Offseason Maintenance: Sheikra and Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens Tampa, Montezooma's Revenge at Knott's Berry Farm

I stumbled across a few topics this week that felt worth exploring in more depth—particularly track work. Steel coaster track maintenance, especially from a mechanical perspective, isn’t discussed very often, despite being one of the most critical aspects of ride longevity and safety.

SheiKra and Cheetah Hunt Track Work

A recent video shows SheiKra undergoing work in the splashdown trough area. A section of track has been removed, and heavy equipment can be seen positioned directly in the trough. Removing track segments is not common practice unless there is a serious underlying issue that typically requires full replacement. Most defects—such as cracks requiring welding, ultrasonic testing to determine remaining steel thickness, or rail alignment corrections—can usually be addressed in place without removing the track entirely.

Because of that, my suspicion is that the issue is related to the ride’s concrete footers shifting, or a structural problem within the trough itself. The machine visible in the video appears to be a jackhammer, likely being used to break apart concrete. As a disclaimer, my background is primarily in mechanical and electrical engineering rather than structural or civil, but issues like this are not unheard of—especially after 20 years of repeated dynamic loading.

There have been rumors for decades that Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point is “sinking,” and while that sounds dramatic, it is partially true. Massive coaster structures vibrate, experience high g-forces, and are continuously exposed to the elements. Over time, settling does occur. However, the rate at which large structures sink is typically very slow. Experts estimate that buildings in New York City settle by only a few millimeters per year on average—amounts that are not detectable by eye. Even though coaster structures sink or settle, this amount usually is not enough to become very concerning by the time a coaster reaches its service life. In isolated areas, these structural issues can certainly be accounted for or straightened out as they come up.

Another issue that could arise is internal corrosion of the concrete's rebar or anchor bolts causing concerns of a failure. Given the track's location very close to the chlorine treated splashdown, this may justify the repair we are seeing here. This article describes some of the coating solutions that the park has turned to for the track.

Situations like this often require either repair or full replacement of the affected footer. In some cases, footers can be lifted using hydraulic pressure and specialized foam injection, but that depends on how far the footer has settled and how stable the surrounding soil is. Sometimes footers can be straightened or stabilized; in other cases, they must be broken apart and re-poured entirely. This type of work is not handled in-house—parks rely on companies that specialize in surveying and structural engineering. While certain track-related issues can be resolved internally, foundational work is almost always left to specialists.

Once the issue is resolved, the track is lifted back into place, aligned and shimmed as needed, and the hardware replaced and torqued to specification. Rail alignment is the most critical part of reinstallation. Manufacturers specify strict tolerances for rail gaps and alignment relative to adjacent track sections. In some cases, heat and pulling devices are used to lengthen structural components and bring everything into position, with the ultimate goal of placing the track into a relaxed, neutral state. Steel work at this level can be surprisingly intricate.

I’ve also seen video of a worker jackhammering a footer on Cheetah Hunt, which suggests a similar issue. Given the park’s geography, this wouldn’t be unexpected. Cheetah Hunt has been closed since October 2025, with no official reopening date announced. There has been speculation that the park is waiting on parts from Intamin, which is a likely scenario. The downtime may also be allowing the park to address other aging components on the 15-year-old attraction. For a ride that involves the use of magnetic launches and braking, alignment is extremely critical. It's a game of millimeters, and there isn't much room for clearance when you're launching trains at high speeds through them.

Update: As of 2/3/26, Cheetah Hunt has been seen testing. Hopefully all goes well and we see a reopening before President's Day.

As far as typical track maintenance goes, everything from a day-to-day perspective is mainly a visual. The grounds are walked, the lift and block zones, and everything is checked whether up close or through the use of binoculars. Drones are also becoming popular for hard-to-reach areas. Concerns include loose or missing hardware, welded connections, anchor bolts and foundations, support columns and beams, and track alignment. Of course, everything is checked 100% but it is quite difficult to cover every inch of track with a fine-toothed comb on a daily basis.

That's where the annual inspection comes into play. Along with a full close-up track inspection, the NDT requirements come into play. Most manufacturers require a complete visual, as well as a percentage of the track being tested for cracks. Hardware is subject to a percentage torque test as well. We had a specialty company do a full track climb to achieve this inspection. They climbed the full structure, using rappel techniques and other equipment to get to all areas of the tracks. At the end, the park received a report detailing any issues, which we were responsible for coming up with a game plan to repair.

Montezooma's Revenge Refurbishment

While on the topic of track work, it’s worth discussing the ongoing Montezooma’s Revenge project at Knott’s Berry Farm. This refurbishment is particularly interesting because the project appeared to stall at one point, leaving the ride’s future uncertain. Montezooma is nearly 50 years old and has logged well over one million cycles on its track and structure. By most standards, it has reached the end of its service life, yet it remains a historically important attraction that the park clearly did not want to lose.

