Top Thrill Dragster: Years from now.

You're wrong in so many ways. It's actually 30+ hydraulic motors attached to a system of gears. It's nothing like an air craft carrier, which is typically launched with steam heated by a nuclear reactor.

I want a nuclear dragster.

Can we risk Bane getting a hold of it?

I thought Dragster used 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power to launch the trains?

It will all be so much simpler after the invention of Mr. Fusion...

And we could have used Disaster Transport to fuel it. Though I don't think we'd want Dragster losing too much control.

GoBucks89 said:
I thought Dragster used 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power to launch the trains?

Hahahahaha although I think you mean 1.21 Jigawatts, at least if I am thinking of the quote correctly. Anyways TTD actually is really energy efficient, more so than a chain lift since it uses all of its energy in a short burst. The real power eaters are the LIM launch coasters.

Actually, Dragster is the highest power consuming ride in the park. :)

Really? I swear I heard on a documentary that it said it was pretty energy efficient. Maybe I misheard. Where did you hear that it uses the most energy in the park? Could be a more credible source than mine.

I remember reading it on OnPoint and hearing it from someone at the park. The next ride in terms of energy consumption is, I believe, Thunder Canyon.I think what you heard is in how efficient the hydraulics work. When the ride is being setup for another launch (catchcar coming back and the cable drum running in reverse) the motors are going in reverse and the oil being pumped in reverse is also resetting the piston in the accumulators. So essentially as the catchcar is coming back, the ride is being reset for another launch.

Hurling a roller coaster train 120 mph to climb 420 feet seems like a reasonable candidate for winning the most energy consuming contest.

Energy consumption and energy efficiency are two different things.

I would doubt any claims of efficiency just judging by the amount of heat that thing puts out. The little motor pulling Millennium Force up the lift certainly isn't putting out that kind of heat.

GoBucks89 said:
I thought Dragster used 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power to launch the trains?

It is..After Doc. Brown slipped off his toilet the flux capacitor was born. We can ride Dragster into the FUTURE!

I'm no expert here, but hydraulics are incredibly efficient. A small amount of initial force can be applied to create an incredible amount of final energy. I am not implying that Top Thrill Dragster doesn't use a lot of energy to operate, as I do not know its actual usage. Rides that use LIM's seem to use a lot of power though. Mr. Freeze at Six Flags St. Louis loses its station lights every time it launches because of the amperage pull. Just my 2 cents.

It's probably more efficient than hurtling fighter jets off an air craft carrier with steam generated by a nuclear reaction I guess?

Not necessarily. Unless they have really fine-grained control over the reactor's fission, and therefore its heat output, I suspect they have to bleed off heat in one way or another. You've already got steam, might as well use it.

Hydraulic motors can be very efficient, sure, but don't forget that in this case you're talking about many motors and accumulators that have to be filled very, very fast, and emptied very, very fast, to drag a big heavy hook connected to a heavy train moving very, very fast. The electric cost to cool that building I'm sure is not insignificant.

I did not think about that Jeff. Good insight. Steam on the other hand is also incredibly powerful. Consider the fact that the energy in water increases ten fold as it transforms from liquid to gas. As a liquid at 212 degrees fahrenheit, water has an energy of around 5,000 joules. When it becomes steam it has around 50,000 joules of energy. I believe this is per liter, but its been a while since i've looked into it. Regardless, per volume water holds this type of energy potential. Steam would still power cars if we didn't have to start and stoke a fire.

Ensign Smith said:
It will all be so much simpler after the invention of Mr. Fusion...

We already have fusion ala the H-Bomb...what we need is cold fusion...then the whole world would be a better place not just TTD

Fusion creates so much energy, that the head of a metal tack could boil a liter of water when both things are on different sides of the earth. That being said, it would be a solution to all energy problems. The energy potential of 8 ounces of a glass of water could power a large city such as London or New York for 200 years.