Big change on Disaster Transport...?!
I don't know if I should run to Park Ops praising them for a major ride improvement, or if I should run to Park Ops screaming at them to send a maintenance man to Disaster Transport on the double. In fact I did neither.
As I was riding Disaster Transport today, I noticed that there was no "clicky-clicky" noise on the lift. The noisiest lift in the park is not the noisiest anymore. I just wish I knew whether that's because they changed the anti-rollback design, or if it's because the pawl was stuck. :)
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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ONE freeway stamp a day... ONE
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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.
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18 straight years of real thrills and counting...
I did mention it to a ride op at the ride exit, but I didn't hang around to see if she cared. :)
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
How exactly would one accomplish taking the clank out of your standard anti-rollback device? Perhaps the ratchet strip on the track, or on the anti-rollback dog, were covered in rubber?
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- John
I Snap Flyers
Mack has a patent that involves a small wheel that rides alongside the sawtooth and by means of a friction clutch pulls the pawl upward. Arrow retrofitted something similar to this onto Drachen Fire, and uses such a system on their Mad Mice.
Vekoma did something complicated involving a wheel driving a small generator which pulls in a solenoid to lift the pawl.
So there are a few ways of doing it...
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
And on Millennium Force, aren't the anti-rollbacks only engaged when the computer has to stop the train on the lift?
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Everything that has a beginning, has an end. 11.05
On Millennium Force it's something similar to either the Intamin Superman or the Mack/Arrow method, I am not sure which. But the anti-rollback dogs engage when the train is moving slower than some particular speed. It's purely mechanical (or possibly electro-mechanical) and based only on train speed; it has nothing to do with the ride controls. Which is a Good Thing™ because that way the anti-rollback safety device will function even if the controls go into a gigantic cluster-****.
You can hear the Millennium Force anti-rollbacks if the train stops on the lift...they're nice and loud as the train restarts. Or occasionally, you'll hear them as the red train goes over the top. :)
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
RideMan said:
Vekoma did something complicated involving a wheel driving a small generator which pulls in a solenoid to lift the pawl.
Doesn't it seem like Vekoma always does things in the most complicated way?
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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.
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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?
But the anti-rollback dogs engage when the train is moving slower than some particular speed.
When the train goes slower than 9 MPH, the anti-rollbacks kick in.
It's true about the red train. Man, that thing is loud! I've seen MF stop on the lift plenty of times and you can tell when it stops. And from the other side of FrontierTrail, you can hear it when it starts up again. Those are incredibly loud anti-rollbacks, and I'm glad Intamin designed them not to clack.
Of all the times I've ridden MF, I have never once been on a train when the anti-rollbacks have engaged. :(
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2003 Raptor ride count: 246
Raptor Rules the Sky.
Environmental Services knows who I am!
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