When I made a trip to SFNE in June, I rode their Vekoma SLC, Mind Eraser. On the front seat, you get an unobstructed view of the track, and i noticed that there were no Anti-Rollback fringes. Along with that, You dont hear any sort of "click-click-click". I thought they may be hidden, like say on the Coney Island Cyclone, they are located next to the wheel. This past week, I was in Wildwood, NJ and i rode Moreys' Piers' Great Nor'Easter, another Vekoma SLC. Once again, No Anti-Rollback devices. Whats up with this? Would Vekoma really take a risk with a ride that has been reproduced so many times?
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*My Personal Top 10*
1)-Nitro, 2)-S:ROS(sfne), 3)-Kraken, 4)-Alpengeist, 5)-Incredible Hulk
they r there trust me, i dont even think you can build a coaster without them. as for the click noise, think of it as an Intamin coaster, it dont make the click noise but its there.
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NEW - 35 Michigan's Adventure Photos at G-Screams
http://gscreams.cjb.net
Of course they do! They may be hidden, but they ARE there!
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SLC's have anti-rollbacks, as do all coasters. Vekoma positions theirs, if I remember correctly, by the wheel fittings. I think this is a question where you need more of a technical explination. Dave... care to explain? ;)
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"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music." Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc, 1989
Next time you ride in the front row of an SLC, look up. You are looking for a flat steel plate, mounted vertically, running the full length of the lift, parallel to the chain guide, I believe on the left-hand side.
Next, while waiting for the train, look at the top of the train, I believe between the wheel assemblies, again, I believe somewhat left of center. You are looking for a couple of little rounded spring-loaded pawls which squeeze against both sides of the steel fin on the lift hill. When the train is moving forward, the fin pushes the pawls apart, allowing the train to go up the hill. Should the train attempt to move backward, the pawls...which are spring-loaded to rest against the fin to begin with...will catch on the steel fin and the teeth will dig in, preventing the train from moving back. A variation on the same system is used on many elevators.
A similar system is, or at least was, used on the Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, but on that ride the anti-rollback pawls are mounted on the track cross-ties and operate on the brake fins.
Make sense?
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
I've seen that on Ninja too Rideman. Is it because the train is under the lift instead of on top of it? I think that is a bit more maintenance intesive with all those dogs instead of just a couple on the train itself. Did I make my argument clear?
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"ok everyone go ahead and pull down on your shoulder restraint so you feel nice and stuck!"
I know of how an Anti-Rollback system works, but thanks for explaining it more in detail. Now that i remember it I saw a vertical metal plate along the left of the train. I'm so used to the standard fringes being right along the chain guide, like on Nitro and all the other B&M's. Thanks again:):).
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*My Personal Top 10*
1)-Nitro, 2)-S:ROS(sfne), 3)-Kraken, 4)-Alpengeist, 5)-Incredible Hulk
I guarantee that every coaster has anti-rollbacks or at least some kind of safety device to keep trains rolling backwards because accidents do happen and safety is the number priority in amusement park rides. Even Leap-the-Dips, the oldest coaster in the world has anti-rollbacks, they are long pieces of wood? that stick out onto the ride and the car hits them on the way and if the car falls backward, the wood sticks stop the ride from falling backward more than 2 or 3 feet.
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I can name at least one continuous-circuit coaster that does NOT have any anti-rollback device on it. Admittedly, it does have some brake calipers that serve to enforce blocking, though... :)
Yes, I've ridden it. Yes, it runs multiple trains. Yes, it is in a major amusement park.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
rideman, which coaster does not have Anti-Rollback on it?
and which park?
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Millennium Force
Millenniumforce3@aol.com
Serial Thriller got stuck on the lift last season at SFWOA and it didn't roll back so I guess they are there.
Didn't some wild mouse coaster in England fall down the lift hill and kill it's inhabitants? I'm pretty sure it didn't have anti-roll backs, or else they'd better get some new ride inspectors.
I think it was on a New Jersey pier. The guy replaced the exsiting anit-rollbacks with inferior ones. Sad.
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Ricochet: Bouncing to you in 2002, Only at King's Dominion!
RideMan said:
I can name at least one continuous-circuit coaster that does NOT have any anti-rollback device on it. And it's launched, right?
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So many coasters - so little time.
Krazy, I believe you are talking about the Battersea accident. It was an old cable pulled scenic with the brakeman riding in the middle of the train. The cable snapped on the initial lift hill and the train rolled back into loading station. It literally ran over the train loading in the station. I have some video of the accident scene taken shortly after it was secured. Not a very pretty sight, let me tell you.
*** This post was edited by Dutchman on 9/2/2001. ***
The Wild Mouse in Jersey at Gillian's Wonderland Pier had an accident (serious too, if I'm remembering correctly, involving a woman and her 12 year old daughter) where the anti-rollbacks failed. I think that's what you're referring to - a year or two ago. Anyway, as to which coaster features NO anti-rollbacks, I'll have to let Dave answer that---Although I have to adnit that the launched coasters SEEM like a good bet. As for Leap-the-Dips, that's the same kind of system described for Vuoristorata (sp?), you only get to use those once...
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rollergator - intent on improving the "guest experience" - coming soon to a park near you
BLOCKQUOTE>
BLOCKQUOTE>I>/I>MedusaFanatic said:
HR>
FONT color=#000000 face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif" size=2>Serial Thriller got stuck on the lift last season at SFWOA and it didn't roll back so I guess they are there.
HR>
/BLOCKQUOTE> If a coaster gets stuck on the lift, it will always stop until the chain starts up again. The chain dogs will always be in the links of the train, so it will remain attached to the chain. The anti-rollback devices are there in the event of the chain dogs breaking due to low-maintenance or extensive pressure due to improper installation. When i was on line for the Nor'Easter, they put two trains on. Since the Nor'Easter has only one break run, they must stop the other train on the lift in order to get the other train on. The train did stop, just as it does on any other coaster./BLOCKQUOTE>
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*My Personal Top 10*
1)-Nitro, 2)-S:ROS(sfne), 3)-Kraken, 4)-Alpengeist, 5)-Incredible Hulk
Chaindog has it right. Launched coasters generally don't have anti-rollback devices as the ability to roll back may be desirable in case of a short launch. Brakes are used to prevent collisions, but there is no "freeze in place" anti-rollback system.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Actually there is a ride without anti-rollbacks. Lightning Bolt at MGM Grand has a system of brake calipers on the second lift that close if the train stops. This is due to the fact that it uses tires to move the train up the lifts. As an added saftey, if the trains stop on the lifts a special "chalk" thingy is put at the rear of the train to prevent it from coming back down.
When we run 2 train op system blocking prevents the 2nd train from leaving the holding brake and entering the station the preceding train has reached a certain point on the lift where it would not come back down.
One day the train did come back down tho! Hehe... it was a one train op say and we had a freak rainstorm as the train left the station. It went partially up the lift (like 2 cars) and came right back into the station. RIDE DOWN with guests soaking wet in the train, how fun!
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"ok everyone go ahead and pull down on your shoulder restraint so you feel nice and stuck!"
