Great Adventure - Joker train bump on lift

This photo is floating around the interwebs.

I think the chain dogs are attached to the chain(?) on these models, so this really has me scratching my head.

Last week their Zierer coaster derailed and tore up part of the station platform. A couple of years ago a log flume boat busted through a rusted out side guard and landed on its side. Not too long before that El Toro derailed. I know that accidents happen but this park has had way too many serious incidents in the last decade.

Is there anyone on the ride? If not, why would this even be a story?

Because 2 trains should never occupy the same block zone, let alone collide - empty or not?

Assuming the trains started out empty I'd assume this was an instance of a manual mistake being made while the ride was in maintenance mode.

Not good at all. But better than the other recent failures listed above, which were all mechanical.

It's an interesting story because great lengths are taken to prevent this from ever happening. Not only are two cars occupying the same block at the same time, they also appear to have entangled one another. You'll notice the black fiberglass shield of one car has slid under the other car.

The cars have a long extension arm that I would assume is there in part to prevent the rotating seats from hitting another set of rotating seats. https://rcdb.com/14189.htm#p=77402. So the fact that the seats could still hit each other means the extension arm isn't long enough, our there was some significant force acting that rendered that arm ineffective.

Got it - thanks

Is it possible (given that none of this should be possible in the first place) that the first train somehow detached from the chain or rolled back and fell onto the second? That would explain both the block violation and the fact that the trains are touching.

I would like to believe that S&S can figure out how long to make an extension arm and they didn’t just mismeasure it.

I had considered that but could not figure out why both trains would be on the lift. That would require two separate failures: the rollback and a block violation. If it was just a rollback, the cars would have collided at the bottom of the lift, not midway.

I'm convinced they somehow got two trains tangled up at the bottom of the lift, and they both rode up together until someone pressed e-stop.

BrettV:

I'd assume this was an instance of a manual mistake being made while the ride was in maintenance mode.

It's been nearly 30 years since I operated a roller coaster, but I don't ever remember running any ride in maintenance or manual mode where it bypassed the block system.

That's apparently what happened in the case of the Smiler accident, so I imagine it's possible.

My understanding that manual/maintenance mode doesn't bypass a block stop. But after the stop the train can be manually released even if the system is showing a block violation. This is why when I was at WDW and there was an E-Stop that required a ride to be put in maintenance mode to reset we had to do a full evacuation even if the reset would only take a few minutes. Ride vehicles could not be moved while the ride was in maintenance mode if there were guests on board because it was possible to create a situation where two vehicles would occupy the same block zone.

First two trains bump at SFGAdv and now I am hearing rumors of Nighthawk closing for good? bad week for parks lol.

If you mean Nighthawk at Carowinds it's not a huge shock.

Well I enjoy getting beat up on those Vekoma Dutchmans, and I am still sad that Firehawk is gone.

Is there anyone on the ride? If not, why would this even be a story?

Empty train and a wet brake bump, sure. Two empty trains dispatched onto a conventional lift, sure. We can all explain those as weather/maintenance mode/etc.

But there are only 2(or 3?) chain dogs that are attached to the chain at discreet points. The fact that the trains are anywhere near each other at that particular location implies either a very concerning mechanical failure or a ton of boobery from maintenance personnel (both of which others have described). I found it interesting. I thought perhaps it would also be of interest to others on a roller coaster related website.

Totally fair, and I see that the way I phrased my question maybe made it seem sarcastic. It was genuine though - why is this a real issue? And people have explained why, which I now understand.

(Also, I hadn’t really grokked what was going on in the picture. That’s my bad.)

Thanks.

BariMan:

a ton of boobery

I really like this phrase and will try to incorporate it into my everyday vernacular.

When I worked at Kings Island on the Racer, once maintenance put it in maintenance mode all it took was another key turn to clear the blocks. They could then send a train on its way even if the block was occupied. If I remember correctly, they had to do this whenever they took a train off. Not sure how it has changed because that was 28 years ago.

Ryan the ride mechanic did a video on this, too.