Coasterpedia:2022-10 Changes to coaster types

Ladybird at Lightwater Valley, a Tivoli Medium installation

A "mine train" coaster... what exactly is a mine train coaster?

Following discussion on the Discord channel I have put together a list of proposed changes and ideas so we can continue working on this on-wiki. Proposed changes to types:

• Addition of "Combo" for coasters with both steel and wood track (like Lightning Rod, Joris en de Draak)
  • This will see new track_material and support_material parameters added to Template:Infobox roller coaster
  • Track material values will be either steel, wood, combo steel, or combo wood with the latter two referring to coasters that are predominantly wood and predominantly steel respectively
• Removal of "Family" and expand kiddie to include some larger coasters
  • An arbitrary limit must be set here, our idea was anything the size of a "Tivoli Medium" or smaller would fall under "kiddie"
• Removal of "Mine Train" as this refers to the theme rather than the characteristics of the coaster itself

Ideas:

• Addition of "Inverting" to table "type" cells for coasters with inversions and addition of categories sorting coasters by number of inversions (can be done automatically for most coasters using data already in the infobox)

I think I can implement these mostly automatically using AutoWikiBrowser. Please share your thoughts below! Lachlan (Talk | contribs) 10:07, 10 October 2022 (UTC)

Discussion

Please share your feedback below Lachlan (Talk | contribs) 10:11, 10 October 2022 (UTC)

The 'inverting' tag can be confusing, since there also is an 'inverted' tag, so I suggest a rename for either one. QDude24 (talk) 10:45, 10 October 2022 (UTC)

Yep I agree, I am not sure about this one. Am certainly not keen on changing "inverted". Lachlan (Talk | contribs) 10:50, 10 October 2022 (UTC)

I suggest changing all "inverted" coasters to "suspended", as this better fits a coaster type where a train hangs below the track then inverted. Whether it's a coaster from Vekoma, Intamin or B&M. The Real Infernape (talk) 14:38, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

That could work, and then giving all currently suspended coasters the rocking cars type. QDude24 (talk) 14:47, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

Suspended does imply (to me at least) that it is hanging freely, rather than attached like what we would call an inverted coaster. Inverted just means upside-down or the opposite. Lachlan (Talk | contribs) 15:49, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

I don't agree. You want to distinguish inverted, where the seats are attached directly to the wheel carriage like B&M, from the arrow suspended coasters, which can move freely. However, Intamin also calls their inverted coasters "suspended coaster", and the seats on those trains are just as directly attached as on the B&M inverts. So in that way, suspended doesn't have to mean that it can move freely.

That being said, the terms inverted and suspended are so established that we cannot change it, I agree on that. If you want a type for rollercoaster with inversions, I would suggest the word "inversions". The Real Infernape (talk) 21:18, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

That makes sense. Maybe "inverted" has just become the go-to phrase because RCDB uses it. Vekoma of course also refers to its inverted coasters as Suspended Looping Coasters. Lachlan (Talk | contribs) 22:22, 12 October 2022 (UTC)

I think we should change "Inverting" to "Looping" to avoid confusion. Vekoma already calls the SLC "Suspended Looping Coaster", and so does Intamin. I do not think we should change "Inverted" to "Suspended", because according to the RCDB, there is a difference between them. Even though Intamin and Vekoma Suspended Looping Coasters are actually "Inverted". Wilddog (talk) 14:47, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

The proposal with inverted/suspended would see suspended changed to "inverted rocking cars" so there would still be the distinction that exists today. "Suspended" on RCDB and on here refers to an inverted coaster where the cars swing from side to side. Lachlan (Talk | contribs) 19:36, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

I disagree with the alteration.

Suspended coaster is a term used by only three manufacturers - Vekoma, Intamin, and Arrow (RIP). These manufacturers have similarly designed trains based on Arrows original suspended model which allowed trains to be capable of swinging side to side. Vekoma and Intamin still use similarly designed trains but with very limited ability to swing, both favor the use of shocks to absorb most of the trains sway in either direction - but they can sway nonetheless.

Inverted coaster is the general term used for a coaster which has its train hanging underneath the tracks - but with one significant difference; the accumulative remaining manufacturers have fixed trains without any ability to sway.

Changing Inverted to Looping wouldn't be wise either in my opinion as a former rides trainer with SF. The term that should be added is inversion(s), not to be confusing with inverting. Inversion(s) refers to a coaster layout that brings riders upside down by even a degree - mathematically a 91 degree overbanked turn is by technicality an inversion since even being partially upside down is still upside down (though we all know that most every park and manufacturer usually won't boast any less than a 100+ degree overbanking element as an inversion) - that being said I would amend that we should also not classify any overbanked element under 100+ degrees as an inversion, but naturally any elements such as vertical loops, corkscrews, in-line rolls, stalls, etc. will fall under the category.

I daresay that aside from this there are many terminological choices used on here that could use revision to fit the industry standards, though. >_> But that will be saved for another topic. TheLion Lancelot (talk) 21:02, 27 January 2024 (UTC)

Just spoke to @Alex in real life and he said "suspended" makes more sense than "inverted" when referring to a coaster where the train is below the track. I am inclined to agree Lachlan (Talk | contribs) 22:09, 27 January 2024 (UTC)

I also think wenshould change inverting to looping