Gemini Stop 6/18

I'm not sure why it stopped but almost at the end of the Gemini Ride we were on Red Train and all of a sudden it came to a stop and the Blue Train kept going. We were almost turning and were like above the witches wheel. We waited about 20 minutes in the Train and then it kept going but slowly. The cool thing was they gave each of us a pass to get to the special access gate on anyride except dragster. So I hopped on Millenium pretty quickly.

The only reason you would have been stopped in the midcourse brakes would be because the brake section just outside the station was not clear. I don't know why it wouldn't be clear though since they are only running two trains on each side.

Maybe the computer thought it saw something that wasn't there.

*** Edited 6/19/2005 6:27:17 PM UTC by CP_bound***

Well, technically there are many other reasons why a train could stop there. E-stop, loss of air pressure, bad sensor, etc.

It's good to hear that they still give you exit passes for your inconvenience.

If there is a loss of air pressure, do the brakes automatically close?

Yep. Air pressure is what holds them open. Their natural position is to be closed. That way in the event of a power loss, drop in air pressure, etc., the trains will still be stopped.

cedarpointlover said:
If there is a loss of air pressure, do the brakes automatically close?

Yep, just like a semi truck.

Ralph Wiggum said:
Yep. Air pressure is what holds them open. Their natural position is to be closed. That way in the event of a power loss, drop in air pressure, etc., the trains will still be stopped.

Er, not on Gemini, Magnum, Corkscrew, Iron Dragon or Woodstock...

On those, the brake is held open by a leaf spring and closed by air pressure. Air fills a balloon stuffed in between the brake pad and the caliper frame, closing the brake.

Of course, that isn't a fail-safe configuration (though it's no worse than the pressure-applied brakes used in just about every vehicle on the road today...) so Arrow uses redundant braking systems: adjacent brake calipers are supplied from alternate air systems. Also, the brakes are supplied from pressure tanks located at the brake locations (plumbed into but separate from the main air supply tank) which are presumably equipped with check-valves. These tanks operate like the uninterruptible power supply on a computer: if the compressor were to fail, the stored pressure in these tanks would close the brakes and get the trains stopped.

The one Arrow ride missing from that list is, of course, Mine Ride, which had its brakes replaced with caged-spring pressure-release type brakes when the controls were updated some years ago. Also Woodstock is not an Arrow ride, but it uses the same type of brakes.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I learned something today. :)

Congratulations, Chris! :)

Next time you're on the platform for one of those rides, actually take a look at the caliper. The neat thing is that because the brakes open for the train to leave the station, then close for the next one to arrive, then open again for parking, you can easily see the calipers in both their open and closed positions, and you can easily see how the airbag fits in.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.