Iron Dragon Lift

I just have a question. How come on the 1st lift hill of Iron Dragon, the train almost comes to a complete stop? Is it supposed to do that, or did it happen over time or what? It's just one of those things that bothers me.

It is supposed to do that and it is done for blocking reasons. I believe the train in front has to clear the second lift before it speeds up. Its kind of similar to how MF's lift speeds up at the top once the train that just came in makes it all the way into the unload station.

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

I think the train has to clear the brake at the bottom of the second lift before the first lift resumes normal speed.

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Scott W. Short, Rail Junkie
mailto:scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

Actually, if you watch it, the first lift speeds up as the train on the second lift goes over the top.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Has it always done this? I don't remember seeing the lift stop years ago. Maybe the ride has slowed over the years or else my memory has become muddled over the years.

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everything's better with a banjo

I've always remembered ID slowing on the first lift.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

It's always done it; it's just that it's more noticeable the faster the crew gets the train out of the station. The earlier the train goes, the longer it creeps up the first lift. And as the crew gets better and faster...well, you can see where it leads...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Also, I'd imagine that if you happened to catch one of the rare days where they only run two trains, the lift would not slow down since their two train dispatch point is probably late enough that this isn't needed. Kind of like how Magnum, with two trains, is only slowed by the ready breaks, not stopped. I always wanted to try dispatching as soon as the computer allowed us to (rather than the top of the 2nd hill which wastes about 4-5 seconds) in order to see if we could make the train not stop over there with three trains. It might be possible, but only if the ride was running particularly slow because I think normally, you sit for slightly more than those 4-5 seconds.

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

Matt:

If you dispatched Magnum as soon as the block was clear, you would get three quick dispatches, then you'd have excessive idle time in the station waiting for a train to come back...and the combination of that delay and the shorter interval between the trains might not be a problem with empty trains, but once you try to load riders would probably slow things down just enough to set-up the ride.

Waiting those extra few seconds for the train to crest the second hill equalizes the interval.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.