Yellow Train

The Intamin engineer on site would beg to differ, and maintains it's the interval. I didn't seem them working on the anti-rollbacks at all this weekend on yellow, after spending a lot of time on them Thursday. (They're under the fourth car.)

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

You have to remember though Jeff, Intamin looks like the bad guy in this whole thing if the problem is in fact mechanical. It seems natural for the engineer from there to blame it on CP's staff instead.

He wasn't blaming anyone... it's not an operational thing the park can control if it's a fast lift. He wasn't passing off responsibility in any way.

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

Personally, I think the lift speed is a rush in itself. If they slow it down, the ride will lose that. I still don't see why the pile up is such a big issue, even though it was discussed before. The way I see it is that there have been lots of coasters tested and the software by now should be able to handle the pileups. The only thing I could think of is that they want to be safe in the event that something went wrong with the power, having the magnetic breaks and all.

I'm sorry if my post sounded rude, or impatient. I don't mean for it to sound that way.

Also, if anyone is there when yellow runs, let me know if the lift speed is still the same. I have to wait a month to go again.


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"the Force of the new Millennium will be felt by those who choose to seek it... Beyond words... bey

sunday night when i was in line they were unloding water filled dummies from a truck,but they did not put them in the yellow train.i dont know where they put them,also i seen two guys,one of witch had an intamin jacket on walking the cat walk just before the unloding station.it was kind of funny the guy with the itamin jacket got stopped by a security guird and had to leave and come back.also i might add i could not get a ride in the front seat becouse they were doing assigned seating.

I was there yesterday and rode MF at abot 9:30 and there were no water dummies on the yellow. I asked the ride-op and she said they will probably start yellow next week. Also I saw Jeff Sat. It was my first time meeting him. I was just getting in line for magnum and I said HI. Remember jeff I was riding Chaos and you were right next to me. Im not sure but on Sunday you were getting off mf and I think it was dan who said "I know you". Was that dan or some one else. Thanx

Oh just to refresh everyone regarding the lift hill speed and effects of slowing it down: In another thread, I believe Bill sat down and did the calculations regarding a slower lift hill speed and its effects on final speed. Without getting into depth, there would actually be a minimal affect on the velocity since the train's initial speed is slower; thus it would spend more time falling from 310 ft giving it more time to accelerate to a speed of 92 mph. Therefore slowing the lift would be negligible.
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-Dave Kochman
Pittsburgh

Prediction:

By June, the Millennium Force trains will have new seat belts on them.

There is nothing inherently complicated about the existing European seat belt buckles. Click the two ends together to fasten; squeeze the catches on the sides of the buckle together to unfasten. Very simple, very quick...and unlike anything the typical American coaster rider has ever seen before. In both loading and unloading...mostly in unloading...the seat belts were causing problems. Making the buckle end slightly longer so that it would remain inboard of the seat rail would help in loading; switching to a more familiar buckle would help in unloading.

With two stations, the loading process should be faster than with flush loading, so even though the ride is only 2:00, they ought to be able to cycle trains through each station in about 30 seconds.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I have heard from multiple people that the problem is with the anti rollbacks. If anyone heard the awful noise the red train made on its first test run opening day, thats the problem they're having with yellow.

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Steve Sergent

shortyx517@aol.com

I was watch MF in action yesterday as I was waiting in line and I don't think that slowing the lift is an option. From the looks of it, the red train inparticular(the one I rode), just barely crests the third hill. Granted it was a little windy yesterday, but sending it over the lift any slower is gonna cause some rollbacks.

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aIrtIme'S oVeRrAtEd...

The speed of the lift has nothing to do with the train's ability to crest the hill. As DaveTK said above, the speed at which the train crests the lift has negligible impact on the speed of the ride. The speed at which the train crosses the lagoon has more to do with the number of people on the train and how "warmed up" the ride is.

I saw yellow run last Wednesday, and the rollbacks did disengage. Problem or not, it doesn't matter if they can't get the interval right.

I tend to agree with Dave's comments about the seat belts. Sure, it's easy enough to figure out when you've done it over and over, but I've watched people struggle with it.

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

Lift hill speed seems to affect final speed by no more than 2mph.
[Of course, this is far different for a 50ft hill than a 300ft hill... but you get my point]

What's interesting here is that Stealth also has silent anti-rollbacks. However, in the morning when they are cold and dew-covered, they aren't silent.

There's still a lot of conflicting information about the REAL reason 3 trains aren't running. Here's a direct quote from The Sandusky Register's website.

"Only two of the coaster's three, 36-passenger trains were running, because the park does not have clearance to run all three trains yet, according to park officials. Millennium Force can accommodate up to 1,600 riders per hour."

That makes it sound like the anti-rollback is the cause to me. Personally, I think everyone may be trying to put a spin on the story.

The full article is here- http://www.sanduskyregister.com/cgi-bin/LiveIQue.acgi$rec=33887?frontpage

Yes, it's true, they aren't certified to run three. You know why? Because when they tried to run three it set up the ride. Why? Because they can't get the interval right.

There's no confusion, I heard it out of the Intamin guy's mouth... they're not running three because the ride sets up.

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

On this past Sunday May 14th the ride was not running for about 20 mins, anyone know why? I havent heard why and dont want to speculate.

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The more you ride it, the more you want it!

~~~Darla~~~

Ok guys, I have been reading about ALL THESE SO CALLED PROBLEMS with this ride. In my point if th guys talk about all of these problems, CP won't let you guys on it!! DUH, hello and smell the coffee. I don't care on how u guys take this but its the truth and the truth hurts. Plus I don't care who lives near and goes to cedar point everyday, there is nothing wrong with the ride other then the yellow train, ok!!!

Easy Erick!

I don't think anybody's search for the truth should be taken as a negative comment toward the ride. I can personally tell you that NOTHING I have heard/read will keep me from loving every minute of it. If I may speak for everyone for a moment, we're all just looking for the real reason the yellow train isn't running.

And Jeff,
I wasn't aware that the CP officials needed any sort of clearance from Intamin to run the 3rd train. I assumed that was a park operational issue. The article quote that I mentioned can be misleading without that information. Thanks for the clarification. *** This post was edited by Jamie Ray on 5/16/2000. ***

Some people are saying that the simple solution is to slow down the lift, well, if they slow down the lift, would that make the anti-rollbacks engage because the train is moving too slowly? (just a guess). That would make it more difficult to slow it down.

hey, at least it opened on opening day!!!!! cough...SOB...cough.

Regarding the seatbelts, the first time I rode MF, I didnt have much problems fastening the belt but when we got to the station after it was done, I couldnt get the belt unbuckled. I was trying to get it for a long time and eventually I was the only one left on the train. God that was embarrassing. Finally i realized what was wrong - I guess I didnt press in both sides at the same time, and one side came out but the other stayed in. I had to re insert the whole thing and then get the timing right. I myself am opposed to this kind of seatbelt, although it does kind of look futuristic.

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MF Rides: 2