Snake River Falls Derailed

Seeing the pic, that's just odd, they're kids, not like they put a ton of weight in the boats anyways. However water level isn't high, it sits about normal there. However coming out of the trough there? I was expecting soon after the drop enters the splashdown, not there. By that point the ride is just coasting through the trough, unless it derailed a bit more and just skidded to that point.

Very odd, very odd indeed

It's not so much about how much weight, as where it is positioned. When most of the added weight is towards the back instead of spread out the boat will naturally lift in in the front, as there is not enough downward force to keep it down when it hit the receiving pool.

Wow that is more out of the trough than I imagined. I figured one of the wheels would be on the wall, but that boat is almost halfway out.

This is actually not the first time this has happened. In summer 2006 it happened I remember too because I was working in zone 4 which is the area in the back of the park when it did it.

My kids, nieces, nephews, and sister-in-law were on the "derailed" boat. Of course, I was near the front gate in the kiddie area when it happened, and only got a cryptic message to rush to the "log ride" because my kids' boat went off the track. That was a fun run from one end of the park to the other.

We were contacted by a reporter at the Sandusky Register today, so they are apparently putting together at least a minor story on the event.

Anybody know how they were able to get the boat back in the trough? Did they use that crane that is outside the station?

They set a jack on top of the channel wall and raised the front end a little, then about 4 maintenance men pusehed it off the wall into the channel. After they pushed the boat to the station they used the crane to lift the boat out of the water.

Article in the Sandusky Register with more details and a couple of photos.

And, as usual, the comment section is comedy gold.

Had to laugh at the one comment about how lucky the riders were that the first aid station was right next to the ride. A little confusion about the difference between First Aid and the Emergency Room. Good thing that the riders weren't hurt. Think chances of a boat crash ending in a trip to the first aid station being slim to none.

Low water level would explain the no splash, and the lack of water splash braking would give the boat enough momentum to miss the curve. The question is, why was the water low in the channel, and why was the boat allowed out of the upper chute with low water level at the bottom?

A poorly balanced boat (back heavy) could have a similar effect.

The lack of splash and braking with low water level would be explained by the existence of wheels on the boat holding it above the water line.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Edit: DYAC. My iPad had made an unreadable mess out of that last sentence.

I'm honestly surprised that there was a low water level, not high considering the huge amount of rain at cp during this timeframe honestly. Ah well stuff happens

Walt said:

And, as usual, the comment section is comedy gold.

LOL> Thanks for causing me to read those.

Chris

You guys got my hopes up. Most of the comments weren't that bad.

Some are terrible however...Especially the statement made towards Bryan..."Mr Edwards" haha

Poor Bryan. Being burned at the steak! He's just the PR guy. Not in charge of the water level monitoring.

Nothing worse than an overcooked steak.

^Uh, I'll call BS on that. Steak that is not cooked at all would probably be worse. :)

Actually, it's not.

You can cook an uncooked steak. You can't uncook an overcooked steak

Well played.