Ask RideMan #4 - Evacuations

How do emergency stops and ride evacuations generally work? Why do they sometimes not evacuate a ride after there’s been a problem?

http://pointbuzz.com/content/ask-rideman-evacuations

Another fun read, thanks Dave! I never knew that Magnum has valleyed in the turnaround, or that Raptor has a funicular on its lift hill.

Also, the hyperlink to "Discuss This Article" currently self-links to the article and not this thread.

Fixed. Thanks.

In fact, the evacuation process may introduce additional hazards which may not be necessary or desirable.

If I could make guests understand one thing during a shutdown, it would be this.

^Right...I had a few e-stops and shutdowns during my time, it was honestly safer to let Maintenance get the ride back to the brake run or fix the issue than evac riders off of it.

Aside from when Maggie's lift motor broke for I think the second or third time of the season, then it didn't matter, evac from the lift :P

Exactly. In the case of STR, you're safer staying in the boat than bridging at times a 2-3 foot gap over deep moving water

I had to evac Superman on the lift at Six Flags America when the chain broke about 2/3 the way up the lift. In retrospect, I don't recall the staff being tethered to anything. I know we as guests were not. I was on the left side of the train, without the stairs, and simply stood up after they released the restraint and stepped on to the stairs at right.

Does anyone know... when they've had to evac Millennium Force on the lift, did they put guests in a harness before releasing the lap bars?

Just standing up and moving to the steps seems reasonable on wooden coasters that have railings and steps on both sides of the train, but that seems really hazardous on rides with nothing on one side. MF has an extremely steep lift, I can't imagine it would be easy to just stand up on that, especially high up when sitting on the left.

The thought of having to evac from MF towards the top scares the hell out of me, don't think I could do it, I would probably freeze up. I'll ride them, I wont climb them. ;)
Nice info, love the deep and detailed explanations you give RideMan!

In the case of the very first Millennium Force lift evacuation, employee test riders stranded in the train were basically pulled upward and out into the funicular without the use of tethers or safety gear. We just got up on our own as best we could with major hands on assistance from the ride mechanic and ride manager in the funicular. First car riders were lined up with the catwalk at the top of the lift and stepped out onto the catwalk before backing down the short ladder into the funicular.

Lapbars had to be released car-by-car with the use of the battery pack and riders were shuttled 4 at a time back to the station. I have no idea how it's done now.

Are you talking about a drill, or the time in '01 when you got to be the last one off the train when they had to do it for real?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I got to witness riders going UP the funicular in order to board the train while it sat at the top. That probably doesn't happen often. Granted they were employees but still neat to see. I was also suppose to be one of those employees but my attention was needed elsewhere. I'm not bitter or anything.

Rihard 2000 said:
In the case of the very first Millennium Force lift evacuation, employee test riders stranded in the train were basically pulled upward and out into the funicular without the use of tethers or safety gear. We just got up on our own as best we could with major hands on assistance from the ride mechanic and ride manager in the funicular. First car riders were lined up with the catwalk at the top of the lift and stepped out onto the catwalk before backing down the short ladder into the funicular.

Lapbars had to be released car-by-car with the use of the battery pack and riders were shuttled 4 at a time back to the station. I have no idea how it's done now.

That's exactly how the evacuation policy is now too. 4 at a time. No more. And when you're doing a walk down from waiting, it's always 4 riders in between each ride host escorting them back to the station.

Not sure if I could do it. I really think I'd freeze up and have a panic attack.

What are these drills you speak of Dave? :-p It was all pretty unrehearsed and seemed a bit improvisational the one and only time I experienced it.

I have been evac'd from Magnum's lift a couple of times. Getting out of the train on the lift is not as easy as you'd think. It is really awkward. Like Dave said, I remember when they had to evac from the transfer due to high winds at closing. Of course, when I'm there, he blames me for it! :)

Dave, your comment "how quickly can you climb a 300' ladder?" was asked of me when I was in the process of applying for a mechanic's position at Seaworld San Diego a few years ago. My reply was "fast enough". Didn't get the job, they gave it to an eighteen year old kid who put himself in the hospital six months later by disobeying one of the primary rules of hydraulics. But that's another story.