RED TRAIN ROLLED BACK
It's true. I was there today for Physics Day and the red train was stopped on the turn before the first tunnel and some guys were walking around outside the tunnel. It was never opened today. It thought it was wierd that it wasn't running after the rain had stopped and when I walked back there I did a double take as I saw the train sitting there. I was yelling at my friends, "This thing has no brakes, it shouldn't be stopped there!!!!" According to my physics teacher who listened to a presentation by the head of ride maintenence (or something like that), that the rollback was caused by an unexpected wind gust and that the second hill has been a worry of theirs for awhile. After a talk with the Paddlewheel ride op, I learned that it never even made it to the top of the third hill and that it was supposed to reopen around 4. It didn't happen and from Paddlewheel you could see them taking the last car off the track. It was definately a strange sight!!! I hope this is a problem they can correct soon! On a side note, today was a bad day for rides in general. If the coasters weren't shut down because of the rain, they were down mechanical. Of all I saw, Mine Ride, Magnum, Mean Streak, MF, and Gemini all were down mechanical for a significant amount of time today. Kind of a pain whn you have to get on the ride to do a project that counts as a test grade!
First off, you need not worry about a train crashing in to you from behind. The computer will not allow a train to crest the lift if the one in front of it hasn't cleared the brake run.
As far as it being a "problem" that needs to be "fixed," well, it happens to a lot of coasters. These new Intamin rides have a lot of personality. Many of us have watched a test run where the train crawls through the last turn on a cold morning, only to see it fly through the turn with people in it later in the day. I predicted ages ago that this might be a problem when I learned that Darien Lake's Superman couldn't test without water dummies.
The solution is simple, just don't test without dummies.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23
As far as it being a "problem" that needs to be "fixed," well, it happens to a lot of coasters. These new Intamin rides have a lot of personality. Many of us have watched a test run where the train crawls through the last turn on a cold morning, only to see it fly through the turn with people in it later in the day. I predicted ages ago that this might be a problem when I learned that Darien Lake's Superman couldn't test without water dummies.
The solution is simple, just don't test without dummies.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23
True Dave, but yesterday's little incident is reason enough not to put riders of any kind on a coaster that is prone to rollbacks in the morning. Who's to say that a semi-loaded train would have made it over the hill in those conditions? I see CP ordering a lot more of those water dummies and cycling trains more in the morning.
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Scott W. Short
sshort@mediaone.net
http://welcome.to/midwestcoastercentral
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Scott W. Short
sshort@mediaone.net
http://welcome.to/midwestcoastercentral
I have to agree with Jeff-watching the empty trains running empty after the storm on the 11th I was wondering if I was going to see a rollback too-very creepy and SLOW when empty!
Maybe also explains us hearing
"we generally feel MF has very low wind tolerance"
maybe that explained that!
Too cool
I will still happily ride!
Millennium Force laps: 39
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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight??
Maybe also explains us hearing
"we generally feel MF has very low wind tolerance"
maybe that explained that!
Too cool
I will still happily ride!
Millennium Force laps: 39
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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight??
...Except that the only real problem I see to having employees on the ride when it rolls back is that then you have to pull out the man-lift to get them off, which isn't a big deal with the train stopped less than ten feet off the ground. That, and you end up with 36 employees who will be late in getting to their assignments. It's not like a rollback is going to actually hurt anybody...!
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
From watching the speed of the trains when first run, this does not surprise me, but can someone explain the reason why a train starting with a 300 foot drop cannot clear a 182 foot hill? Just by the numbers, it seems like it would fly over it. Its not like the 182 foot hill is at the end of the ride. Was there something causing added friction? I suppose wind would be a contributing factor, but it still seems like it would have to be a hell of a wind. I look at Shivering Timbers with its barely-lower-than-the-last hills and have to wonder how many times they have had this problem... Someone please help me understand this. I already know that this is a common occurrence, but it seems like this could be overcome in the design stage, no?
Don't forget that it also has to cross the 160something turn first. Also remember it climbs the third hill just fine when it's warmed up.
I guess it has something to do with the wheels, cold bearings, etc. It's also interesting that they have those one-piece plastic-looking wheels on all of the middle cars, just as they did with S:ROS. Still not sure what that's about.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23
I guess it has something to do with the wheels, cold bearings, etc. It's also interesting that they have those one-piece plastic-looking wheels on all of the middle cars, just as they did with S:ROS. Still not sure what that's about.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23
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