Since Magnum's lift chain broke this week, the idea of chain breaks sparked a few questions.
What would happen if Raptor chain broke?
Would the chain on the lift come crashing down on the queue underneath?
If the train on the lift causes a break further up the lift, would the chain come swinging down and injure the riders in the front middle seats?
Are there any guards on the lift to prevent this?
I'm almost 99.9% sure that there are guards to prevent the chain from hurting anyone. I know that during the Halloweekends of the '98 season I overheard two maintenance guys saying they didn't know if that the chain was going to make it through the season. Then again I think Raptor is on its third if not fourth lift motor!
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daniel j. haverlock
'99 Magnum Count: 801
spiritofthepoint.com
I'm sorry, but, I'm sure someone asked this already, how do people get off the trains and walk down the lift?
well,i think my uncles neigbors friend had a sister that once knew Monty Jasper and he said something about ejection seats and parachutes from what i understand, they shoot you out away from the lift hill im told
(seriously, just from observation and not totaly sure,i would imagine the maintanace cart under bottom of lift hill would come into play,but not sure)
The lift chain on Raptor is incompletely enclosed...there is not an opening large enough for the chain to come out of the chain guide, as nearly as I can tell. As for evacuating on the lift...indeed, they have a gas-powered work platform that goes up and down beneath the lift hill and would make it possible to get the stranded folks off the train.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
I thought they would have some kind of safety guard to prevent that, but I never paid attention while I was at the park.
While I was waiting for Snake River Falls one hot July afternoon I noticed that Millennium Force had gotten stuck at the very top of the lift. It wasn't up there for more the a minute before they got it working again. This did spark a question of what if an evacuation of Millennium Force was needed? I presume that the ride must have a vehicle similar to Raptors (notice lack of steps). I would presume that people would be very nervous getting into that little vehicle that seems to be for maintenance rather than evacuation purposes.
"I'm not going on Millennium Force. It isn't safe!"
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Dispatch Master, This is Transport one! I'm losing control, I'm losing control!
LOL! That was such good placement of an RCT quote. Bravo!
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WHOO!
There is in fact a side car that will traverse the MF hill. You can read a mention of this car in the diary of the mf construction posted somewhere on the official site.
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"The place looks like something out of the Jetsons!"
What is this vehicle that they use?
When we were waiting for MF back in June, the yellow train was stuck about 3/4 of the way up, and a little basket on wheels went up and down with a maintenance guy and a ride op while they worked on it. It's not very big, and I wonder if they have another sort of basket if they would have to unload an entire train -- otherwise just unloading would take forever!
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Disaster Transport '97 Crew
Iron Dragon '98 Crew