High Wind

I read the post on MF being resistant to wind-but is the coaster going to have to be closed when it is windy on Lake Erie? I have seen the Magnum closed on windy days.

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Jeff Young

If they close Magnum on a windy day, it's because a head wind might prevent it from cresting the second hill or completing the pretzel.

I don't know if MF will have the same problem. It has a lot of momentum throughout the course, so I don't know how much wind would affect it.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"

Jeff do you think theey should put anti-rollback things at the crest of the second hill, and the parts of the pretzel were the wind could stop the Magnum?

If Magnum stops in mid-course because of wind, it would be better if it rolls back. Much easier to get the riders off when the train is closer to the ground, and probably easier to get the train back to the station also. They would probably remove the train from the tracks and transport it back to the station, like they do when Gemini rolls back. A wood coaster is different, if the train gets stuck on the anti-rollbacks, the riders just have to walk down the catwalk.

Magnum has a catwalk on the turn. A Magnum employee told me (I am not sure if she was BlueS me or not) that it would take over a hour for Magnum to stop if it didn't make the secound hill. Not a fun way to spend the day if you ask me.

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Millennium Force will be the next to sink!

Think pendulum in motion, MIS. Regarding wind problems, I do have to agree that momentum will eliminate this problem. In generally unsafe conditions, though, such as winds of an oncoming storm or tornado, you can bet that this wil force a close.
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-Dave Kochman
Pittsburgh

There is no catwalk on any of Magnum's turns.

I would have loved to been on a rollback. Granted, the Ocean Motion motion (!) would make me a little sick after ahwile.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"

A rollback wouldn't be quite the same as a pendulum in motion, though. The pendulum only encounters friction due to the air it passes through (and possibly the string on the support, but that should be negligible), a coaster also encounters friction with the track. It could go a while, but it'll still settle more quickly than a "real" pendulum...


I suspect the swinging ship-like motion (cute, Jeff) would be enough to make many people sick, though.


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--Greg
http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/

Really? Dosen't it have block brakes in the turn?

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Millennium Force will be the next to sink!

No. Magnum's largest block is from the top of the lift to the brake run at the base of the lift. There are trims just before the pretzel, but stopping a train there would mean getting it off with a crane. There is a very small platform there for brake maintenance, but it's not large enough or long enough to unload a train. It also lacks stairs and a railing.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"

As long as we are talking about high winds.. Does MF sway at all in the wind?? I know i've seen, and been on the space spiral when it was swaying slightly.

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"Who needs drugs when you have Cedar Point."

Indeed, there is no catwalk on Magnum's turnaround. And, the trim brakes at the bottom of the third drop are just that: trims. In fact, if you walk out there and look at the calipers from the ground, you can see how incredibly simple they are, and how there are no sensors, switches, solenoid valves, or anything else out there. There is a platform under the brakes, but it isn't adjacent to the track...it's below it.

While there is no catwalk on the turnaround, there is a piece of wire rope attached to the supports back there, and I understand that a heroic maintenance man walks that knot twice a week, walking on the track, with his safety line tied off to the aforementioned wire rope.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Trim photos in Magnum section of the gallery...

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"

Ok I'm back. Regarding the "pendulum in motion" statement: After posting, I realized that I should've clarified my whimsical statement as to not give anyone the incorrect idea...Laziness kills. ;) Thanks GregLeg for pointing out the reality of friction. The coaster would only travel back and forth for a few moments.
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-Dave Kochman
Pittsburgh

The coaster wouldn't neccesery roll back and forth just for a few moments. I built a roller coaster on RollerCoaster Tycoon that stalled and rolled back and forth. It never stoped. Of corse that is a game. The coaster would probably do that for 10 minutes.

It might be a little more than 10 minutes depending on the speed of the train before the roll back. When I worked there in '87 there was a rollback on Gemini when the train failed to crest the second hill (There was no one riding at the time, and it was a cold morning). The train took more than 45 minutes to finally stop in the valley. At that time there was a winch under the track at the top of the first drop that was used to pull the train back up for a re-release. This was always a common problem on Gemini when running empty trains in the morning. To alleviate the problem they needed weight in the front of the trains, so park ops people from Zone 2, myself included, would clock in and go to Gemini and ride for about 15-20 minutes before reporting to our own rides. Now they use the sand bags that I am sure that everyone has seen on the platfrom.

Chris DeFouw
cwdefouw@netwalk.com
White Water Landing Crew '87

I knew it wouldn't take just a few moments. That would be pretty neat to see a coaster do that!

The future is riding on it!

I wouldn't think they would let the train just roll back, you know how scared that could make people?

Hurricane what else can they do if it's rolling back? They can't run down the track and stop it by putting their hands out...they have to wait until it stops moving. lol I think they actually get the crane out in those situations. Sweet.

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Natalie
ATL Zone 3 Sweeps 2000

I was just replying to Petes msg at the beginning, If the train gets stuck in the pretzel im sure they would rather have it just stay there instead of roll back and frighten people who might be frightened by that.