Worried

I am worried about Millennium Force. There are weird thing happening with this ride: 1. Yellow train never running 2. Two not three trains running at once 3. the roll back Thursday
Why are these things happening? Why would it run only two trains? Why would it roll back? What is wrong with the yellow train?
Please ease my worries!!!
Thanx

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14 and counting
See my Po!nt?
"Dont post if there is nothing to post about"

No need to worry. 2 trains have been running because the ride is so fast. It only takes approx. 1min45sec to go approx. 7000 feet. The rollback should have not happened with a fully loaded train. Without any riders there isn't enough momentum especially if there is a strong gust of wind. The yellow train only has a minor problem with the anti rollback mechanism. Like I said there is NO need to worry. Too many false rumors have been spread.

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You can fool others, but nothing you do is hidden from God.
JESUS rules :) :)

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!:)

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14 and counting
See my Po!nt?
"Dont post if there is nothing to post about"
*** This post was edited by coast on 5/20/2000. ***

Coast: You really need to read a few more posts here. This stuff has been explained to death in the last 24 hours.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23

Ahh and I never thought that I would miss hearing "Did you know the magnum is sinking"...I've heard the "Its too fast, going over 100 mph" rumor TOO many times.

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"And now for something completely different" MPFC

MF is a carefully engineered ride (for $25 million, mind you) I'm sure teh MF equivlent of "Magnum is sinking" is "MF wasn't engineered right" or something like that
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Brian Z.
Hometown parks: Kennywood, Cedar Point!
Feel the Force NOW!!

Don't get too worried yet. The Raptor has problems all of the time and it still remains one of favorite coasters in the park.

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Live for FUN!

GO SHAMROCKS!
GO WOLVERINES!

It's new and not the most typical of rides.(If you know what I mean!) Do you think anyone has any experience with a 310 foot tall coaster? Probably not and I'm sure within a month or so, CP will have everything figured out and MF will be running great!

Yeah, I remember when Magnum first opened, it was totally plagued with problems. People were getting banged around too much (they had to add extra padding). The train got stuck going down the second hill, I think (I heard that was a computer problem, and from what I remember, they had to get the people out using fire truck ladders) somebody correct me if I'm wrong, it was over ten years ago, so its hard to remember exactly. Also, the chain on the lift kept breaking, because at the time, it was the longest chain lift in the world, and it was not strong enough for its own weight, or something like that. But you never hear of these problems anymore. Just give CP some time to work out all the kinks in MF.
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"Sir, Shouldn't You Buckle Up First?"
"Aaahhh BUCKLE THIS! LUDICROUS SPEED, GO!!!!!"-Spaceballs

true, true..it is a whole new kind of animal they are dealing with, and if anybody, including CP thought it would run perfectly from day one, they could be considered either very optimistic or very foolish. look at it this way...at least it's running. ahem...Son of Beast... that's all i ask of them...keep it running!!

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i'm back and my brain is still scrambled...

I would like to know why CP wouldn't allow lines to form at the MF queue on Saturday? I was the first person to get there and thought "front car finally". CP police and ride ops were constantly making people not form any lines. It hasn't appeared to me when going on Tues/Wed/Sat this past week that anyone was doing anything to the ride before the queue opened. Sorry, just remembered seeing a couple of guys ontop of the lift hill about 7:50 on one of those mornings. Does anyone know why they are consistantly opening MF late?

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You can fool others, but nothing you do is hidden from God.
JESUS rules :) :)

Hey, don't worry about CP, they have a great record. Just don't go to PKI.

One again I must state that at least CP has their coaster running (nevermind that it RULES!)... Kings Island (sucks) can't get the new "Son Of Beast" coaster running... plus they lied becuase their "wooden looping coaster" is really a steel loop, attached to a wooden track...

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CP the best... and if you wanna argue that I'll take you down...

They are still having problems with that anti rollback system from what I hear. The Intamin guys are still there. Saturday I saw MF only run a few trains then shutdown and they still had a 4 hour wait thur the breakdown period.

Anyone worried that they may never get three trains going at once on this thing usually they would have that ironed out by now. Its new and we all must have patience. Any thoughts from others?

For 25 Million Dollars, Intamin will figure out a way to do it. Don't forget that they did not expect this problem with the short ride time and the inability to get the dispatch timing right, so it may take awhile to get it all ironed out. I equate the three train problem on MF with the second hill track problem on SOB, both are unexpected problems and both are taking some time to be eliminated. At least the MF is able to run with two trains. Imagine how unhappy we would be if it was only running one train or not running at all.

On a side note, did anyone else notice the bracket attached to the straight track just prior to the last overbanked turn around the queue? It looked to me like it could be something put in place for a trim brake if they ever decide it is needed before the turn.

CWD

That's one of two brackets for such use, the other being just before the second tunnel (you can't see it from the ground). Of course, with the crazy differences in speed based on load and temperature, I'm sure we'll never see any trims.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23

Yeah, the only way they could put any trims on Millennium Force would be to cut down the cutback (the last turn) otherwise they'd just be asking for trouble.

They've got some operational issues they need to iron out as well. More people checking belts and lap bars in the station would help, but those people won't be available until June. Getting the idiot gates open sooner or faster would probably help, but that will require controls changes. Anyplace they can shave seconds on the staion dwell time, they need to do it, and they need to do it quickly. There simply isn't enough headway on that ride for them to mess around!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I think signs are necessary in the unloading station. Maybe to show how to unbuckle the seat-belt, and which way to leave the station. I also watched lots of teens stalling the trains from moving because they decided to stay on the platform and talk about the ride with their friends. They somehow need to clear that platform quicker... I personally think that is the main problem.

If they need to have the unload station clear before sending the train to the load station, how about installing load gates? They could close the gates as soon as everyone is out of the train and dispatch before people have left the platform.

...Or the suggestion I had was either a light curtain or a sensing mat alongside the train so that only the edge of the train needs to be kept clear...the yellow line zone...to move the train. I think unload gates would probably slow things down rather than speeding them up, as they would make it difficult for the unload attendants to assist the stuck people who can't figure out how to unfasten the seat belts.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The way I see it, dispatching would involved all three trains at the same time. In order to dispatch a train, you need an all-clear on both platforms, and when that happens, you send the loaded train and move the other two up. I can't see another possible scenario.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Millennium Force laps: 23