For real?

This was posted to a different non-coaster message board that I frequent. My first reaction was that the guy was a big fat liar. But what do I know? I've never worked at CP or ever visited the park. While I'm quite familiar with the ways that coasters function, I cannot with certainty come right out and say that the guy is lying. So I thought I'd get the thoughts of my fellow and sister Buzzers so that I would have some solid backing when I tell him he's full of it.

Quote:

Cedar Point is the best! I worked there right after I graduated high school, and it was the first year Millenium was open.....every Monday night after the park closed they would keep one ride open for employees and do something to it....like on the Mantis they put the train on backwards!! That was awesome.....Anyway on Millenium's ride night they turned the brakes off and clocked us going 120 MPH!! Definitely an experience I will never forget!

...

why would i lie?? its the truth, ask anybody that has worked there and they will tell you they do it,,,,,they just turn the train around in the service area and put it back on the main track backwards.
*** This post was edited by xrae 6/18/2003 11:28:45 AM ***

It's hard to turn the brakes off on a ride that has no brakes except for those before the station and in the station itself.

I've heard this story a dozen times (as well as the story that MF goes 120mph on some days and that's why it's closed).

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

1. The labor involved with reversing a train is intensive. You can't just "turn it around" in the service area. Not to mention the various safety issues involved.

2. The only brakes on MF are at the end of the ride. And they can't be "turned off"... they're magnetic.

Have fun with this guy! :)

Obviously he's a liar or seriously confused. Physics dictates that MF would need to be over 400 feet tall to go 120 mph. Turning around trains is not as easy as it sounds. The chain dogs, anti roll backs, and often the wheels all have to remain facing the correct direction in order to function. The brake fins have to be aligned with the brakes. I believe that they usually turn around the upper body while leaving the chassis facing forward.

I think there is a small grain of truth in this. I understand that CP does at times have late night ride sessions for employees.
*** This post was edited by Jim Fisher 6/18/2003 11:36:57 AM ***

It's amazing how something becomes truth. Guy 1 eavesdrops and hears a CP employee talking about rumors of strange goings-on at late-night riding sessions. Guy 1 tells Guy 2 what he heard. By the time it gets to Guy 3, it's truth.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

How is it at all possible to 'just turn the train around in the service area?' It's not like they can just make a U-turn on a straight piece of track. The train would have to be physically lifted via crane in order to do this.

Call his bluff.

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-Mike B.
Son of Hulk

Suuuure... and why doesn't he just say that they're keeping secret floorless trains, and they replace Mantis with floorless trains at night, and then magically put the stand-up ones back by morning?

As for Millennium Force... unless the cable lift throws you over the top at like 45mph or so, you're never going to reach speeds that top 120 or even remotely close to there.
Not to mention that the only breaks on the coaster ARE indeed in the station and after the last turn... they have to stop the train, because unlike regular anti-rollback trains, MF has to be caught by the cable lift, and the train has to be stopped in the station to do that.
I think this guy had one too many when it was posted.

Millennium Force can NOT hit 120. Ever. Violates the laws of physics. Point that forum here to expose this guy for the liar he is:

http://www.gregleg.com/coastershrine/CP/MFTopSpeed.php

Others have sufficiently shredded the "turning the train around" bit.

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--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"Mary Jane, don't you cry, you can give it a try, Again when the sequel comes out" -- Weird Al, Ode to a Superhero
*** This post was edited by GregLeg 6/18/2003 11:50:11 AM ***

Silly wabbit... tricks are for kids!

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"Pray that your country undergoes recovery!" - KMFDM

Mantis has never been run backwards and MF never went 120 mph.

But, if you believe those two things happend then I has some great land in the Everglades to sell ya!

Can we have a link to that forum? I would love to see that guy get shredded.

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Bob Hansen
Resident Airtime Whore

I too worked there for a summer, however, I don't ever recall them turning trains around on any of the rides. They would have special rides for employees after hours and would sometimes turn the trim brakes off. But I don't ever remember seeing a train backwards or rides going at a speed that much greater than what they normally operate at.

Thanks for all the wonderful replies everyone. I am well armed now in my battle!

And sorry Bob, I'm not giving you the link to the forum ... although I'll definitely invite him to this forum! :)

- Rae

First of all I doubt the MF part (maybe they screwed up with the MPH and they ment they turned off the trims on Magnum). The Mantis story might have some truth to it. Maybe the riders did ride backwards in a train facing forward (ala the ACE euro tour people on an English stand-up in the latest Roller Coaster Magazine). That was an Intamin restraint so I dont know if you can do it on a BM (my thoughts are yes but you would have to be helped in straping in/out of it).

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Summer 03-CP, HP, Canobie, SFNE, SFWOA, and SFGAm.

What a co-incidence! Just last night I dreamed that I rode the Mantis backwards! Spooky! ;)

Touchdown, we needed help getting in and out of the restraints on Shockwave, as well, so that by itself wouldn't be a deterrent.

Riding backwards was interesting. Not necessarily "fun", but different.

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--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"Mary Jane, don't you cry, you can give it a try, Again when the sequel comes out" -- Weird Al, Ode to a Superhero

As a former ride op I can say that I worked on the MANTIS and we did not turn the train around, just made sure the trim brakes did you fire and slow down the train. They did increase the speed of the cable lift on MF to give us a little more speed but not that fast. Raptor the mid course trim brakes were shut off. Each station crew had a theme the Mantis was Hawaii Night, at the Cork Screw they cooked hot dogs and hamburgers for us. So yea on Mondays we did have fun, but not as extreme as running a train backwards, or going 120 mph on MF.

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CP kicks SFMM ASS!

for Mantis, besides what has already been said, wouldn't it hurt if the train went backwards because you would be pushed hard onto the restraints

This is truly sad.....Has he woken up from his dream yet?

Jeff,

I think you meant, "Silly wabbit...twicks are for kids..."

MrFudd