Deja Vu's Last Season?

Once again, the brakes are not to "control" valleys. They are there to stop the train from slowly oscillating to a stop (which could take a while).

I have heard people say that the ride computer can detect the train speed and if the train isn't going fast enough to clear the element, those brakes can stop the coaster...that is NOT the case.

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--George H
---Superman the ride...coming to a SF park near you soon...
Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

Uh, what the heck do you think I meant by "control valleys?"

The brakes are really there for two reasons. One of them is what you mentioned above (stop the train from rolling back and forth). The second is to prevent the train from valleying in places it shouldn't (between the loop and cobra roll or in the cobra roll). As the train climbs the towers, the brakes are closed until it passes the point where, if dropped, it would complete the course successfully. If the train is dropped early, the closed brakes stop the train.

People are incorrect in saying it senses the train's speed and stops it if it is not traveling fast enough, but they aren't far off. Instead of stopping the train if the speed isn't high enough, it stops the train if it is dropped too early to make it through to the other tower.

-Nate

The biggest problem with those brakes, is that they don't close until the train has attached to the lift, and reached a certain height on the tower. (I have discovered this purely by watching the ride at Six Flags Great America operate .. I don't have it on any official channels!).

Now, those brakes *should* close as soon as the train clears them (similar to how I've heard the Intamin 'rocket' coasters run..) .. That way they would stop a train which misses the tower lift all-together (which is what I've been lead to believe is the reason for most of the valleys..).

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Cameron Silver