Silver Star (roller coaster)

First Drop of Silver Star

Hill with a 49 m high exit

Hill with a 41 m high exit

The Silver Star [ sɪlvə stɑ ː ] in the Europa-Park in Rust near Freiburg im Breisgau is the second- highest and fourth fastest roller coaster in Europe. It is 73 meters tall, 127 km / h and thus falls into the proprietary category Hypercoaster. While driving on the 1620 meter track, the passenger experiences a maximum acceleration of 4 g and therefore four times its normal body weight. The passenger -0.2 g also experienced more than 20 seconds The Silver Star has three trains, each with 36 seats and thus achieved a theoretical capacity of 1750 people per hour.

Planning and realization

The railway was opened after nine months of construction on 23 March 2002. Was planned the Silver Star by the Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, in cooperation with the firm Mack Rides. This is exceptional in the sense, as almost all of the rides of Europe parks were planned exclusively by the company Mack Rides, whose owner - the Mack family - including the Europa Park.

Coaster Type

The Silver Star is a B & M ( Bolliger & Mabillard ) Hyper Coaster. Characteristic for this type of track, both the trains, which offer nine cars each with four juxtaposed seats 36 passengers place, and the great altitude and speed. Another feature of this Bahnart is the frequent occurrence of weightlessness, known technically as airtime. On the so-called " Ejecting Airtime ", ie strong negative G- forces, the jerky pull the passenger out of the seat upward, as it can be found at Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park, has been dropped with Silver Star in favor of family fitness. However, there are a total of 20 seconds, " floating airtime " ( four parabolic hills, a helix with drop, a brake with the first drop and drop spread ) in a range around 0.2 g is obtained. Here, the passengers are gently lifted out of the seat, float for four to five seconds between the seat and bracket and then decline as gentle back again. Overall, there are eleven other representatives of the category B & M Hyper Coaster, seven of them in the U.S., one in Japan, one in Spain and two in Canada.

Theming

As a sponsor, took the car manufacturer Mercedes -Benz. On this fact is based the complete theming, so the design of the web. The name " Silver Star " (German silver star ) can be combined with the silver Mercedes star, the brand name of the manufacturer, put in connection. The station area is located in the upper level of the Mercedes -Benz Motorsport Hall. In this building you will also find an exhibition of Mercedes racing car, the engine sports bar and Racing shop. The queue named by fans and Silver Walk, waiting through the entire exhibition, but it can be visited by driving the unwilling. The path that takes visitors to the motor Hall, is in the style of a racetrack. So are the right and left of the black asphalt path the typical red and white tire wall.

Ride

The Europa-Park has always tried to appeal to a wide ranging audience. For this reason, the ride on the Silver Star is noticeably less intense than in comparable cars. The Silver Star was - despite the altitude and speed - planned from the beginning as a family-friendly roller coaster. After the train leaves the station, it is pulled by a chain lift up to the top of the 73 meter high lift Hills. There then begins the real journey with the 69 ° first drop. After two more hills follows the " Horseshoe ," a horseshoe-shaped 180 -degree turn. After another hill the train passes through the block brake, a small drop and a leading upwards 270 ° helix. After another hill now follows the S-curve, which dismisses the train in the subsequent final brakes.

The route essentially once the parking lot of the park, turn at Horseshoe element and returns to the station. This narrow type of layout is called roller coasters and " Out & Back ".

Technical changes

2012 - eddy current brakes within the travel path

The rise of the second camelbacks (before the Horseshoe ), as well as the rise of the third camelbacks (after the Horseshoe ), has been around since the opening of the railway braking systems, whose function is to slow the trains if their speed is too high. By 2012, trains were slowed down here with brake shoes. In 2012, this shoe brakes have been replaced by eddy current brakes, because they slow down the trains with magnetic fields, with no mechanical wear occurs. At the end of the road, the railway had always had eddy current brakes.

Silver Star in the media

On 11 September 2002, a 70 meter high crane has fallen into the roller coaster Silver Star in the evening in the Europa Park Rust. With the crane lamp should be fixed for the Halloween party. The driver had after the crane had been placed in position, the boom with the work basket at the top extended trial basis. Then tipped the crane fell on the rails of the Silver Star and slid along it to the ground. The extremely heavy transport vehicle was knocked down. Since the park was closed at the time of the accident for several minutes, no one was hurt except the crane operator. A visitor's car in the parking lot was hit by a crane, the windshield was broken. The cause of the accident remained unclear. The roller coaster was closed for the next two days and examined the damage to the rails by security experts. Here at several locations slight deformation of the rails of the roller coaster were found.

The roller coaster Silver Star was in the show Willi wills wissen in the First and in the cable -one documentary The fun machine - shown Behind the scenes of a theme park. It was also here for the first broadcast Champions Germany held the Silver Star quiz. To this end, drove celebrities with the Silver Star, while they had to answer trivia questions via a radio link.