Portable Restraint Unlock?

Yesterday while waiting in line for Dragster it went down(surprise surprise) for mechanical reasons. I didn't have a good view but I did see a maintenance man carry a small "box" to the back of the train, somehow plug it in and it appeared to release the restraints. Can anyone explain what that was in a little more detail?

its a manual harness release battery pack so the harnesses can be released without the electrical contact from the station platform

Exactly what DareDevil said. They're also on Millennium Force and Wicked Twister.

Intamins use electrical contact plates (easiest to see on Wicked Twister.. the flat paddles that click up before the train launches, and back down when the train parks) to release the harnesses. When the train is out of the station, there's no way to get electricity to the train other than using the battery pack that you saw.

Thanks for the replies guys. The train was quite a ways from the usual unload area when they released the restraints. I had never seen them have to do that though and was curious. Thanks again!

More specifically, the valve that opens to release the hydraulic restraints requires power, and said little box provides that power.

IIRC the battery pack is nothing more than a car jump start pack with an adapter on the cables.

My girlfriend and I were the last 2 people to leave Dragster last year. We had to be 'rescued' via the pack in question.

We were riding in the FRONT SEAT on the VERY LAST TRAIN to run the course for 2004. The ride broke down after us, on Halloween (the last day of the season) and never reopened. We sat in the brakes (unload deck area) for about 10 minutes before they brought the pack over and unlocked all the restraints. That little pack gets +2 cool pointsin my book because it was getting cold. =|