Top Thrill Dragster Stacking with 6 Trains?

If you look at the artists rendition of Top Thrill Dragster, you can clearly see all 6 trains on the course. The thing is that 4 out of the 6 trains are on the brakes, with one on the top hat and one in the launch.

What I am wondering about is how are they going to efficiently run all 6 trains? I know that the art is not 100% accurate (nor is it 'sposed to be) but how are they going to keep the lines moving, and the people interested when there are so many trains?

Like one will be loading, one will be unloading, and one will be launching and one will be on the course. Will the other two be sitting on the brakes, unefficiently sitting there?

Will this result in a mad-amount of stacking?

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Two will be simultaneously loading and unloading. If you have ever watched a Intamin First Gen Free Fall, Mad Mouse, or a Setpoint Swing Thing (Rollersoaker, Super Saturator) load and unload you can picture how this will be done.

It will pretty much be a non stop assembly line type thing.

Train one launches and train 2 moves forward to the launch position, train 3 moves forward to the front station position, train 4 moves forward to the back station position, train 5 moves forward from the hold brakes, while train 6 moves ahead and train one hits the brakes and train 2 is launched.

At least thats how I think they will do it. Dragster will stack by default but that is the type of system it is.

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Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

There will always be trains waiting to unload, but it's how this is designed to operate. If anyone can pull off operating this coaster well, it's CP.

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

Close MineRideForce... er... MagnumForce-

It appears to me that there will be 2 loading areas and 1 or 2 unloading areas. All 3 or 4 areas will be active at the same time. That is, two trains will always be loading while one train is being launched, and either one or two (most likely two) will be unloading in the turnaround area.

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- John
Dag, yo
Support Rob in the Great DDR Challenge!

I personally will be surprised to see 6 trains run on it. CP is really good, but that seems like an uphill battle.

Shaggy

I would doubt it too, but they will be treating this as a three train operation, so it makes sense.

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

Shaggy, only half of the ride is an uphill battle... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I don't see what the big deal is. Like I've said before, the easiest way to think about this ride is with two trains counting as one. There's one station that holds two trains. Just like, say, Magnum, two trains are rolled in, guests get out, guests get in. When they're filled, easily in less than sixty seconds, they're rolled out. The forward one goes all the way to the launch area, the other just behind it. Launch the first, it clears the top, the second queues for launch, and less than 30 seconds later, it's gone too. By this time, your next pair are rolling out of the station. Sure, the trains will "stack" a bit, but by design. You always need fresh trains ready to go.

Sounds like a piece of cake to me.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com Rave Cam 1/18
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That's a good way of looking at it, Jeff... I didn't think about it like that. It's really a lot easier to explain it to people that way.

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- John
Dag, yo
Support Rob in the Great DDR Challenge!

jeff you say that 2 trains will roll into station "passengers get in, passengers get out," i thought that the curve was an unloading point for two trains behind that (ie. trains roll into station empty)?

just wondering if it's an unload station then a load station or both in one... i mean you (having been in on it from the start) would know so i'll take your word for it

I'm assuming the launch system and wheels can take that kind of constant stress, right? (Well, of course, they wouldn't build it if it couldn't...)

Haven't been to Knott's recently enough (only one month until I go, woo!) but I guess Xcelerator is running pretty consistantly and efficiently, so that's good.

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I don't think I would mind a little stacking, I'd just call it "recovery time."

I dont think there will be an unloading area in the turnaround. From all the artist conceptions it is a two sided station.

I don't see what advantage it woudl really have to staff two areas, one for loading and one for unloading when there will be plenty of time to unload and unload.

Jeff seems to think the same way I do. I don't see a problem at all. I think it will work exactly like demon drop.

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Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

one thing about this. has the anti-roll back system changed? i know for a fact that the second xcelerator train isnt allowed off the end-of-ride-brakes until the other train has gone over the top hat in case of a roll back. what have they done differently to change this for dragster?

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Xcelerator doesn't have a seperate launching area as Dragster will.

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Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

Just like MagnumForce said...

The launching area on Dragster is two blocks away from the actual station. Two trains roll forward from the station (one to the launch area and one to a block between the launch and the station).

The first train then launches. If it clears the tophat the second train can then move forward to the launch area and prepare to go.

If the the first train doesn't clear the tophat then it rolls backward and stops in the launch area...in front of the second train.

The easiest way to compare the two rides is to think of the launch area on Dragster as the equivalent of the station on Xcelerator and the block between the launch area and station as the waiting block on Xcelerator.

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James Draeger
-Captain Sarcasm (aka Sour Boy)

*** This post was edited by Draegs on 1/20/2003. ***

To anyone complaining about stacking, think about the anticipation you will have sitting on the block before the launch, watching the other train blast out.

--Ryan

That's assuming you load into the second of the two trains though ;)

...otherwise you will have to watch from the station as the second of the two trains from the group in front of you launches.

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James Draeger
-Captain Sarcasm (aka Sour Boy)

My question. Do you think that Cedar Point will use all 6 trains a lot? I know that on Tuesdays for a fact, that they usually do not operate at full capacity. Millennium Force runs 2, Mantis runs 1(maybe 2), Raptor usually runs 2(3 a lot), and Magnum runs 2. I believe that they will run 3 or 4 on slow days like Tuesday, and 5 or 6 on Saturdays or more busier days.

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2025- "I can't believe Cedar Point has a 750 ft. tall coaster, won't it sink?"

I don't think they decide how many trains to run just because it's a day like Tuesday. I've been there on many Tuesdays over the last few years. I've never seen MF Magnum or Raptor run less than three.

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson