Block Question

There's also some Wisdom coasters with one block...:)

true rollergator, but remember you only need one block to run 1 train.

I think the most dramatic cases of blocks-trains are both at DLP... Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril can run 6 trains... with 4 block brakes, lift and dual station (not parallel, but rather one station split in two.) The catch: You can only have... 5 trains in the stations and end brakes, which means there's always a train going around the ride.

Second, Space Mountain. Its got 2 stations and 7 blocks on the ride... with these catches: Block 1 is the turnaround and bottom of the catapult, block 2 launch position. Fine, you can put a train in each without any sort of troubles.

Block 3 is the top of the catapult up to the block brakes. No problems here... Now, the part after that up to... 3/4 the B lift is block 4, block 5 is the crest! Means, you can only have a single train on the lift... even if you have 2 blocks in theory. Block 6 is the drop of the B lift up to the end brakes. Block 7 is between those brakes and the stations. Block 7 was added shortly before opening, since its could not run 5 trains without always stopping one on the B lift. Still, you can't have a train in both and evacuating Block 7 is pure hell...

A coaster needs 1 more block brake than trains. Take for example Ghostrider. There are 4 blocks: The station, the lift hill, the midcourse breaks before the ejector drop (1/2 into ride), and the final break run. Ghostrider can run 3 trains max. If it was running 4 trains, all the trains would have to enter the next block at the same exact second. With three trains, if someone can't get out of their seat after the train before them has already gotten off the lift , the second train will stop on the final break run and the third train can stop on the midcourse breaks. Ghost rider only runs two trains beacuse the time between the station and mid course breaks is too short for those slow knotts ride ops to disbatch the train.

Ok lets talk about this a little more. I used to be a ride operator at PKI for 3 years, and I worked on Vortex in 2001. Vortex blocks are as follows. "A block" Dispatch to the crown of lift. "B block" crown of lift to the C breaks (Block Breaks) "C block" drop into corkscrew to the safety breaks. After that we have the "safety break block", and also the "ready breaks block" so that would equal 5 blocks. And Vortex runs 3 trains. So that would say that they would be at least 2 extra blocks then trains. Vortex can have 3 trains set up, one in station, one in ready's and one in the safety's but A and B block are open. So you can dipatch a train with a train still in the safety's and the train would not set up until it reached the C's (Block Breaks) if the safety's are still occupied. Hope that kinda helped.

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pkidude@aol.com

Aaron: I'm very scared right now. the fact that you actually worked on a coaster and you misspelled the word "brake" so many times just firghtens me ;)

okay, here's a little exercise: build a coaster in No Limits. first, it will tell you that you need to have one more block than trains. once you accomplish that, try running the coaster. you'll probably find that things don't run so smoothly. now add another block. the coaster should run just fine without stopping anywhere except the station or brakes outside the station if there is a train in the station.

now, there are some coaster out there that only run with one extra block, but if a person is too slow getting into or out of the train then you're going to get back ups. Magnum runs with four blocks and three trains. lets say that someone is able to stack the trains. now, the train in the station leaves and procedes at super speeds up the lift (for argument's sake). the next train slowly rolls into the station and the third train isn't able to get out of the brakes quickly enough and the train on the lift must stop. now if there was a MCBR then the train on the lift wouldn't stop and things would slowly return to normal. that's why most coasters have two extra blocks instead of one.

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-Bob (formerly Coaster Jedi)
Knott's Berry Farm Cuba ~South Park
"Your proctologist called, he found your head!" ~Jerry "The King" Lawler

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SFGA Bob said:

Aaron: I'm very scared right now. the fact that you actually worked on a coaster and you misspelled the word "brake" so many times just firghtens me

Whoops my bad. It was really late last night when I wrote the post. Brake is what I meant to type LOL. My Bad. Talking about all the blocks made me come up with a question. Are some coaster designers blocks could differ? I've worked on 3 different coasters at PKI, but they are all Arrow. And The Blocks are sorta the same. Adventure Express also has 5 blocks, and runs 3 trains. I belive Top Gun has 4 blocks and runs 2 trains.

