Harness, rope used to lower guests of coaster

Anyone else heard of this system to get riders off a coaster.

http://www.9news.com/storyfull-newsroom.asp?id=17919

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Army Rangers lead the way
*** This post was edited by supermandl34 8/25/2003 3:51:24 PM ***

Sounds like it didn't get stuck anywhere near a staircase and they didn't want to deal with the liability of having people walk the tracks to the nearest one. Interesting that it would "glide to a stop" midcourse like that ...

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Give me launched or give me ... uh ... more launched!!
--Brett

Interesting what they were saying about "two separate safety devices engaging at the same time" - all I can imagine is that it slowed for whatever reason and caught on some anti-rollbacks on that hill.

Are there any anti-rollbacks mid-course on that coaster?

Oh, Lordy...if my wife would have been on that, she would have been petrified...

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--George H
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For future reference, it's spelled "off."

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Well, I used to be able to see TTD from my house, then I moved.
Life's not fair.

The article really isn't very informative. Does sound like it ran out of speed and stopped on the two antirollbacks. I don't know what the rope and harness really means. I wonder if they just roped the passengers to employees as they walked them down for extra safety.

Could involve rapelling harnesses / Griggs. Hook 'em up in a harness, clip them on, and lower them to the ground. Fairly safe if the staffers were trained in evacs.

That article doesn't give any details. That article could have just read: A roller coaster in some park got stuck. People were trapped. The Staff rescued them. Eveyone is ok.

Did they lower the people off the side of the lifthill? Down the lift? Those pictures don't show too much either. The only thing I can think of is the crew tied the rope to somthing at the top of the hill and walked in front and behind the people, all of them holding to the rope.

Only if there was a bouncy castle nearby. I could hear the rescuers now, " Ok everyone, Each of you jump one at a time into the bouncy castle"

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Signature will be closed today. Sorry for the inconveinance.

This coaster is the Cyclone at Lakeside. This ride was built in 1940 and has no modern stair case. All they did was use the same harness system they use to inspect the track and brought people down. I am still not sure what part of the track it got stuck on, but my guess would be the last hill before the lake turn.

I am almost certain that there are no anti-rollbacks anywhere in the mid-crourse of the ride. I am not sure as to why it got stuck, it happened a few weeks ago too. Other than these two events I have never heard of it happening before this.

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"Here's my ten cence, my two cence is free"-Eminem

I'm sure they didn't lower them to the ground with rope. They probably just used the normal fall arrest harnesses that they use when anyone walks the track so people would be safer walking along the catwalk.

I'd imagine that if people actually needed lowered that they'd use a manlift or crane with a bucket.

The park spokesman said that the train stopped because of two concurrent safety mechanisms. That definitely makes it sound like the train was designed to stop in that particular position in an emergency situation. It was probably just something stupid like a sensor or PLC error that couldn't be quickly remedied.

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-Morrissey

Hmm... have people walk on the rails, presumably clipping and unclipping to safety lines, risking slipping and knocking their head on the wood supports underneath... or simply lowering them down to the ground below.

I'm not saying it wasn't done, just that there are other ways out there that might have been easier/safer.

Being a fireman and rescue technician, i highly doubt they lowered them off the vertically. They probably just put them in a harness, tied a safety line to them and had them walk back down hill. They didnt need to, but probably made the passengers feel a little more at ease then walking down by themselves. To lower them vertically would require an extrely complicated rigging system with multiple tie off points. Not to mention by the time it was set up, they could have walked off the ride twice.

Somehow the words "it got stuck" in the first paragraph just sounds like elementary school to me...

I'm wondering why there would be anti-rollbacks on that section of track, but no walkway next to the track?

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Tommy Penner
Undergrads Online: Help Nitz!

Looking a photos, Cyclone appears to have a walkway along all of its track. However, this walkway is designed for coaster mechanics, not the general public. It has a rail only on one side. On the track side there is not rail and a spacing of 2 or 3 feet between cross members on the track. On the railing side it wouldn't be too hard to slip off either. It certainly isn't the kind of walkway that you would want to let 10 year olds and grandmothers loose on. This probably explains the harnesses and safety line.

Plus, with any moisture in the air, those boards are likely to be very slippery.

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"That's DOCTOR Evil. I didn't spend six years in evil medical school to be called 'Mr. Thank You Very Much.'"