Employee Test Rides

Josh, you do realize John was being sarcastic, right?

I'm pretty sure that the wooden coasters and maybe Gemini get walked daily by maintenance, or pretty close to daily. I know I've seen them walking Gemini and MS a few times last season when I parked back in the Soak City lot early in the morning.

My bad Juggalotus. I was under the impression you meant "every square inch" I, too, have heard the statement that each ride is inspected entirely each day before opening, which simply isn't the case, and wouldn't be possible. I apologize for the misunderstanding.

And Tony and Tyler mentioned several months ago that the top maintenance platform was 50 feet from the arch. I didn't read the part about the elevator.

And Boondock, with only 25 posts since you've joined nearly a year ago, I would establish some credibility before you go bashing people's credentials.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it....peace out all!

Back in the day when I worked in rides, the ride hosts would walk the track in the morning before a train was sent to look for such items. Once it was clear, then you sent a train with a rider. Chris has a good point on why maintenance does not walk the track looking for things like branches. Not to mention there is not enough time in the night for every coaster track to be walked. They will inspect sections of track that is needed. But that is for structural reasons, not foliage.

And BoonDock, if you knew anything, you would know that if you work in Challenge Park you follow the same operation procedures as rides does. It is still Park Operations that you work in. There is nothing different about it.

*** Edited 2/28/2007 11:21:38 PM UTC by 99er***

BGDrew said:
Very rarely do employees take test rides mid-day. I can only think of one-time it happened on Corkscrew and it was because of a guest saying "It sounds funny."

One thing I wanted to add was that there are rules regarding the test ride. You must keep your hands inside the car at all times (duh) and also you're suggested to sit in the front to see the track. One morning we came in to open and there was a giant branch sitting on the track from a bad thunderstorm we had been hit with overnight. Had the train been sent...well...anybody remember the first gold train on Dragster?

and what exactly did happen to the gold train hmmmmmmmmmm?

You can watch the walks/test rides if you stay on Point. :)

MrScott

^That would be a neat sight.:)

JuggaLotus said:
And if they top maintenance platform is 50 feet from the arch, how did they push the train over when it stalled?

I think he meant the 7th level on Dragster. Each level is around 50 feet anyway. Those levels are anything but inaccessible....except for the top catwalk which, Im sure, is a different story.

I envy SF:GADV maintenance....they get to go to the top to check on the trims as part of the routine morning checks.:)

BGDrew, if you are talking about the same thing that I was told by one of the many employees I know at Cedar Point, then that is a rather funny story. :)

MrScott said:
You can watch the walks/test rides if you stay on Point. :)

MrScott

The best way to wake up at LHP. :)

When I worked on Raptor I always tried to be sure I was one of the a.m. test riders.
No better way to start your day! :)

I do recall one time in '03 our TL told me to take a ride and listen carefully because a guest had said they heard a "thump"
I assumed it was the "thump" on the bottom of the 1st hill but rode anyway. Didn't hear anything out of the ordinary but getting to sneak in a ride mid-day on a busy Saturday was awesome! :)

There was also one morning the ATL thought he heard something on the mid course brake and the ride did shut down till maintenance came to check it out.

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 1163 :)

BlueStreak64 said:
BGDrew, if you are talking about the same thing that I was told by one of the many employees I know at Cedar Point, then that is a rather funny story. :)

I would have given a lot of money to see what happened to that train. It's amazing more damage wasn't done to the track.

And sorry to all those who are confused, the contract I signed says I can't disclose anything. Maybe an Op from that first Dragster crew who helped in testing the ride can let you in.

As far as evening maintenance, there was one morning when the night crew had forgotten to turn on all of our final brakes. Wouldn't have caused anything had it not been caught, but was still funny nonetheless. In the end, there's not a lot that can be blamed on a maintenance worker other than gross negligence. A lot of the other issues can be pinned on the ride hosts for not finding problems earlier.

djDaemon is right!

MrScott

Makes me wonder about other parks with overhanging tree branches. Idlewild's Rollo Coaster comes to mind. I imagine such places (or at least the more safety-minded ones) have an aggressive tree inspection program, to identify and remove dead or sick limbs. But even then, a good wind storm can bring down even healthy branches. That might make for a sudden and jarring end to the ride, running into one of those. Instead of an e-stop, a tree-stop!

Ensign,

Just out of curiosity, is your Avatar a picture of you on Giant Wheel?

Close. It's the Pacific Wheel at Pacific Park, on the Santa Monica pier in California. It's also North America's only solar-powered Ferris wheel.

Do they send empty trains before they have employees ride?

If I am not mistaken. Yes, they do send trains empty in the morning before an employee gets in them. But, someone may correct me on this, as I have never been employed by the point

Peace, Mikey

All the trains are run empty before anyone rides.

Thanks for clearing that up.

How do they select the employees that ride the rides for the commercials?

Anyone who doesnt have to work when they are doing the commercials can sign up to ride. It involves a full day at the ride and you usually dont get to get off the ride between runs. Usually any faces you see up close is a paid actor who uses over expression, anyone in the background is an employee.

I did one for Dragster once. There's nothing like riding Dragster several times in a row at 7:00 a.m. to wake you up! :)