Finally, good ride ops! (BGW)

Tonight I went over to BGW for a few hours of coastering, and the ride-ops were on target, especially on Apollo's Chariot. From 9:00-9:25, I got 3 rides on AC, and that includes them sending one train empty a few times because someone lost their dinner. They were dispatching, loading, and sending the next train the instant the previous train crested the hill, just as train 3 coasted into the station. Thanks for doing such a great job!

I also had my best ride ever on AC, on the right side in the back, in the dark. I also did Corskcrew Hill in Ireland for the first time, and it was entertaining.

Jman

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Jman
Webmaster: Gravibulb Coasters - Home of Professional Quality Coaster Photos
http://balder.prohosting.com/gravbulb/coasters/

Sounds a lot like last year when I went. Can't say the same for Alpie, though.
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TOGO!

Yeah, Alpengeist was stacking 3 trains for a while, but then they took the third off, since it wasn't doing any good. It was neat to see the transfer track in action, though. I think Alpie is just too short to run 3 trains effectively.

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Jman
Webmaster: Gravibulb Coasters - Home of Professional Quality Coaster Photos
http://balder.prohosting.com/gravbulb/coasters/

What is the deal with that? On every visit to BGW the Apollo crew just slams trains through while the Alpengeist crew absolutely blows. I'd be willing to attribute it to OTSR's, but when the ride ops are moving in slow motion that's not an excuse (that, and they've got a slightly longer interval than Raptor to deal with, and that crew puts most crews in the country to shame).

Does Apollo have that older guy spieling and controlling again?

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"We used to hate people, now we just make fun of them. It's more effective that way." - KMFDM, "Dogma"

Ride Ops with good moral is always a special thing to find. I mean, imagine loading train after train for 7 to 8 hours a day while dealing with people throwing up and people who don't know how to buckle/unbuckle their seat belt, ect. I can't blame some of them for having low moral, so it is nice to see good moral every once in a while.

What is Corkscrew Hill anyways? I've heard of it but I never got exactly what it was.

When I was there early this season Alpie and AC had short lines due to lack of stacking. The Alpie crew was average, where as the AC crew, I thought, was above average.

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Corkscrew Hill is a 3D simulator type ride, but it's a fantasy setting. It's actually quite fun, one of the better ones I've been on. Not too violent, and not that nauseating either.

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Jman
Webmaster: Gravibulb Coasters - Home of Professional Quality Coaster Photos
http://balder.prohosting.com/gravbulb/coasters/

How long should it take to put on an additional train on AC? In May, we waited 15 mins for them to put on a third train. Also, shouldn't they have added it earlier than ~2:00 on a busy day?

Last, I meant to ask this when I got back so now I can only half remember, but I was looking in the train storage/maintenence shed and it seems I remember there was no track in the open bay (that I guess the 3rd train came out of). How does that work? Maybe too off topic here...

I went last June (Long Time Ago, but Oh Well), and it ran pretty good. The one time I waited, it went very quickly. Plus it was an excellent ride in the dark!

AC in the Dark is great!

I went last June too and all the waits were walk into the station but AC stacked every single time with two trains and had a really annoying operator saying the same things over and over being like "Oh you shouldn't be nervous it's only a 205 ft drop" And you'd think it was great that they had an enthusiastic ride op but during my short station wait I was ready to strangle them. Good to hear they got it working better. Oh the thing that REALLY bothered me was the train was all checked and the station was clear and the ride op would just chat on and on about the ride until the other train came back so she could dispatch the current train, it was really frustrating.

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Tuesday's Gone With The Wind.
Elijah Rock.
Is it written in the stars?
La Vie Boheme!!!

Raptor Pilot said:

Last, I meant to ask this when I got back so now I can only half remember, but I was looking in the train storage/maintenence shed and it seems I remember there was no track in the open bay (that I guess the 3rd train came out of). How does that work? Maybe too off topic here...

We saw this on Nitro as well. There isn't any track in the sheds so that the maintanence crew can get at the underside of the trains, I'd presume.

rcdb.com/installationgallery1106.htm?Picture=3

There are wheels down the length of the shed (to balance the train on?) and two small shelf-like protrusions at each side to support the train, while still leaving the wheel carriages open to inspection and repair. I'd imagine that these tracks are inclined slightly downward, judging by the clamp on the left rail (from a seated position) and would then be allowed to roll onto the transfer table. I have no idea, though, how they'd get it back into the shed? Push really hard, maybe?

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~~~ Maddy ~~~

Yes, it seems odd, but it is standard on B&M's to not have any track in the storage tracks. It is for the maintenance crews to check the wheel bogey's rotation ability. It is kind of odd to look at, but apparently, it helps out the maintenance crews alot.

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Nessy: Ride of Steel
Webmaster of Digital Coaster - http://digital-coaster.com

There are tires on the transfer table that will propel the train both forward and backwards to get in and out of the maintenance shed. It only takes man power when there is rain and the tires are just spinning.

*** This post was edited by maticus on 7/2/2002. ***

maticus said:
There are tires on the transfer table that will propel the train both forward and backwards to get in and out of the maintenance shed. It only takes man power when there is rain and the tires are just spinning.
*** This post was edited by maticus on 7/2/2002. ***

That's true ;) So, I guess that they don't have to do much work getting the train in, and gravity takes care of getting the train out. The solution is always so obvious :)

True. Crew morale plays a very important part in capacity.

Also, that "the coaster is too short to run 3 trains". I guess that's a blow to the Raptor, Dueling Dragons, Space Mountain DLP, Rock n Rollercoaster crews which are other coasters, with OTSR's that have shorter interval than Alpengeist and still gets the job done, hitting very close to their PPH.

How many ops are there checking harnesses on Alpengeist, anyway?