Tony, please answer me this. . .

The tunnels on magnum are not a block section and therefore don't have any sensors to track train position. The next block is the safety brakes just after the tunnel.

Gotcha ... Alright how about the lift hill of DT ... Isn't that some form of a block ?

First of all, how long has it been since anything other than the ride even worked? Also, like Tony and I have mentioned, its not a type of fog, it is a mist, and a rather dense mist at that. I have seen Gemini and Mean Streak shut down because a slight drizzle messed with some of their sensors. The mist setup messed with the ride safety system (and as far as I know the fire safety system), and a fog setup would probably mess with the fire safety system used on the ride. Either fix is going to be expensive and viewed as not worth it by the park.*

*Personal (though developed) opinion based upon known history of the park and ride effects. May not reflect the thoughts of P&D.

Also, a note about DT's lift: Two vehicles can be on the lift at the same time, so it is a much different block system than the rest of the coasters just for the lift. The operation of DT is heavily dependent upon timing, that is why they have to send out empty or half full cars if people aren't moving fast enough. This is all based upon my admittedly limited knowledge of the ride.

Second edit: After thinking about the fact that two cars are allowed on the lift at the same time leads me to the conclusion there there are no physical sensors in the lift area (although there may be an electronic "eye" which for our current discussion is not the same as a sensor). Instead the lift operation relies upon the rest of the ride's safety system to tell it when it should be moving. Again, this is based upon personal thinking and observation, so I may be (and probably am) wrong.

Super Stew said:
Gotcha ... Alright how about the lift hill of DT ... Isn't that some form of a block ?

Yeah, although I don't remember there ever being a lift in there.

It could also depend on what kind of sensors are being used by Intamin. They may be more susceptible to interference from mist/fog than what is in use on DT.

This is a really off topic question but wasn't there Halloweekends props in MF's tunnel.

Those explanations work for me ... Right or wrong !

Regardless of how many trains are allowed on the lift, the usual blocking rules still apply, and each block has to have some form of switch to indicate both when a train has entered a block, and when the train has left the block. The usual control system design involves two sets of switches for check-in and check-out, usually two different types of switches. For example, a cat's whisker switch and a proximity switch, or a proximity switch and an optical pair, or a proximity switch that senses flags on the front and back axles plus a prox pair that works on the brake fins. That kind of thing. And honestly, I am not sure what Disaster Transport uses these days.

Over on Magnum, the block switches are in the station, on the track between the station and the lift (check-out), at several points on the lift, on the block brake after the last tunnel, and on the transfer table. The tunnels on Magnum are not block points, so there is no need to have any switches at all in the tunnels, except possibly something to trigger the sound effect in the one tunnel. There is also generally no need for fire protection in Magnum's tunnels because in addition to being fire resistant construction, they are not personnel areas at any time.

Maverick's tunnel is a special case because it contains blocking, a launch system, storage track if I remember correctly, a means for evacuating passengers (catwalk, etc) and it is a part of the station building. Plus, it is 20 years of fire code newer than Magnum. So there is a lot of operational, control, safety-related control, and life-safety hardware packed into Maverick's tunnel that simply doesn't exist over on Magnum.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dave, I'm pretty sure that there is at least one "electric eye" at the top of the lift, and there may be one at the base of the lift as well (its a dark space, things may not be as they appear), I'm not 100% sure about the bottom. I don't recall ever seeing a proxy similar to what is used on all of the other coasters (the small green boxes on the track) in my many rides up the lift, and I don't recall seeing any up on Brake 1 when I took a look inside the old projector room. Of course, I have never actually worked the ride, I'm going off of my many rides and my own exploration of the ride.

I don't believe the tunnel of Maverick is actually storage track, or was ever intended to be used as such. I know my 2007 roommate was constantly going in at 5 in the morning for transferring on all 6 trains. As far as I know, they have only ever used the storage transfer track beside the first hill, and its a very tight fit for all six trains. Those bumpers come in handy, I hear. ;) I'll never forget the night I got bored and sat in my room reading through the Maverick manual for the heck of it. My favorite part was the disclaimer/notice that said that it was a new type of ride, and that decisions made on the platform by the crew could override what was in the manual as SOP.

TTD 120mph said:If anything they could have just focused something towards the end of the launch instead of the entire tunnel. Like a system that shoots a lighter fog in intervals (like in sequence with the led lights) and can disperse quickly.

Josh M. said: If they could just find a way to have fog near the LED/End of Tunnel section, I think that would bring back the effect that people miss. I don't think it's necessary to have thick mist for the entire length of the tunnel.

Is there an echo in here?:)

Great minds think alike, and reading forums quickly at work often results in missed posts ;)

pointperson said:
This is a really off topic question but wasn't there Halloweekends props in MF's tunnel.

No...

^Okay thanks! I thought I seen a commercial for Halloweekends a couple years back and I thought it showed some props in MF's Tunnel but it was probably another park or I could be just going crazy.

Or you could have got it mixed with Terror Island.