Galaxyland photos added to Coaster Grotto

Ever since I saw that grusome photo of Mindbenders accident I don't think I'd be comfortalbe riding it. Even though it might be safe now after 25 years, but that's just me.

I seem to remember this was a train issue, which is why the train only has three cars now. I feel you about not wanting to ride a coaster that had a bad accident, but I had the same feelings about S:ROS at SFNE, which were quickly forgotten once we went down the first drop:)

It was a maintenance issue. Screws and bolts were found on the ground all over the place, and those still on trains and supports were way too loose.
The train got so much forces and combined with the lack of bolts, tore itself apart.

Anyway, history is history because it happened in the past, I'd remember the events, but would be comfortable riding it. After all, I'm sure the park has different management that doesn't want to have another accident in their park again.

This incident was one of the straws that eventually broke the financial back of Schwarzkopf. The maintenance issue was brought up at the hearings, but the Canadian trade unions fought back vehemently, blaming Schwarzkopf for a "poor design that was almost impossible work on". Obviously they didn't ask any of the parks and shows in the United States and Europe that used these rides about how they worked on them.

Hey Guys is there any links to some of the pictures of the accident?

Actually the original trains are only on one coaster in the United States, Zonga. They are a bit different than any other Schwarzkopf trains... not sure how many coasters in Germany run them.

I believe the Zonga trains now have normal OTSR's. When it was the Texas Tornado/Thriller, it had the Mindbender style lap bar with half shoulder harness.

Yeah, I wasn't talking about restraints though. The train mechanics themselves are a bit different than most Schwarzkopf trains.

Except for the track, the coaster is completely different than before the accident. There were maintenance, operator training, wheel design and restraint design issues. You don't need to see the pictures. Just imagine the last car of the coaster, derailed in a loop, and smashed into the concrete pillar of an adjacent track support at 40-50 mph. It was a mess. It was a miracle that one rider in that car survived.

The new system running since the mid-80's has the most restrictive restraints of any coaster I've been on. But it's still a great ride. And probably the safest and most monitored coaster in Canada.

There is one photo of the accident at this link:

http://members.aol.com/drcompany/tragedy1.htm

The dead person in the corner did it for me.