Thanks for the update BackInTime9, the more info we get the more it all seems to point to next year being quieter addition-wise, but we'll have a new coaster project to watch apparently.
If they're getting started on it now, it could be a very sizable ride. If it's going behind the barn, they'll have a ton of earth to move, trees to clear, geotech work, and they might have to move/rebuild the train barn and some maintenance areas.
With Prowler at WOF being so close and so highly lauded, and the three big woodies at SFStL so well known, it seems like if they're going to woodie route that they'll definitely want to make it big and special. I don't think it will be an extreme ride necessarily, but it could have a number of special features such as 90 degree turns, tunnels, and thematics to set it apart from the others. SDC seemed like they were ready to lay down big bucks for a Mystery Mine concept not too long ago, so they probably could budget a lot toward this ride beyond just building a typical wooden coaster. Their money will go a lot farther with a wooden coaster in any case.
Take a look at the Knight Valley coaster that GCII recently built:
http://rcdb.com/9039.htm?p=35941It takes up way more space than I think SDC would use, but it certainly shows what GCII has been doing recently, and how the terrain at SDC could lend itself to a coaster like this.
Here's a look at the area where the station could go, definitely lots more space there than it might seem, though the cabin might have to go:
And here's more of an overview of the area where the track would run. There's a steep drop off just north of the train tracks into a ravine that is bordered on both sides by those maintenance buildings. I could see there being a short lift over the train tracks, then a drop down into the ravine where the track would cross over itself a number of times, maybe running out beyond the pond and around behind the big maintenance area. Or, it could run down the ravine towards the current robbery point, but I kind of hope it doesn't, as that's pretty much the last place on park that you can't hear rides running anymore, and it would sure hurt the experience...
Whew, that's a lot of writing. It's been to long since we had something good to speculate over! Might have to split this off into a 2013 thread soon.