Shuttle Loop coasters are fairly simple in terms of tracks and trains, but the flywheel system is quite complex (despite fairly durable over its lifespan). I have some experience working on one of these style systems. With the proper maintenance they are quite bulletproof, but when components do go on them it can be expensive and catastrophic. With Schwarzkopf being out of business so long, the system has become obsolete.

This is not the first time that a Shuttle Loop has undergone such a refurbishment. Walibi Belgium had completely overhauled their Turbine coaster many years ago. Contrary to popular belief, parts for Schwarzkopf rides are not as difficult to obtain as the coaster community will lead many to believe. Zierer worked closely with Anton Schwarzkopf on his final coasters, and Anton's brother Franz worked for the firm. Hubert Gerstlauer also worked under Schwarzkopf before starting his own company. Maurer Sohne has also become a successor to the original firm, as they acquired a company known as BHS, who acted as a steel mill and fabricator for the late Schwarzkopf projects in 1993. Maurer even advertises on their website that they support Schwarzkopf rides to this day. 

The real challenge is determining how far manufacturers are willing to go to support legacy attractions. Common train components are still produced because there is consistent demand across multiple parks. More unique, one-off components—particularly those specific to flywheel launch systems—may not generate enough interest or profit to justify continued support. In some cases, these parts are simply obsolete or prohibitively expensive to replace.

At one point, crates from Kumbak were seen on-site, suggesting that Kumbak initially spearheaded the project. Kumbak specializes in ride retrofits and has experience dating back to Vekoma, with projects ranging from new trains and control systems to magnetic launches and braking. Their track record has been mixed. One of their more notable projects was the replacement of T2’s trains at Kentucky Kingdom, which aimed to improve ride comfort but ultimately received unfavorable feedback.

On Montezooma, Kumbak likely served as project manager, coordinating new trains, track, launch systems, controls, and other components. While I don’t know the full details behind the project’s difficulties, it’s possible the scope and budget were underestimated. This raises an obvious question: why didn’t the park choose a firm with established Schwarzkopf experience, such as Zierer, Gerstlauer, or Maurer?

I don't know all of the details behind the project going south, but Kumbak likely bit off more than they could chew or severely underestimated the scope of work and budget. So here's a question that may be asked: Why didn't the park choose a reputable company that is already experienced with Schwarzkopf rides, i.e. Zierer, Gerstlauer, or Maurer? Post-Covid, the amusement industry was extremely concerned with budgets, and the lowest bid for the refurbishment was likely chosen. It may not be that Gerstlauer (who reworked SooperDooperLooper at Hershey and Walibi Holland's Turbine) did not want to take on the project, they may simply have lost the original bid.

The identity of the firm now handling the project has been kept quiet, but I would expect it to be a more experienced company. They may be waiting until the attraction is fully completed before stepping into the spotlight, especially if there have already been setbacks. Significant work is reportedly being done to strengthen the structure and replace sections of track, which is a smart approach. There’s no sense investing in upgrades if the underlying structure is already at the end of its usable life.

Metal fatigue becomes a major concern when introducing new forces from updated launch systems. I would expect extensive NDT to have been performed, including weld analysis, foundation inspections, and ultrasonic testing to assess remaining wall thickness in the structure.

We had a major ride at our park where we were looking to replace the ride vehicles due to their age and condition. Before pulling the trigger, we decided to analyze the structure's integrity to see how long of a viable life there was left, since the cost of this upgrade was significant (almost that of a new ride entirely). After testing the supports, the estimated remaining life of the walls was only 10% before we would see issues. Among some other major components and concerns that needed to be addressed, the project was axed and the ride retired for something new instead.

This is one of those behind-the-scenes things that parks deal with on legacy rides that many people do not see or realize. I know of another small park that had actually acquired an older Schwarzkopf coaster, with the intention of refurbishing it slowly over time and putting it up. The owner did not care so much about the cost or the time, he simply wanted to preserve a historic ride. However, he did not understand how to assess the ride's condition and did not allow his head of maintenance to go out and look it over before purchasing it. It turned into a nightmare. Upon receiving it, the maintenance head organized for a full NDT of every piece that came in and the results were astonishing. The ride had sat out of commission for a while, and it wasn't taken care of well at its previous home. Several weld issues came up, as well as major structural components being paper thin. This is before any mechanical or electrical related issues. To this day, the ride is still sitting around given that the owner really doesn't have the funding to go through with his dream. He created a money pit for himself, as nobody in their right mind is willing to buy it given its condition. How's that for a six figure lawn ornament?