I've been building a lot of wooden coasters lately and have really come to hate the auto-supports. They just don't look like many (any?) real-world support systems. They're made up entirely of small-size (IOW modern) lumber that lacks longitudinal diagonal bracing and is perfectly plumb even in turns. The more real coasters I study and/or try to replicate, the worse the auto-supports look. But we have to use them because custom-supporting wooden coasters is totally impractical due to the huge number of parts required and the lack of suitable parts to use anyway.
So, what I suggest is to have several different, more realistic types of auto-supports available for wooden coasters. It would work similar to how you can turn catwalks on and off already, only with more choices. It would be like this:
1. The existing type of supports (modern toothpick timber, mostly 2x4 and 4x4). We already have them, we might as well keep them. Besides, they do OK in places where the track is low and straight, such as brake runs.
#2. Old-school heavy timber. 100 years ago, wooden coaster supports were made of a much smaller number of much bigger pieces of lumber. 10x10 or so vertical posts joined by like 4x8 planks. The planks usually formed Xs on the outer faces of the support mass, along the tracks longitudinal axes. Also, where the track was the tallest, great ladder-like side braces ran diagonally down and out, without being part of the main box truss structure. Often this was only on 1 side of the track.
Here's an example. This is the "Wildcat" and Lake Compounce, built by Philly Toboggan in 1927:
https://rcdb.com/420.htm#p=10282
#3. Splayed side bracing. This is like what Great Coasters Inc. frequently uses today. In this version, there's a structure essentially the same as the existing auto-supports (plumb, modern, small-size lumber boxes) directly under the track. But there's also support sloping down to the sides all along the track. Where the track is unbanked, a cross-section of the support structure is a nearly triangular truncated cone. Where the track is banked, the side slopes are nearly parallel with the plane of the track on the inside of the curve and perpendicular to it on the outside. The planks of these sloping surfaces are arranged in a grid of horizontal and vertical members crossed by diagonals running in only 1 direction (so slashes instead of Xs). If the radius of the track curve is too small for this sort of structure on the inside of the turn, instead there are single heavy timbers sloping down to the ground at the center of the turn, very like the supports of a Galaxi.
This example is "Kentucky Rumbler" at Beach Bend, built by Great Coasters in 2006.:
https://rcdb.com/2967.htm#p=15990
#4. Wooden track on steel supports. Here, only the track is wood. The supports are all steel, usually built of small-size L-shaped angle iron arranged in a vertical and horizontal grid crossed by large Xs on the outer faces that cover 4 of the grid "boxes" instead of just 1. The individual support members are about the same size or slightly smaller than the existing wooden supports but, being steel, are spaced father apart. Where the track is at its tallest, support structure becomes 3 boxes wide, all plumb and joined at the top by short diagonals, exactly like with the existing supports. This support system was used extensively by Custom Coasters Inc. in the 1990s and is still used by other companies today. And as a side bonus, you could make this support option also available for the "American Arrow" so folks could build the very early Arrow coasters.
This example is "Great White" at Morey's Pier, built by Custom Coasters in 1996:
https://rcdb.com/408.htm#p=18573
So, what I suggest is to have several different, more realistic types of auto-supports available for wooden coasters. It would work similar to how you can turn catwalks on and off already, only with more choices. It would be like this:
1. The existing type of supports (modern toothpick timber, mostly 2x4 and 4x4). We already have them, we might as well keep them. Besides, they do OK in places where the track is low and straight, such as brake runs.
#2. Old-school heavy timber. 100 years ago, wooden coaster supports were made of a much smaller number of much bigger pieces of lumber. 10x10 or so vertical posts joined by like 4x8 planks. The planks usually formed Xs on the outer faces of the support mass, along the tracks longitudinal axes. Also, where the track was the tallest, great ladder-like side braces ran diagonally down and out, without being part of the main box truss structure. Often this was only on 1 side of the track.
Here's an example. This is the "Wildcat" and Lake Compounce, built by Philly Toboggan in 1927:
https://rcdb.com/420.htm#p=10282
#3. Splayed side bracing. This is like what Great Coasters Inc. frequently uses today. In this version, there's a structure essentially the same as the existing auto-supports (plumb, modern, small-size lumber boxes) directly under the track. But there's also support sloping down to the sides all along the track. Where the track is unbanked, a cross-section of the support structure is a nearly triangular truncated cone. Where the track is banked, the side slopes are nearly parallel with the plane of the track on the inside of the curve and perpendicular to it on the outside. The planks of these sloping surfaces are arranged in a grid of horizontal and vertical members crossed by diagonals running in only 1 direction (so slashes instead of Xs). If the radius of the track curve is too small for this sort of structure on the inside of the turn, instead there are single heavy timbers sloping down to the ground at the center of the turn, very like the supports of a Galaxi.
This example is "Kentucky Rumbler" at Beach Bend, built by Great Coasters in 2006.:
https://rcdb.com/2967.htm#p=15990
#4. Wooden track on steel supports. Here, only the track is wood. The supports are all steel, usually built of small-size L-shaped angle iron arranged in a vertical and horizontal grid crossed by large Xs on the outer faces that cover 4 of the grid "boxes" instead of just 1. The individual support members are about the same size or slightly smaller than the existing wooden supports but, being steel, are spaced father apart. Where the track is at its tallest, support structure becomes 3 boxes wide, all plumb and joined at the top by short diagonals, exactly like with the existing supports. This support system was used extensively by Custom Coasters Inc. in the 1990s and is still used by other companies today. And as a side bonus, you could make this support option also available for the "American Arrow" so folks could build the very early Arrow coasters.
This example is "Great White" at Morey's Pier, built by Custom Coasters in 1996:
https://rcdb.com/408.htm#p=18573