? About Intamin Second Gen Droppers

Anyone know why the parks leave the ride at the top at the of the tower at the end of the day? Is this only Carowinds that does this or is this standard operation procedure?

My uneducated guess would be to protect the cables from weather...........

That would make sense, hadn't even thought about that. My dumb guess was to avoid any sort of damage to the cars... but since the parks are closed im not sure what that might be.

It is so the cables do not slap around in the wind. That is why the observation towers park at the top as well.

I power needed in order to hole the car at the top of the tower?

No, or they'd have a bit of a surprise if power went out overnight.

Yeah, it's to protect the cables. One windy night could damage them enough to render the ride inoperable.

That's also why if one section of a Giant Drop is broken, it's usually parked at the top.

Wind will smack the cables against the brake fins, and rain can wash off the lubrication.

The pulley car on PKDs Drop Zone is parked at the top of the tower during the off-season. The ride vehicle itself is at the bottom of the tower. I think it's a good idea.

The reason why they put Observation tower cars in the middle is because that is where the counterweight sets. In reality, it takes "work" to bring the car down as it means pushing the weight up.

Maybe there is some sort of counterweight device on Intamin drop towers too?

Not to say you're wrong Jes, but every observation tower I've seen parks at the top. It doesn't really matter where the counter weight sits, as long as it counters gravity.

And yes, there are counters on the drop towers as well. You can actually hear them at times.

CP's Space Spiral observation tower "parks" itself in the middle of the tower at night. Jes is right about the counterweights.