Upon Further Review...

God Bless Cable Modems!!

I just downloaded and viewed the 31mb version of the topping video. It appears that during the the placement of the crest piece, the side track was (or is) a stairway. See a frame of it at http://24.131.53.236/mftopcap.jpg Now when you look at it on the CP official page (http://www.cedarpoint.com/thrill/millennium/topping.htm), it looks like it's a pair of rails. It's very possible that it was a platform for the workers up there and was removed. It's also possible that the steps are blending in due to the caveats of digital imaging. Very interesting, indeed.

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Scott W. Short
sshort@mediaone.net
http://welcome.to/midwestcoastercentral

I was under the impression that there were not going to be any stairs on MF.. is that false?

I don't think those are stairs, but whatever evacuation device is used needs more rigidity in its track on the curve. Also, consider there is no railing there, and they wouldn't lift that thing up there without it.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point

IMHO its got to be platform or railing for the workers to do there work..probabably removed when done...if you watch the video closely and watch especially the part where they are on the ground shooting upward at the top of the height then slowly zooming out to give you perspective of its height..you will see that same railing/platform cuts off from continuation on down..From that it tells me its temporary..go check it out on the video

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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html

Jeffrey Spartan

Maybe it's me, but those "stairs" look permanent. They match the track too well! It has to have stairs. They can't bring a crain in everytime the coaster gets stuck on the hill. It's a prototype lift and, to me, would be risky not to have a simple saftey feature such as stairs.

Yes, the curved track for the evacuation system is permanent.

The other thing you might be seeing is the "crawling" catwalk that crawls up the side of the structure. At the base of each tall tower there are these small vehicles with huge legs that sprawl out in four directions about 20 to 30 feet. From there, there are a series of 3-foot square by 5-feet high "track" sections that connect in series all the way to the top. A wide scafold, which looks similar to a high-rise window washer platform, travels up the thing. Look here at the base of the towers to see what I mean:

http://www.guidetothepoint.com/thepoint/gallery/img.asp?img=h-mfconst51.jpg

Anyway, that thing is temporary.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point

I was throughly impressed by the video. That last heade-on, ground-up shot of the lift hill truly gives you a better feeling for the scope of the drop. Just imagine seeing this thing in real life. The difference will be even more pronounced. Also keep in mind that another reason why the hill may not look "all that tall" to some of you is because these small pictures are creating an optical illusion due to the increased angle of the lift hill and also because it is is difficult to find a real height reference when viewing a low-resolution picture over the internet. Why not try this: Just get a small, straight-edged piece of paper and put it up to one of those side-profile pictures at Midwest Coaster Central. Make sure the paper forms a 30 degree angle with the ground and is tangent to the top of the lift hill. I think you can see where I'm going. THis is the angle of a normal lift hills. DON'T LET YOUR EYES FOOL YOU!

Regarding the "other track..."I've concluded that this ~structure~ alongside the track itself IS indeed permanent and constructed in a similar box-girder fashion as that of the coaster track. It is not a set of steps but instead will be used for the maintenance/emergency vehicle as we have already safely conjectured. You can see that the lateral braces are tangent to the curve at the top of the lift hill: steps are not constructed in this manner.
Thanks for letting me rant on about this; I don't have much time to contribute anymore, but when I do, it's insane!

Later Guys
-Dave Kochman
-Pittsburgh

My guess on this whole thing is that the lift will be a combination on the two main ideas mentioned here. It does seem like those stairs are permanent, and yet the idea of some type of evacuation vehicle also makes sense. Maybe the rails for the vehicle will stretch to the crest of the lifthill and from there to part way down the first drop will be the stairs as seen in the video.

Who knows, it's just another guess.


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James Draeger
aceercg@aol.com
C G & C P

If you want to get a good scale view, just look at the coasters in the back ground. Gemini, skycoaster, and Magnum all go up on the lift almost exactly where they would if they were right next to it. Just check the latest side shots from across the bay.