Five suffer minor injuries as trains collide at Canobie

Yes it did send the loading train out of the station. Quote from http://members.aol.com/rides911 "The accident happened in the ride's boarding station. As one of the ride's trains was being loaded with passengers, the other train, which was finishing its run, failed to stop as it entered the station, and collided with the stationary train, sending it through the station and out onto a section of track"

I was at the park that day and on SP's platform when it happened. I turned around and saw a loaded train on the first part of the lift being attended too, and an empty train in the emptied station.

Beeman, That makes sense. What must have happened, was the train was pushed out of the station, and ran through half the ride, and then when it got to the lift, they stopped it and evacuated the riders. Thanks for the clarification.

The Thunderbolt accident did NOT send out the loading train on to the course of the track and on to the chain lift.

FIRST, if the second train hit the first with enough velocity to actually knock the loading train the whole way off of the loading brake (which was ON,) it would have done so much damage to the rear car of the front train that it never could have made it around the course.

SECOND, read the rides911 quote carefully. It says "...sending it through the station and out onto a section of track..." NOT on to the lift hill, but on to a section of track. What's right outside of the station? BINGO! A section of track!

In reality, the second train was slowed down by the rear check brake. (If it comes hurtling through there, it's not making it around the back bend while still on the track.) The train slid through the unload brake and hit the train in the loading station moving it about a car length, and not a train length, out of the station.

The fact that it was WTAE day and there were media all over the park escalated this "bump" in to a major crisis.

An interesting sidenote: the T-Bolt trains hold 24 passengers. 2 trains involved = 48 passengers. People claiming injury that evening because they were hurt in this accident: almost 60.

-------------
"Let's go out and have some fun!" (New Order)

Well I was at Canobie lake Park just last monday July 23 and I've been there two other times and i live 93 miles away from there. Everytime i've gone there they only used one roller coaster car and the other one was always on the side. I guess that there really busy friday nights and Used 2 cars. I Just read that the accident had nothing to do with the ride itself. It was the Operators Fault and the ride reopened again later that night. The ride will continue to work but only with one car untill inspected again. So it was the Operators Fault, he Erred and Diddnt hit the brakes. By The way that is my Favorite Ride at that park. If you never been there then go since its cheap ($22) And really fun!!

kpjb, not to argue here, but why was it on the lift then. I saw what a saw. Here is another quote from a newspaper article: "Walker was sitting in the front train. The force of the impact knocked it down the coaster's first hill. It started up the second hill when it came to a rest on the lift hill."

-------------
Beeman65
Assistant Webmaster
Kennywood Park Unlimited
www.kpunlimited.com

ok I was at the park on Wednesday. and rode it four times that day. and have bee to the park 6 times. I bought tickets at $16 opening day. the coaster worked and sounded fine and I have ridden the ride almost 30 times this year and no problems. the ghostly movement of the regional levers for the brakes never jumped. It's operator error and that's that.

Now for the injured. I don't know how to think of this I've hit the ground harder with my bike. A ten MPH impacted isn't a hard hit. Also only five went to the hospital with injures. the boy that was hart was the son of another man that was hart. will have to wait and see.

Ohh by the way, they only closed the ride for two hours and then reopened it. The ride was packed the rest of the night.

Beeman,
Sorry... I'm not arguing, and I could've been more descriptive, I guess. In the Thunderbolt incident the front train did eventually end up on the lift hill, where it was parked for the night until the state inspectors could come.

What I was trying to get at was that the accident did not send the train on to the lift hill. An accident with the force to override the load brake would have done too much damage to the train to let it circle the track.

The operator in question let the train go out of the station after/as the collision occurred. It is safer to evacuate on the lift where there are lights and stairs than to do so hanging out of the station where there is only catwalk.

I'm not debating what you saw, just the events that led up to it.

Hope that clears things up.

-------------
"Let's go out and have some fun!" (New Order)