Skyhawk Cable Snap - July 26, 2014

racecat80 said:
{...} if I had to put in place a countermeasure it would be several lanyards attached to the cable so it could not swing after it broke or came loose.

What exactly would those "lanyards" be made of? More steel cables? You just magnified the problem. :-/

Nope! the lanyards would hold the cable in place like a nascar hood not going into the stands.

That's hardly a good comparison.

What exactly was wrong with the PD follow-up? Was there something that was not factual about it?

No but it does use crappy wording to strike fear & promote it's idea.."Descripe the Terror"

Oh the terror..the terror..

45wheelgun - read it again. The state required them to take the support cables off 2013 when the drive cable snapped. They broke in the process necessitating they be replaced. I can understand your confusion as the article isn't clearly written.

And I fail to see gow him violating his employment contract makes his statement false.

JuggaLotus said:
45wheelgun - read it again. The state required them to take the support cables off 2013 when the drive cable snapped. They broke in the process necessitating they be replaced. I can understand your confusion as the article isn't clearly written.

And I fail to see gow him violating his employment contract makes his statement false.

This guy is the Lemon Chill Guy - he was a ride host of a coaster. He never worked on Skyhawk. So this ride host is privy to "orders" from the state to his employer?

Where is the proof the state required them to do anything? Only the Lemon Chill Guy's statements - from 2013. If you read Lemon Chill Guy's quotes (in the article or on reddit) he NEVER refers to "support cables".

The main drive cable broke - they fixed it. <- known fact.

The title of the article is "Recently replaced cables on Cedar Point ride snap, injuring two" <- Fact made up by the "journalist" (Note the plural "cables" - How many came loose? - ONE. How many "snapped" - ZERO)

The subtitle is The state of Ohio forced Cedar Point to replace Skyhawk's cables in 2013. Those cables also snapped upon take down. <- "Fact" provided by Lemon Chill Guy.

The only source the UPI "facts" is the Lemon Chill Guy. An anonymous ride host who never worked the ride.

The only real facts in that UPI story are quotes from Bryan Edwards' statement.

Does anyone have a picture of Lemon Chill Guy just so I have a picture of him??

^ Here ya go.

Regarding the joke of the lemon chill guy, is there someone from the way past that actually quoted him **in seriousness** and this is an inside joke?

Yeah, what is the significance of the lemon chill guy in Tony's post? What am I missing about this guy.

The thread that started the legend of the Lemon Chill Guy:

http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/2395.aspx

Can't believe it's been 14 years.

The circus performance has just ended and one of the audience members is watching the crew handle all the usual post-performance duties. One man is pushing a waste can on wheels, using a broom and a shovel to collect all the "exhaust" from the animals. The audience guy calls out to him. "You really drew the short straw today, didn't you?"

The man replies, "What do you mean?"

"You got stuck shoveling **** today!" replies the audience member.

To his surprise, the man looks at him strangely and replies, "What do you mean, 'today'? This is my job! This is what I do for the circus!"

The audience member responds, "So why don't you leave and get a better job?"

"What?" exclaims the man, "And get out of show business?"

The Dippin' Dots guy is kind of the same thing. He's sitting in his stand selling Dippin' Dots, which means that obviously he is the most heavily involved, most important, most in-tune, well-connected, and well-informed person in the entire park. Just because he *works for the park*--just because he's part of the show--he's clearly a fantastic and scrupulously reliable source for information about the park's top-secret plans for the next five, eight, or ten years.

Of course, back when this fact became obvious to the enthusiast community, Cedar Point didn't sell Dippin' Dots. So at Cedar Point, it's the Lemon Chill Guy.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Good article (watch the video):

http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/local/northeast-ohio/2014/07/28/who-.../13293613/

Like they said you have a better chance of getting hurt hiking or bowling then you do riding rides at Cedar Point. They'd be out of business if they were dangerous.

Walt said:
The thread that started the legend of the Lemon Chill Guy:

http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/2395.aspx

Can't believe it's been 14 years.

We're old. I can't believe how long we've been at this now. Almost three times the length of my first marriage.

^^^ - that is what journalism looks like. Interview witnesses/victims, find and interview industry experts and review known history. Seems pretty simple when you think about it.

The comments Brian made about other organizations adopting Cedar Point practices I think are related to the entire off season inspection process. I remember reading something where magnafluxing ride parts to check for cracks and other non-destructive tests were pioneered by Cedar Point and later adopted by the industry.

Walt said:
The thread that started the legend of the Lemon Chill Guy:

http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/2395.aspx

Can't believe it's been 14 years.

Can't wait to ride those! Seems like it's taking longer than expected for the construction though...

Jeff said:
We're old. I can't believe how long we've been at this now. Almost three times the length of my first marriage.

I've been a member of your Coasterbuzz and GTTP/Pointbuzz forums for 43.75% of my life.

Crazy!

It's way OT, but since there's some nostalgia in the air...

Does anyone else remember firing up America Online 3.0 (not known as "AOL" for another 8 years) to see updates on PowerTower in 1998? CedarPoint's official website was pretty much a Microsoft Word document then: http://web.archive.org/web/19971007023901/http://www.cedarpoint.com/new.asp

Get off my lawn!