Sounds Going Up First Hill.

Hello everybody I am a new member of Guide to the Point. This might sound like a stupid question but I'll ask you people it anyway. It is of course known that the Millenium Force will have a new lift system using a cable instead of a chain. Does this mean that we will not hear the distinctive clicking sound and other related sounds that we are so used to hearing when we are around roller coasters? Will the new lift be noiseless, make some other type of sound, or still make the same sounds of chain lifts. To me those sounds have become synonymous with roller coasters because every roller coaster I have ever ridden on has made those noises and hearing them sort of gives me a good feeling inside.

The rollbacks will not engage the notches in the track unless the train is moving backward, or at least that's my understanding. Once you get away from the noise of the motor, I suspect all you'll hear is the sound of the wheels on the track and the wheels of the "sled" that will connect to the train and pull it up the hill.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point

I was under the impression that the "antirollback" on MF was going to be a set of permanent magnets that let the train roll backwards, but limited the speed. Given the sheer height of that hill, it would make sense to me -- if the cable broke when the train were 290 feet up, it'd kinda suck to get the patrons off ;)

And if that's the case, there's definitely not going to be any ratcheting sounds from the rollbacks ;) *** This post was edited by GregLeg1 on 2/12/00. ***

There are notches in the I-beams that will act as a track for the thing that connects to the train, so there will be some kind of traditional rollback device (check the gallery for lift track sections).

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point