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pkidude@aol.com

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Let me think...
Adventure Express:
1. From station to safety brake
2. From safety brake to crest of Lift #1
3. From crest of Lift #1 to crest of Lift #2
4. From crest of Lift #2 to end of transfer table
5. Load/unload station

In practice, though, only the two lifts, transfer table, and station are 'valid' stopping points, and I think there may be an additional block brake at the base of Lift #2. The ride design is such that what I labelled as "1" and "2" above can be (and in fact were until just a few years ago) combined in a single block.

Top Gun:
1. From station exit to top of lift
2. From top of lift to transfer table
3. From transfer table to station

It is possible that on that one the lift is divided into two zones, but standard thinking is that the ride has only three blocks.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

ok ok my turn....hehe

Manhattan Express has 7 blocks and can run 4 trains, but usually just runs three:

1. Load Station

2. Lift Approach/Transfer (from station to lift)

3. Lift

4. Crown of lift to midcourse brakes

5. Midcourse brakes to "safetys"

6. Ready Breaks

7. Unload Station

I have never seen a train stop on the ready brakes as it is on a downward incline like Fujiyama. When running three trains, they dispatch as soon as the train in front clears the lift. Usually a train comes into unload as the train in load is boarding. Once the train is loaded and cleared, the train in unload is ready to move up. When it first opened they ran 4 trains all the time and would simply dispatch as soon as the lift approach was clear. The result is that the train would often pause at the base of the lift for a few seconds until it was clear.

Lightning Bolt at MGM has 4 blocks and can run two trains. Because we are now just open for rentals and events, we seldomly run two at once.

When we did:

1. Station to top of lift 1

2. Top of lift 1 to top of lift 2

3. Top of lift 2 to reduction/saftey breaks

4. Ready breaks

4 blocks usually means 3 trains, but in this case their isnt enough time between trains to have a third (youd have constant stacking, plus if you meet interval you would be able to keep the line down anyways). We dispatched the second train when the first cleared the second lift. Intamin's programming wont allow a train to enter the station until the one in front has at least 4 of the ten cars over the lift (due to the tire drive system used) so that meant timing was key.

Canyon Blaster has 3 blocks: station, station to top of lift, and lift to station.

The second train is dispatched when the first reaches the second loop. Wait too long and the train will stack. Send to soon and the ride will set up with a train on the lift and one in the ready breaks.

Rim Runner (water ride) has 5 blocks and was designed to run 4, but only runs 3. With two boats we used to dispatch as soon as the lift was clear (B block). Three boats mean we dispatch when the lift approach was clear and we see the wave from the approching boat (A Block).

Rim Runner was interesting as it was more relaxing to run it at a full 3 boats than Canyon Blaster at 2 trains. One bad thing however is that if you have a disbaled or slow guest on Rim Runner, you'd have to stop the chute and lift to prevent a "splashdown" in the station. If you had a splashdown situation for very long, the third boat would stop on the chute and youd get a set up!

*** This post was edited by baddboy on 4/19/2002. ***

Roller Coaster @ Lagoon has 7 Blocks, but we only have 2 Trains. The Lift is separated into 3 Blocks, so we can Dispatch a Train when the Returning Train is in Lower West Curve. The Returning Train must Clear Reduction (Block 5), in order for the Dispatched Train to Clear Block 3, and go over the Apex of the Lift. If the Returning Train does not Clear Reduction, we get a Fault, and the Train on the Lift Stops in Block 3. We have a Ton of Sensors (Proximity Sensors/Switches, Photo Eyes, & Limit Switches) on RCoaster, at Least 85 that I can think of off of the Top of my Head.
Block 1- Bottom of Lift to 1/3 of Lift
Block 2- 1/3 of Lift to 2/3 of Lift
Block 3- 2/3 of Lift to Apex of Lift
Block 4- Apex of Lift to Upper West Curve Anti-Rollbacks
Block 5- Upper West Curve Anti-Rollbacks to Reduction Brake/Transfer Table
Block 6- Station
Block 7- Station to Bottom of Lift

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