Maverick Testing

Now that the ride is official, has anyone seen the project plan for Maverick? I am curious as to when they may begin testing. I assume they will begin single train testing once the basic ride mechanics are in place. Half of this ride build will involve scening which I am guessing this why they started so early on the project. I would imagine they plan on moving dirt, building scenes, and landscaping throughout the winter and early spring. Has anyone been involved with any of the previous coaster projects and know how long it took from completion of the ride circuit till first test date?

I haven't seen this addressed in any previous posts, so I appoligize if this has already been talked about.

Rob

Launch coaster will always take a long time from structure completion to the time testing starts. CP said in the FAQ section that the steel erection should be complete by December. That gives them plenty of time to do the huge eletrical work and themeing on the ride during January through March. The weather doesn't turn nice until mid March anyway, so that works out very well. Late March early April will most likely see the start of actual test runs with trains running the course. LSM's are even more complex than LIMS and hydraulics (less problematic though), so that would give a good reason to why want to have a lot of time to work on those.

Thanks Craig.

LSM's look like they are very complex. Any idea how they will test these? You don't have the luxury on a coaster like Maverick of a roll back where you get the shot of relaunching. First half of the ride shouldn't be a problem. If the train makes it to the top of the lift hill, gravity takes over. However, on the tunnel launch, if the ride doesn't gain enough speed, it could potentially be stuck mid circuit. I know this isn't a new idea, but I'm guessing you want to know that it works before launching a 6 ton train which might not make it through the course. How do you get something like that back to the station?

Wow I never thought of that. But it seems like that might be a little issue.

According to the animation, the hill that comes after the launch has brakes on it. I'm assuming that will be used to either slow the train on a overspeed or stop the train if it doesn't have enough speed to clear the rest of the ride.

woohoo - rollbacks on Maverick too!! :)

Wouldn't you be able to use the LSMs to slow the train down though if it were to rollback?

Yes.

I thought that with LSMs you didn't need a roll back because they had breaks "with" them (meaning that they have the capability to stop trains as well as launch them). Correct me if I am wrong, please.

LSMs vs. LIMs:

LIMs: When a piece of metal passes through a magnetic field, a current is induced. This principle is used all the time in your home with transformers (the big, box outlet plug-ins), but those are rotary induction moters since they spin. What those do is change AC current to DC current. When the power supplied to the magnets in the transformer turns on and off quickly (AC current), then the metal coil in between the two batteries spin. Now if you take that and lay it out flat, you get a linear induction motor. Two magnets are placed on top of each other on the side of the track, leaving a space in between. When a metal fin attached to the train passes through the magnetic field created, it "rides" the magnetic field. AC current is applied which creates a wave for the fin to ride. LIM powered coasters use multiple sets of magnets on both sides to power their rides. An Example of a LIM Powered ride is Wicked Twister at Cedar Point.

LSMs: Linear Synchornous Motors use more of a basic magnet theory; attraction and repulsion. Strong, permanent, rare-earth (come out of the ground magnatized) magnets are attached to the train. On the track are electro-magnets. As the train approaches one of the track-magnets, the track-magnet is set to attract the magnets on the train, pulling the train forward. After the train-magnets pass over the track-magnet, the track-magnet is set to repel the train magnet, which pushes the train along. There are multiple sets of electro-magnets on the track and they must be fired in sequence in order to propel the train to top speed. An example of a LSM powered ride is Superman: The Escape at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Craig is saying that the brakes on the hill over the swan pond could be used to stop a train if it didn't have enough speed (sensed by the computer I assume) to complete the circuit. After the brakes stop the train, it would roll back into the tunnel. The LSMs would slow it to the launch position and then try again.

But you are correct - LSMs act as brakes too if required.

Per the animation, it appears that breaking is performed on the right side of the train, and acceleration in the middle. If LSM's can do both, why would they have two different placements on the track?

Rob

As far as rollbacks go, I would believe they would be very, very rare once the ride goes into operation. However, during testing, I'm betting they will count on some rollbacks until they are certain the train can obtain required speed consistently.
*** Edited 9/10/2006 4:04:03 AM UTC by dr_olds***

Rob - The sections that are PURE braking sections (hill over swan pond, end of ride, right before tunnel) would most likely just use magnetic brakes like on MF or TTD. LSMs are VERY expensive and complicated. So, if there's no need to launch something, they would just use the brakes. But, where they're already using LSMs for a launch, there's no need to add extra brakes since the LSMs can do the same thing. Make sense?

Yep, makes perfect sense. We do have a budget to keep here.

So, no one has answered my question about getting train that is stuck mid circuit (and I don't mean at a breaking block). Has anyone ever seen this happen, and know how they remediated the problem?

Dude, what are you talking about, it's not like Maverick has a 420 ft. vertical ascent, it's like a 10 degree ascent, I'm pretty sure it won't miss the speed by that much, 65, even 60 would make it

He's asking if it doesn't have enough speed to make it through the second half of the ride if the launch is too slow. It would valley and then they'd have to get a crane or something to pull it to the station.

MS has done that before, right?

Mean Streak isn't the only one. It happens once in a while, and they take of it.

It's just a general question about a coaster getting stuck mid course. I have no doubt that Maverick will be a great and dependable ride.

But, as Craig said, testing takes some time with the LSM's. You can't tell me there isn't going to be a knot in those engineer's stomachs the first time that train launches out of the tunnel on it's test run.

First test run... (Thinks of funny story involving Magnum, several Cedar Fair execs, and no brakes... :) )