Roller Coaster Ride Operator's

As far as I have ever been told you have to be a part of the crew in order to do the test runs. If you were not a crew member you would really not know what to listen and look for. Raptor is and will always be my favorite ride. Before I worked the ride I thought I knew everything about it because I had rode it so many times but when you actually work on it everyday for sometimes 12-15 hours a day you just get to know the ride and what you need to find. It was the best part of my day. We use to race to see who the three would be each day. The first three to put their id on the outside of the control booth would be the three test riders for the day. One for each train. I use to leave extra early every morning I opened so that I could get dibs on test riding. Nothing is greater than having a whole train to yourself and seeing all of the people waiting below for your ride to open. It is awesome, you feel like you are on top of the world for a little bt.

Nice, twisted sister.

I am sure working Wicked Twister this year I will also know that sound well :)

Do WT employee's usually race for Wicked Twister or do they not really care to test ride?

*** Edited 4/4/2006 9:20:34 PM UTC by wickeddragster88***

I guess what these ride-ops are trying to say is that there are certain noises, vibrations, or other physical issues that your ride could be experiencing. For example a cracked wheel, or a vibration that shouldn't be there. When you work around your ride for 8+ hours a day you will become very intimate with the details. A good ride op will "just know" or have a bad feeling about something- E stop the ride and call maintenece out to take a look. Of course following the chain of command and discussing the issue with your TL. Had the crew on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Disneyland done this a couple years ago, they perhaps could have saved lives as one of their trains wheel assemblies became dislodged and fell off somewhere in the ride. Several people were injured and I believe 2 died when the train jumped the track and crashed inside the 3rd lift hill. Never doubt our Spidey-senses.

At Magnum we rely on four things: Maintainance, test-rides, alarms and of course calls from Soak City East: "Um..we have pieces of your wheel over here."

Grrrreat!

Edit: Punctuation stuff *** Edited 4/4/2006 11:10:49 PM UTC by Anonymous***

Haha, quote of the day right there!

What is real great is that management knows who you are and they might get upset about the Soak City quote.

wickeddragster88 said:

Do WT employee's usually race for Wicked Twister or do they not really care to test ride?

there was never any fighting, but we never had any trouble finding volunteers.

i don't know, though. too much wicked twister too early in the morning makes me feel kind of iffy for the rest of the day. you'll ride the ride enough, believe me.

ok, thats what I wanted to know, Thanks

I can't wait to start working Wicked Twister and most of all running test rides. :)

Shivering Timbers had to have the entire morning Maintainance crew, the entire Timbers crew, and some of the landscapers that were nearby ride it so that it wouldn't roll back, it was running slow last summer. Hopefully it's doing better this summer when I check it out.

MichiganRollerCoast said:
Shivering Timbers had to have the entire morning Maintainance crew, the entire Timbers crew, and some of the landscapers that were nearby ride it so that it wouldn't roll back, it was running slow last summer. Hopefully it's doing better this summer when I check it out.

That would be cool to witness, how would you get the train over the next hill after a roll-back would you have to take the train off the track?
*** Edited 4/9/2006 11:00:08 PM UTC by wickeddragster88***

Most of the 2002 Millennium Force season was the same. The whole crew would ride in the morning.

I wonder why they quit doing that.

On Gemini it was fun doing test rides, almost every one got to ride.. Same with Mean Streak.. Gemini it was to see who got to do Morning Jog run's... if any one likes awesome cedar point pictures... this is my favorite.

(IT WAS NOT TAKEN AT 5AM AS THE NAME SAYS, THAT IS IMAGESHACK'S RANDOM LABEL)

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/2791/gemini5am.jpg

is the URL

*** Edited 4/10/2006 12:10:33 AM UTC by wwrgsww***

I thought cameras/pictures were not allowed on coasters...

Glad I saved that shot, as I'll bet the link to it will be removed shortly. If it is against CP policy, it is against policy here at PointBuzz, too.

Live and learn...

MrScott

Wrong, That is a legal photo taken on a lift walk... Say hello to timers and tripods on angles..

That photo was ruined by your egocentricity.

Its only water marked due to little kids who like to rip off images. There is non water marked copies around, MrScott was lucky enough to get a copy.... Im over protective of my work and pictures.

ForgottenEE said:
I wonder why they quit doing that.

Not sure. They use to have a hard time getting the trains running. Don’t know if they still do it, but back then they also use to have large portable heaters under both the load and unload stations running all night to keep the trains warm. That lasted until mid June I think. I don’t think they still do it though.

I also agree with what you said about wwrgs.

*** Edited 4/10/2006 1:06:03 AM UTC by 99er***

If you dont like it... oh well Im not forcing you to look at it... sorry... if you dont like my watermark.

Sorry, I was being a dick about it.

I think that a relatively small watermark in a corner is perfectly okay for your purposes. The route you took with that photo makes it completely useless by me. I just hate to see a perfectly good photo ruined.

There is still the same trouble getting the trains running. The large heaters used in 2001 were deemed too costly. They did that when gasoline costed less than $1.50 per gallon so kerosenes cost has risen by quite a bit since so it's understandable. Then they moved onto use of Burnz o matic propane torches and water dummies. Now, they just use water dummies... Lots and lots of water dummies. I've heard plenty of complaints about how long it takes the employees to take them out of the trains in the morning. Those dummies are expensive too. Of course in attempt to get them out more quickly, many were damaged in the process. Of course they bought more. More expensive and easier to break. They simply don't compare to weight that can get itself out of the seat.

I can understand why they don't want anyone on the first run out on certain rides. Millennium Force is certainly not the kind of ride I'd have any worries about doing as such. Another Intamin ride in the park is a completely different story. They should just tear it down. It's a mechanical nightmare anyways.