A couple of things it will accomplish...
First of all, it is an easy way to add a fourth block to the ride. Remember that the ride is to run three trains and has no mid-course block brake. Consider how Magnum is blocked--
o Station
o Lift
o Ride to safety brake after last tunnel
o Transfer Table
Millennium Force lacks that first brake, the mid-course brake that Magnum has following the last tunnel. So the blocking on Millennium Force looks to be...
o Loading station
o Lift
o Ride to safety brake
o Unloading station
Remember that Millennium Force is probably a much shorter ride than Magnum. Using the unloading station would be roughly equivalent to getting Magnum's riders off at the transfer table, which means that one train can be loaded while another is unloading, and both the loading and the unloading processes will be sped along by the ability to perform the other task in the other station...that is, an empty train loads faster than a full one, so the two-stop loading should actually increase throughput. Odd as that may seem...although those of us who remember the pre-1994 Blue Streak also know that its throughput is a lot lower now than it was with the two stations.
Given the relative locations of the stations on Millennium Force, I suspect that the experience will be more like what Blue Streak used to be than like what we now see on Disaster Transport or PKI's Outer LIMits. That is, I suspect that the stations will be open to one another, so you will see people returning from their ride...you just won't have to wait for them to get off the train.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
*** This post was edited by RideMan on 3/23/2000. ***