3 trains running all day Thursday...
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...or at least until 4:30 when I had to leave. It looks like the holiday weekend won't be a meltdown after all.
Wait times today were posted at 1+45, but ended up being about 1+10. For future reference: with 3 trains running the waiting time from the soda machines in the middle of the queue is about 45 minutes.
Another interesting note: the speed of the lift cable varied noticeably today. About two-thirds of the way up it got a bit faster. Evidently those clever Swiss engineers have been working overtime.
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Dave McWilliams
*** This post was edited by DavidM on 5/25/2000. *** *** This post was edited by DavidM on 5/26/2000. ***
Wait times today were posted at 1+45, but ended up being about 1+10. For future reference: with 3 trains running the waiting time from the soda machines in the middle of the queue is about 45 minutes.
Another interesting note: the speed of the lift cable varied noticeably today. About two-thirds of the way up it got a bit faster. Evidently those clever Swiss engineers have been working overtime.
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Dave McWilliams
*** This post was edited by DavidM on 5/25/2000. *** *** This post was edited by DavidM on 5/26/2000. ***
All three trains were running ALL day. We left the park at 8:00 - so if any of the trains were taken off, it didn't happen until after that point in time. The speeds varied on us as well. The closer we got to the top of the hill, the faster the train got.
I, too, tip my hats to both CP and Intamin for a great day in the Millennium Force line. They've obviously done a lot of work and it appears that they have the timing of the three trains down quite well. They are still only letting 36 people in to the loading area at a time. The CP workers were announcing that as you got close to the loading platform. They distinctively stated that seats would be assigned due to the popularity of the ride.
I, too, tip my hats to both CP and Intamin for a great day in the Millennium Force line. They've obviously done a lot of work and it appears that they have the timing of the three trains down quite well. They are still only letting 36 people in to the loading area at a time. The CP workers were announcing that as you got close to the loading platform. They distinctively stated that seats would be assigned due to the popularity of the ride.
If that's the case, it sounds as if maybe they put a variable frequency drive in as the starter for the lift (if not already there). Then they could allow the motor to run at say half-speed 2/3rds up and then accelerate to normal speed so as not to change the vertical component of the velocity over the top (Rideman would understand) :)
This would give them at least an extra ten seconds or so. Makes perfect sense (from an engineering standpoint).
This would give them at least an extra ten seconds or so. Makes perfect sense (from an engineering standpoint).
I still forgot to check my watch when the ride ended, but from the time the gates at the downtrack end of the platform flew open until I heard the catchwagon disengage at the top of the lift was 30 seconds. They've actually *shortened* that time by mostly eliminating the creepy-crawly bit for the first few feet out of the station.
One very poorly done timing indicated an interval of about 1:38. They could have pushed it about 10 seconds earlier than they did. I came up with a capacity of about 1,322 PPH.
Slowing the lift was really not an option for them unless they wanted to rebuild the anti-rollback system on the train and allow it to operate at lower voltage. I watched that thing carry a train at *slightly* less than top speed and the anti-rollbacks were engaging. When that happens, Millennium Force's lift is louder than Magnum's.
Speaking of Magnum's noisy lift, they re-did the annoying recording this year...you know, the one that you can only hear from *around* the ride, not from *on* it...
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
One very poorly done timing indicated an interval of about 1:38. They could have pushed it about 10 seconds earlier than they did. I came up with a capacity of about 1,322 PPH.
Slowing the lift was really not an option for them unless they wanted to rebuild the anti-rollback system on the train and allow it to operate at lower voltage. I watched that thing carry a train at *slightly* less than top speed and the anti-rollbacks were engaging. When that happens, Millennium Force's lift is louder than Magnum's.
Speaking of Magnum's noisy lift, they re-did the annoying recording this year...you know, the one that you can only hear from *around* the ride, not from *on* it...
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
They've evidently solved the problem by using the combination of a slower speed on the first part of the lift hill and stacking. The timing now is such that a train is starting up the lift hill about the time that the previous train has come to a stop outside the unloading station. All three trains then move simultaneously.
I wonder if the anti-rollback mechanism might have been tweaked to work with the lower lift hill speed. I didn't hear any noise from it all day long.
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Dave McWilliams
I wonder if the anti-rollback mechanism might have been tweaked to work with the lower lift hill speed. I didn't hear any noise from it all day long.
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Dave McWilliams
What a beautiful thing to see all trains in motion. The blocking is essentially the same as Magnum's, if you were to imagine the transfer as the unload platform. I noticed today that the earliest they dispatched a train was when the third was slowing through the long brake run, and it didn't have to stop in the retractable brakes at all since the middle train was already in motion toward the load platform.
Poetry in motion!
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23
Poetry in motion!
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23
All I have to say is WOW. I went to the park Thursday. I got to the Marina Entrance at about 8:30. The gates opened at 9 and we all ran. It was great. They let us on at about 10. We got to ride on the first train with public people on it. We had the very last seat and it was awesome. The enthusiasm was un-real. Beleive it or not we rode 3 times totall on Thursday. The other 2 times we waited about an 1 hour and 10 minutes. We were soo excited, we got the very last seat all 3 times. Jeff were you there on Thursday because i could have sworn i saw you and if it was you talked to you?
Perhaps one of you good people that have access to park officials could find out exactly what was done to get the anti-rollbacks to work with the slower lift speed. Initially nobody thought that it was possible to run the lift any slower without a complete rebuild of the system, but that's obviously not the case. Did they replace hardware, re-write software, or both?
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Dave McWilliams
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Dave McWilliams
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