Dragster cable snaps

Dan, our savior! lets hope it is up soon!!!

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2003 stats- trips-1
MF-1 WT-1 Raptor-2 Mantis-1 Magnum-1 mean streak-0:( PT-2
Greatest ride ever-1

The ride gets tested every morning....There is really no practical way to test a cable...you put it on and it works...unfortunately there is no way for them to know when/if the cable will break, and to assume that closing the ride to "test" it is rediculous.....
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If you're scared of heights, you won't be after Cedar Point

They test the ride every morning. Like I said, how can you expect something like this? Do you think testing the ride with or without people on it will make any difference as to whether or not mechanical problems occur? You're in line when it breaks- tough call- but at least you know they're trying their best to get you back on. I'd be pretty angry were I at the park watching empty train after empty train fly by me without any problems because they're "testing" it.

Well, after watching the tire fly off yesterday I didn't think they could have any more major incidents anytime soon, I guess I was wrong. You have to remember that TTD is an Intamin. What Intamin has CP (or anyone else) gotten recently that didn't open with problems?

In 2000 (from what I understand, I wasn't a passholder then) MF suffered a lot of down time and had it's share of problems. Is anyone complaining about how it has been running since then? Of course not, because it is very reliable after they worked out the bugs. Last year, WT was plagued with problems begining at the end of May. It was down for almost 2 weeks straight in the beginning of June. Between whatever the structural problem was with the towers and the somewhat frequent smoking of LIMs, it had quite a few problems. This year, I've only seen it go down once, and that was because some idiot threw something through the electric curtain.

So just give TTD some time, they'll make things right. Remember, something of this magnitude has never been done before, so there will be flaws with it.

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-Chris Woodard
In 2000 came "Maintenance Force," In 2002 there was "Wicked Maintenance," and new for 2003, the world's first 400-foot coaster, "Top Thrill Maintenance!"

Yikes! Tomorrow(5-27) will be my second visit in two weeks with no rides on Dragster. Absence makes the heart grow fonder they say.....I have complete faith in CP and Intamin when it comes to matters like these, I seriously doubt that I will be riding Dragster tomorrow however. I swear, I don't check the boards here for a few days and things just fall to pieces! ;) I'm looking forward to more rides on Maggie Millie and Mantis tomorrow.

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Millennium Force Laps-107
**Vertigo Launches-21**
Dragster Launches-2

For these things to happen such early on will only help TTD in the long run?

Why did the cable snap?
-Well, perhaps a stronger cable is needed.

Why did the prop wheel fall off?
-Maybe fake fiberglass ones will be needed now.

Have the problems early, learn from the mistakes. Rinse, lather and repeat.

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2002/2003
KP Team Member

I pray to God that TTD is up and running by the week of June 15. On the 19th, I'll be out there. I chose CP as my destination this year because of TTD. And I really wanna ride this record breaking coaster. I'll be praying.

Some of you guys have to realize that the cable has been in use for more than 3 weeks. There was extensive testing done on the ride prior to its opening. Now this isn't to say that it should have happened at all, but at least it happened now in May rather than peak times in July and August.

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...and the most anticipated event of summer 2003 is...

The Matrix: Reloaded!

A quick question to those who saw it snap. Was it during the launch? If so, did the train rollback?

To think that Intamin and CP wouldn't have a replacement cable available is naive. (hope I'm not putting my foot in my mouth in a few days) I'm sure they've been more than prepared for this small incident to occur. Unless something was damaged (track, guides, fins, trains, supports, etc.) TTD will be up and running in no time.

-It just sux these two failures occurred when the park was open. Thank you God no one was injured.

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The B E S T SEVENTEEN s-e-c-o-n-d-s of SHEER >>InSaNitY<< I've E V E R experienced!

I was at the launch point, on the midway, and saw the cable snap. Let me add some things to this conversation and hopefully reduce senseless speculation.

First of all, the riders were in no danger. The train just started moving when the cable snapped. The cable sort of moved forward and up and down in a wave like motion. Most of it just hung limp from the middle of the tracks, though the cable at the guide wheels, where it goes into the drive building, was a bit tangled up around the guide wheels and track. The part that snapped lay on the ground just forward of the entrance tunnel. The ends were ragged and frayed. The tensioning wheel, at the launch point, extended fully when the cable snapped and triggered a switch placed there for just such an occurance. Just guessing about this, but I would think triggering the switch puts the ride in a Estop mode, as the brakes extended on the launch track, and the launch motor seemed to stop. The ride was venting air from a point close to the entrance for a fairly long time. Either the end of the cable cut an air hose, or it's part of the Estop routine. If it was a cut air hose, it's comforting to note that the brakes stayed up even though air was venting.

