Raptor and wind...

There have been two times where I have came to CP and Raptor has been closed beacuse of the wind. On these days, TTD and WT were also closed. I can completely understand why they close TTD. I understand the stress factor the wind can put on WT's vertical track, but I can't figure out Raptor. The only thing i can think of is that it wouldn't make it through the course. Perhaps at the area around the mid-course brakes. It can't just be aerodynamics, because that would put Mantis in the same situation.

I don't remember where it occurs on the track, but the wind causes it the rollback through the section. Could someone please tell where it occurs?

The turn up to the mid-course.

Just before the block brake, after the cobra roll. The train slows down so much, if there is a lot of wind from the Bay, the train won't make it to the block brakes. That could be a problem!

Mantis is totally different than Raptor. With the train being on TOP of the track it makes Mantis able to operate on more windy days.

Mantis is not exposed to the same wind as Raptor. Mantis is a bit more inland and seems to have more speed in it's risky spots.

For what it's worth, Magnum and Millennium Force are subject to wind shutdowns on occasion too.

The ride may get stuck during the final helix too.

I almost got a rollback on Mantis once. It wasn't windy out, it was cold and the first run of the day. Here are a few rides I've almost got rollbacks on and my thoughts on it.

TTD: "ROLLBACK, ROLLBACK, ROLLBACK"

MF: "ROLLBACK SOMWHERE NOT BANKED, ROLLBACK SOMWHERE NOT BANKED, ROLLBACK SOMWHERE NOT BANKED"

Mantis: "OMG DON'T ROLLBACK, OMG DON'T ROLLBACK, OMG DON'T ROLLBACK"

No matter how rediculously close (less than 1MPH) I've been to rolling back on any of these rides, I have yet to roll back on any ride.

During the last Saturday last year Raptor was closed most of the day due to high winds, but was mysteriously opened for the evening. They kept it open even during very high winds from the bay. I watched numerous times as the trains went into the brake run going no more than 5-10 miles per hour. I was amazed that the ride DIDN'T roll back. I actually had my cam out just in the event of one. It was rediculous.

It was so stupid, back in 2000, Raptor was CREEPING into the block when it was fully loaded and the TL was unloading people in the transfer section because we weren't going to send out another train. It was too risky. Park Ops called and told her to get the ride back up and running. We were so shocked, but then decided that if park ops wanted to be that way, let them have the rollback. We didn't get one but there were a lot of scary moments.

im just wondering what do you raptor crew and cp do when the train does rollback on raptor between the cobra roll and block brakes.

Tie a bunch of ropes to it and pull it through?? I really don't know what do they do. The ropes would be the only thing i can see happening.

When a train has a rollback on Raptor they'll disassemble the train where it's stopped and reassemble it the maintenance shed.

That has to take....forever.

Or, couldn't they just remove the main part of the train from the wheel assembly and just move it in big chunks?

I thought when ever there is a rollback on any coaster at CP, the Lemon Chill Guy is called in to push the stuck coaster train through the course. ;)

BirdOfPrey00 said:
During the last Saturday last year Raptor was closed most of the day due to high winds, but was mysteriously opened for the evening.

A lot of it depends on how much balls the people in charge at the time have. Perhaps a different manager came on duty and decided to try it. It was great when they asked me what I thought and of course I said, "eh it's fine - the trains are still coming back!" Direction of the wind is everything. Winds off the bay affect Raptor, but not Magnum. Winds off the lake do just the opposite. I'm still convinced it'd take an empty train and a steady wind off the lake of over probably 40 mph to roll back Magnum. I know it rolled back once in the pretzle, but that was when it still had upstop pads. I bet that had a lot to do with it. During cold mornings and on Friday nights we had some anxious moments waiting for trains to come back. A few times, during block checks, the last car will be tipped back into the third tunnel, but it has always rolled forward for me. We did call maintenance to push it once, just in case, but they weren't needed.

We ran in 30+ conditions many times. Normal timing of the trains is about 60 seconds from dropping off the lift until hitting the safety brakes outside the third tunnel. But we've seen trains come back at 75 seconds. The ride probably isn't much fun (rides more like Nitro or Apollo's Charriot at that speed), but it will come back. When running three trains though you have to be careful to dispatch the train a few seconds later to avoid B-setting (having a train stop at the top of the lift because the previous one has not cleared the safety brakes yet).

If a train "B-sets", will the train on the lift continue after the breakes are cleared, or does maintenance have to come out and do their thing?

No, not maintenance, but we had to call into park op and then someone on the crew would have to run out to the lift and restart it manually. More than likely someone would get in trouble too for dispatching the train too soon. Even if they dispatched at the normal dispatch point, someone still should have realized the situation. I'm proud to say we didn't have any B-Sets in '04 despite running through some windy conditions. They are really rare, but high winds would be the time you'd get them.

Wouldn't there be something on the control panel that would say that the train on the course had cleared the breaks? I didn't think of this before.

There are block indicater lights that will indicate when B-block becomes clear, but after a set-up occurs on Magnum, it requires someone to turn a key out by the lift while the person in controls simultaneously lifts up on a button.

Normally, a train is dispatched when the previous train is cresting the second hill. This means that the previous train clears the safety brakes (the end of B-block) at least 10 seconds before the train is approaching the top of the lift. In windy conditions, the time the train takes to go up the lift remains the same, but the time trains take to complete the course increases, so if a train gets to the top of the lift before the previous one clears the safeties, you get a B-set.

The more common type of set-up is a C-set where the crew will take too long to get a train out of the station and a train will be stopped in the safety brakes outside the third tunnel because the C-Block (brakes by the transfer track) isn't clear. Most of the other rides can stack all three trains without a set-up, but Magnum is not like that. This is the reason for a lot of hustling to get people on and off. There are only about 30 seconds between the proper dispatch point (top of the second hill) and the point where the ride will set up (train exiting the second tunnel).