inside of the hydraulic building

Okay, so Jeff DOES know. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Wow! Last night at about 1:30 a.m. I rode Dragster with my friends. They all had to use the facilities so I went and stood by the big garage door to the hydraulic building. Next thing I knew the door was going up! I moved back as the maitenance guy came out and said I could look if I stayed back. It was about another 2 minutes before it launched. Seeing that drum spin that fast and hearing it be so much louder with the door open was amazing. The whole thing is just so massive. It truly made that my best visit of the year.

The thing I was wondering about. He opened it up for one launch and then as soon as it launched he closed it. Was there a reason for that or did he just want to open the door and get a little fresh air?

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2003 Stats: Top Thrill Dragster: 15
Magnum XL-200: 61
34 trips to the Point

*** This post was edited by fat chris 10/5/2003 3:59:57 PM ***

Yes: I was there last night too. I did not see you though. I walked down to the tower to take some cool nite pics and saw the door opened and then the man closed it about a minute later. I did one launch it was amazing to hear it but i did not walk up to the door closely. I had my camera but he did not look like he wanted me taking pics of it. so I did not..

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TTD rides =27
Time spent waiting for those rides= 44.5 hours.
MF=84

Yeah, he didnt seem that nice, but he opened the door and didn't object to me watching, so I could have hugged him! ;)

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2003 Stats: Top Thrill Dragster: 14
Magnum XL-200: 59
33 trips to the Point

I would imagine standing in the room while the coaster is operating is really dangerous... you have a huge drum spinning, very, very fast, you have cables and hoses everywhere.

If a cable snapped, and it struck someone, they would most likely be seriously injured. Or is a hose came lose and sprayed hydraulic fluid everywhere.... wonderful! ;)

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TTD: 6 (Rollbacks seen: 24)
MF: 20
WT: 9

Speaking of spraying hydraulic fluid everywhere, I was inline last night and there was water dripping from the launch track, and the two guys infront of me said "I don't think thats a goos sign with all of the hydraulic fluid leaking out everywhere."

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Dan Haverlock
TTD Rollbacks 2 For 66
"get a job man!"

MrFat699 said:
I would imagine standing in the room while the coaster is operating is really dangerous... you have a huge drum spinning, very, very fast, you have cables and hoses everywhere.

I'm guessing this is part of the reason why an "observation window" of sorts was included in the building's design. That way things can be monitored both from the PC in there as well as visually, all at the same time.

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James Draeger

But Dan . that is what keeps the magnets working to launch the train? that is what ihear in line. hahahah

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TTD rides =31
Time spent waiting for those rides= 47.5 hours.
MF=84

Dan said:
Speaking of spraying hydraulic fluid everywhere, I was inline last night and there was water dripping from the launch track, and the two guys infront of me said "I don't think thats a goos sign with all of the hydraulic fluid leaking out everywhere."

I highly doubt it's hydraulic fluid. Most likely water they spray on the cable to keep it cool. Also, if one of the cables snapped and went flying it would probably cut a person in half.
*** This post was edited by Maniaman 10/17/2003 4:49:46 PM ***

I'm pretty sure that Dan understand that and was making the point that the guys in line were clueless.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

Maniaman said:
Most likely water they spray on the cable to keep it cool.

Actually...

The water is to cool the brass runners on the sled, the sled's brake fins, and (especially) the magnets on the sled.

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James Draeger