1 is the loneliest chute number

I searched but could find no answer. Why does White Water Landing have the double chute down the main drop, where as other flumes only have a single chute? My guess has always been

A. To avoid collisions when running all the boats (canoe's) dispatched at short intervals.

B. Because the boasts displace a lot of water on splashdown and there is not enough time to for only one chute to recover in a short period of time.

C. To one day build a racing flume

Well, C was my guess when I was about 7 and I know C is out. Also, Has anyone ever been the operator who stands on the scaffolding right before the drop? I would like to know what exactly do you do up there besides have probably the best constant view out of all the employee's n the park. It looks kind of boring, sitting up there on a hot day while everyone below you cools off.

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Joe E

I see employees reading books from time to time up there. Good question about the double flume.

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"My God Jim, Where Are We?" - Bones

I do believe those employees have special 'perks'.

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Tyler Adams

Just a guess,but i think it is for timing purpases.if the log is too close to anther,it will hold it at the top for a few seconds before letting the next drop.im sure that sensor eyes control it.as far as the employee on the top,I think he is there to make sure everyone remains seated. *** This post was edited by hothitz on 12/26/2000. ***

It's a blocking/capacity thing. The blocking on a flume ride is a bit strange. By now everyone knows how roller coaster block systems work, right? Well, on flumes, it's a little different in that the whole ride is not divided up into exclusive block zones. Instead, in the slow, free-floating areas, there isn't any block safety system because collisions in those areas would be trivial. As a result it isn't uncommon to have boats stacked up on the brake just ahead of the downchute diverter gate.
Anyway, the ride does have a block safety system for the downchute and the Hydro-Jump. The blocking is simple: Only one boat may occupy the segment from the brake at the top of the downchute to the end of the Hydro-Jump. Then, beyond the Hydro-Jump, where the boat speed returns to a mere crawl, the safety system ends and the boats return to the loading turntable. With the dual down-chute, one boat may be dispatched down one chute while the boat ahead is still in the Hydro-Jump, rather than waiting until it completely clears the high-speed section. The result is that the boats will arrive at the rejoin-point at a faster interval, allowing more boats to run on the circuit.

As for the guy on the catwalk...I don't know for certain, but at one time I thought that person was dispatching the boats down the drop. Anybody here know for sure?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I see why your name is rideman and not just coasterman (or flumeman). Thanks for the info. That makes sense to have a sort of block on a larger flume like WWL as supposed to a smaller flume (ex. Mill Race) because the time when the vehicles are moving at high speeds is longer.
I think an empty boat could catch up with a boat full of men and I would rather see an empty boat go down the other chute than be right on my heels. A boat full of Men is bad anyway, especially when going up the lift. Now a boat full of nice girls with me sitting as anchor is always nice. Just think how much the boat would jump in the air on splashdown.

I have one more thought about WWL. One time I saw Mill race go down and all the Water went out of the flume, So everyone had to abandon ship. Getting People off the main lift on Mill Race was not bad because you could pretty much jump off that a no one would get hurt. I wonder what would happen on WWL, at the top mainly. Oh, and I always wanted to Do WWL without the boat.

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The artist formerly known as Gemini Dream

*** This post was edited by Joe E on 12/27/2000. ***

If you've ever played RCT, you'd notice that the full boat's superior momentum makes it catch up the the empty boats in those runout sections. =)

I must Admit, I never have an empty boat on my flumes in RCT. Why those things are always so popular with the guest, I don't know. In the Run-out, I can see were a full boat carrying momentum would catch up to an empty boat. On WWL in the beginning, I think a lighter boat would be carried easier in the rapids than a full boat. I dont know for sure.