I'm not sure if I'd take it over Iron Menace as my third fav in the park, so that's something I'll have to think about next time I'm back there lol

Talon - (Rode once) I really enjoy Talon as well, which finds itself as my second fav in the park after Steel Force. Very snappy and forceful inversions and it still runs pretty smooth. I especially love the super intense high banked turn right up against the ground towards the end of the ride. The one thing that's a little disappointing is that the park took out the signs underneath you as you go up the lift hill. They were spaced out and said thing like "Going up" "No turning back!" "Getting closer..." as you went up the lift hill, with the last one at the crest saying "Goodbye!" as you go over the drop. They didn't affect the actual ride at all, but I thought they were a funny little thing the park decided to put in. They may have removed them prior to this year, since I didn't go to Dorney a lot between 2020 and now, but this is the first time I noticed it at least. Anways, gotta love Talon, real solid invert all around. I would've rode it more than once, but it got a bit of a longer line towards the end of my visit that I didn't feel like waiting in lol

Possessed - (Rode once) I've never been a huge fan of Intamin's Impulse coasters, and I've always thought Possessed was just kind of okay. It's got a fun launch, and since I was sitting towards the back row, the feeling of height looking straight down on the vertical back spike was pretty cool, but other than that, the ride doesn't do a whole lot for me. I wished the holding break on the vertical spike still worked like it used to, that would make the ride a bit more unique at least, but it's still fine enough without it.

Other than the coasters, I rode two other rides, both of them being drop towers lol. One was Dominator, the park's 200 foot S&S drop tower. I rode the shot side that blasts you up to free fall down and I thought it was way more tame than I remembered, which was unfortunate. Then the other drop tower I rode was Demon Drop, which is one of the very few rides out there that still kinda wigs me out lmao. Something about the moving forward from the lift shaft to the drop track and the fact that the ride looks, sounds, and feels like it's made of sheet metal still kinda gets to me lol. I love it though, and for as rare of a ride that it is, being the last of it's kind in the country, if it's running, you gotta give it a ride.

So overall, I had a fun time at Dorney! It's not the biggest or best park in the world by any means, but it serves its purpose as a regional theme park well and offers things that are fairly unique from other area parks like Hersheypark, Knoebels and Great Adventure. Once the waterpark opens for the season (they were having their season passholder preview day when I was there), then it becomes more of a full day park, since their waterpark is really solid. So I'm sure I'll get back later this summer and you'll get another post full of my ramblings lmao.

[rushthehollow]

rivertown, kings island

[hyper-coasters]

Initiating Gamma Exposure. Hulk Transformation: Accelerating. Do not be afraid.

[flojector]

[fuzzkaizer]

Barnes & Mullins - Champion Fuzz Unit,

B&M - FUZZ UNIT

"humphreybarclay: These are repurposed boards from the big box Colorsound Supa Fuzz Wah Swell, the one with the knobs on top, next to the treadle. Hence the vertical board/knob layout. I opened one of each up and they are the same."

s. faustone fuzz unit

cred: instagram.com/jermsfuzz

[blitzcoaster]

Dr. Diabolical's Cliffhanger [January 13, 2024]

[Image ID: Two photos of a B&M Dive Coaster, with one picture showing the train hanging over the edge of the 90 degree drop, and the other showing the train racing down the drop. /End ID]

[ericbesty]

I made a random steel coaster layout generator for nerds like me. An example of a coaster generated from it below.