CP maintenance people, and a gentleman from Intamin, were quickly on the scene to inspect what happened. They cleaned up some of the cable, and started to free the train from the push car. After the train was clear, they started to manually move the push car in the directon of the station. Why isn't clear to me. As I was leaving for the evening, I noticed that something was sparking and being cut. I bet the frayed end of the cable was being cut off and cleaned up.

Some armchair engineering is next. It seems to me like the cable snapped pretty close to the push car. If that is the case, and it's not badly kinked someplace, they could just attach the end to the push car again. There probably is enough extra for that to work. Seeing the sparks of something being cut made me hopefully that they are doing just that. If that is true, downtime might be short. If it broke somewhere in the middle, they would have to get a new cable, or maybe splice the cable back together. No way to tell if they would want to splice, or if it is even possible to do that on TTD. I would think that if they would have to order a new cable, we might see some longer downtime. I looked closely at the track and brakes from the grandstand, and it didn't seem like the cable damaged any of that. I hope that is the case, as it would speed repairs.

So that is what I saw today. It's not gloom and doom, it certainly doesn't mean there is anything fundamentally wrong with the ride.
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Florida may have Disney World and Key West,
but Ohio has Cedar Point and Put-In-Bay.
It's great to live in Ohio!

I love Cedar Point alot and I have nothing against them, but I have been waiting all winter long to see this ride run.

The thing I don't understand is, in 1989 the Magnum's lift chain broke, in 2000 Millienium Force's lift cable broke and now in 2003 TTD launch cable broke.

I don't understand why a park of this magnitude would not have any spare cables or chains for there new record breaking coasters that people have been planning over a half a year to see.

I am not saying that they need a spare chain for all there coasters. Just there new record breaking ones. They don't need a spare for Magnum or Millenium, just one for the new record breaking TTD that some people are travling half way round the world to ride.

I have had this vacation starting this Wednesday and ending Saturday planned for quite some time now. What a bummer. Any ideas why they wouldn't keep on extra cable on hand?

No one knows if CP has a spare or not. If I were betting money, I would bet that TTD will be running at some point during your vacation.

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Florida may have Disney World and Key West,
but Ohio has Cedar Point and Put-In-Bay.
It's great to live in Ohio!

Well that's certainly a bummer... I hope no one was injured, and that they're back up soon.

We're planning our first trip for just a few weeks from now, and are hoping to ride the latest greatest at the Point.

My main concern is ride queueing. Excelerator has been averaging MINUTES between cycles, and it's only 1/2 the ride of TTD...

BTW, as a former ride operator (3+ years at another CP park), I've seen similar things, and they aren't that unusual for any new attraction. Pre-opening testing is to work out the first 80% (rough estimate) of the bugs, but the biggest reason for opening the attraction before the peak season is to smooth the other 20%.

Pics of the cable snap aftermath are available here
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Scott W. Short
mailto:scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

Thanks Scott and Pete.

I can think of several other rides who have made major problems in their opening year. I know the lift chain broke for Chang right after it opened. Jeff rode Superman at SFA and was riding it while its lift chain broke.

How many other launch coasters were delayed because they couldn't complete their laucnh or make it over their hill.

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'03 Magnum Crew * magnum count: 2275 * '03 count: 42 * www.dannyjphoto.com

Hey guys, read the article in the sandusky newspaper today on www.virtualmidway.com , it says the ride may reopen as soon as today!! I definitly should be opened when i get there in a week!! Thank God

Steven

thats good news... i hope to get another Top Thrill Dragster ride in on friday...

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"it's like eating in the kitchen of a delightful italian stereotype!"
Trips to Cedar Point: 2
Dragster: 3 Millennium Force: 41
Raptor: 30 Wicked Twister: 13

just as long as it is up and running by friday's ert time i will be happy, we can only hope for the best.

TTD=4(frontseat=1)absoulutely amazing
WT=32
MIlle=61
*** This post was edited by MeanStreaker 5/27/2003 8:37:54 AM ***
*** This post was edited by MeanStreaker 5/27/2003 8:38:58 AM ***

See and you all were worried and freaking out...and it looks like the "shutting it down for a few weeks" isn't gonna happen....it'll be fine

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If you're scared of heights, you won't be after Cedar Point