RED TRAIN ROLLED BACK

hate to bring this topic up, but dan was wrong. it was I who sent the train.

yeah i have to agree that it was exMFATL who sent the red train, not one of the Intamin guys. i was there working later that day, i remember.

Does "exMFATL" mean you were fired for that? Or just because the season is over.

Gee good job exMFATL. Geez, what CAN you do right? ;o)

(just playin, you can guess who I am easy hehe)

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Natalie
CP Ride Operations '99-'00

So who gets credit for opening late on the day of CoasterMania?

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Jeff (who doesn't actually care, since he was stuck on SFA's Superman 140 feet up when the chain broke... damn chain lifts!)
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 50

Oh well, 20-25 more minutes of waiting didn't hurt anybody. I thought it just added to the suspense of riding it for the first time.

That was becasue a certain ATL over slept.

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daniel j. haverlock
Magnum Count: 1266
MF Count: 117
spiritofthepoint.com

Wasn't Urs the one that wanted the train dispatched? I distinctly remember seeing it roll back, I was standing at the exit stairs near the control room, saw the entire "failed" test run. And evetually worked Raptor the rest of the day.
It didn't take long to stop rolling unlike many other coasters.

I just read about the car rolled back, If you really watch it, it really does slowwww down going up the third hill, but it only seems to do that maybe once, twice a day when it is really noticeable. Also, did anyone read the article in the Register about me getting stuck? I was nervous, but all the same, how come the train slipped back, and then stopped? Was it really just a circuit breaker that needed to be reset?

----Its out there----

I'm assuming the train stopped on the lift hill for you, and when a coaster stops on the lift hill it slips back a bit so that the anti-rollbacks (the things that keep it from going back allllllllllllllll the way) can engage in one of the proper places. It happens VERY noticeably on the Cedar Creek Mine Ride and people get scared to death about it.

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Natalie
CP Ride Operations '99-'00

Thanks Natalie. I WAS curious as to why the train rolled back, but, do all of the coasters at Cedar Point have this feature? If not, what keeps the train in case of a breakdown from fallin all the way back down?

Every coaster at CP, and any other amusement park, has anti-rollbacks on the lift hill. This includes Demon Drop. While not a coaster, you can find the anti-rollbacks to the left and right of the chain to hauls the Demon Drop cars vertically up the tower.

Now that it's been brought up again, I believe that both of you are right: Urs wanted it dispatched and exMFATL was the one to do it. CP wasn't giving Urs enough time to work on the computer, as he told me, so he decided to make some time. He knew damn well that it wouldn't make it over w/out dummies, but he was pissed at the park for one of many reasons. Turns out he got the time he needed, and more.. he went straight to McDonald's for breakfast after the train was dispatched! lol..


--Geoff Shaffer
MF2K Crew Member

Yeah, sounds like a great decision...NOT!

He cost the park money by not having MF running that day, not to mention a WHOLE lot of pissed off guests.

He also caused some bad publicity for a ride with an almost flawless debut.

If he sent the train just to get back at the park, then he should have been fired. It's no different that having a boss down your neck. You don't do a half-assed job, but a fast and efficient one.

Was Urs one of the engineers, or was he higher up in the Intamin company? If what Urs did is true, it's such a rotten way to treat a customer that just spent millions. I can't blame CP for not wanting to delay opening to allow the guy to work on the computer, Intamin screwed up and they should work around the customer's schedule, not the other way around.

Yes Urs was the one who told me to dispatch the train, and he did leave for McDonald's after it happened, but there is no reason why he should have been "fired" by Cedar Point. If you only knew how badly he was treated by upper management, you probably would have done it, also. I really felt bad, and saw firsthand how he was treated by them, and let me tell you, you guys can glorify CP management all you want, but they aren't exactly "people friendly", especially to the engineers and seasonal employees. I'm not trying to "upset" anyone here, but you may know them, but be glad you don't work for them. I sure am glad I don't anymore.

If they were bastards about getting the ride fully operational, I say good for them. From the customer perspective, no one cares about the problems that keep a product out of the customer's hands. Not keeping that in mind is what burned PKI so badly this year. When you spend $25 million on a ride, there's a lot of pressure. I can't stand poor service from a fast food joint, and I'm only spending four bucks. I can't imagine what it's like when you spend that much money.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 50

Good point jeff. CP management was pressuring Urs to get everthing done. From an ops standpoint, I don't think that it was wise to turn over the ride when they did. Granted it was a great quality ride, but I'm sure you saw or knew about all they had to get done 1 week before the park opened to the gp. Not to mention insufficient training time for the crew on opening day. As far as I'm concerned 1 hour is not enough time to learn anything in that park. Hopefully they will get their acts together for next season. You know I worked there for 3 seasons before this past one, and I would have never had anything bad to say about management if I hadn't seen and heard the things I did this summer. And you guys, as being gp, wonder why there are so may employyes that have bad attitudes?? it's because management treats people like dirt. Next year there will not be many quality employees returning, strictly due to management. So if your day is bad, go talk to Kinzel, if you can. The fast food analogy is very accurate. If you are going to spend that much money to spend the day in the park, it better be a good experience. But no experience is going to be good, if the people that work for you aren't appreciated, and treated like human beings, rather than that hamburger from the fast food joint. Hope ya all got my point.

You should have expected to get pressured more than normal before you even were assigned to MF.
The pressure from the media to open a 10-world-record-breaking roller coaster with no foul ups was high considering all the bad publicity given to them in 1999.

exMFATL: I think at the core of the issue we agree, but there are some other issues that we're from different worlds.

First off, if you didn't feel appreciated on that ride, I can't help but wonder how you weren't overwhelmed by the cheers, screams and applause that happened on every train from the first one out in the morning to the last one after midnight. No ride I've ever been on at any park can generate that much consistent praise. People don't always like who they work for, but there aren't many low-paying jobs (outside of radio ;)) where you get that kind of feedback constantly and with that intensity from the consumers of the product.

I am aware of tight schedule, and in particular the issues with the film crew cutting into Intamin time. There were clearly some engineering issues as well, many of which centered around the anti-rollbacks' inability to properly disengage the track. Then of course there was the blocking and dispatch challenges that prevented three trains from running. At the same time, there isn't a lot of room for error when you, as an engineering firm and manufacturer, promise the delivery by a certain time for a very expensive ride. You bet Cedar Point is going to put on the pressure. Between that saga and the more recent crisis with Perilous Plunge at Knott's, Intamin's reputation with Cedar Fair isn't very good.

It's not just a thing against Intamin, either. Following the lightning strike, the park flew in the necessary parts with total disregard to cost. They are committed to delivering, and it's what separates the park from others (PKI comes to mind). I have no sympathy for Intamin, because if the charge you're making against the field engineer is true, that reflects very poorly on the company.

Again, I do find it unfortunate that the "GP" screams and cheers still left you feeling unappreciated.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 50