How do they fix a train in the valley?

I was just wondering how this is done. When the a train is valleyed (is this a legal plural), how is the train moved? Does the train have to be taken apart or is there a way that it can finish it's circuit?

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Is It Opening Day Yet?

No, I don't think there's a way to get a non moving valleyed train to get moving fast enough by itself to finish its course. What I suppose is that they take a crane and remove it from the track where it valleyed, and re-assemble it on the transfer track, then switch it back to the circuit. And then do LOTS of testing before it opens again.

kRaXlmnOpQrstuvwXyz.................oh I am sorry! I got carried away! :) kRaX (I'm stopping this time) is correct. Most of these incidents require disassembly, but I do remember a couple situations where the train was right next to a mid-course block brake (a common place for early rollbacks) that it was pulled to it and released from there. I think it all depends on how difficult of an area it is to get to, combined with where the train is in relation to the next big hill it can be shoved over. I believe Villain was taken apart during its little fiasco.

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An unnerving stillness in the woods of southern Indiana beckons for your soul on May 11th.....

What they need is some time of powered "pusher" to send down the track and push it through. It might need to cog with the ribs for maximum leverage though.

-or-

They could attach a small rocket to the back of the train! ;)

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Decisions determine destiny; Destiny determines decisions.

Whenever Mr. Freeze @ SFSTL valleys they close the ride and at the end of the day they remove the train from the track by crane and then place it back on right in front of the launch. Then they push it back into the station and its ready to go again. *** This post was edited by SFSL on 3/14/2001. ***

janfrederick you should Patent that idea, it does seem like it would work. It could have a motor to slowly or quickly push it up the next hill, the rocket probably wouldn't work though

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Best Coaster: Millennium Force
Worst Coaster: Project Stealth

SFSL, you talk about Mr. Freeze valleying like it's fairly common. I'm not a big fan of Premier Rides (in fact, I think they're the worst thing that ever happened to the amusement industry :)), but is it really that bad?

It also doesn't seem that the little motor vehicle thingie that jan talked about would be worth it. I would assume that most coasters (aside from Mr. Freeze, I guess) don't have this problem enough to warrant having the little vehicle. The rocket, on the other hand... :)

Lothar said:
"SFSL, you talk about Mr. Freeze valleying like it's fairly common"

It is pretty common I believe last summer it valleyed about 5 or 6 times

Typically they take it apart, car by car, and then move it back to the station. It's easier to do that than to bring in the big crane to pull the train around the track, and it is less obtrusive to the guests since the park is still open. I know this is what they did with the Magnum rollback a few years ago.

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Po!nt of View: A different look at Roller Coasters.
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An arrow shuttle has has a cable in each of the stations that can be attached to the train and then pulled back into the station. When a boomerang valleys in the cobra roll part, I'm not sure what they use, I think it is chains, they slowly move the train foot by foot through the inversion until it goes back into the station, it takes awhile, someone passing by would wonder why the train looks stuck upside down, especially if some OTSRs are in the up position.

I have pictures of a Mean Streak rollback, and they just took the train apart right where it finally stopped at.

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-daniel j. haverlock-
'99 Magnum Count: 801
www.spiritofthepoint.com

Okay now, so Magnum and Mean Streak have both had a rollback? I never knew that and I have been going there for over 15 years, that I can remember. Is there a site where I can see pictures of these events? Oh and by the way, when and where did this happen? Like on Magnum, what hill number caused the rollback? Same with Mean Streak. Has a B&M ever had a rollback? Okay enough question! :)

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Is It Opening Day Yet?

Mean Streak rollbacks are an annual affair, but I don't think Magnum has rolled back in many, many years, perhaps not even since the re-profile circa '90. It was in the pretzel, if I remember correctly. I actually worked at my local Ames with the TL that following winter!

Mean Streak tends to rollback following the third hill, right there by the midway, usually because they squeeze too hard on the drop trims.

Raptor has rolled back once, from what I understand, not making it up the steep helix to the mid-course brake. Again, I don't know that it has officially happened, but it's what I'm told. Apparently that's why they won't run Raptor in strong wind out of a particular direction.

Gemini has been known to rollback about once a year, not making it up the second hill.

Millennium Force rolled back before the third hill on an empty train (duh) as did Superman at Darien Lake, in the turn between the first drop and second hill (empty, again).

New woodies are notorious for not making it on their first run. I know Villain didn't make it, apparently from something dragging, because that thing doesn't let go ordinarily, start to finish!

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Believe it or not, strong winds are the primary cause of trains valleying! Other factors are cold days = stiff grease, overbraking, mechanical failures etc.

What occurred that trim brake on Mean Streak's First Drop were needed? Was it the ware and tear on the first turn?

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Is It Opening Day Yet?

Jeff said:
I actually worked at my local Ames with the TL that following winter!

Ok, I give up. What is TL?

Team Leader. Sorry... sometimes I forget that not everyone is familiar with Cedar Point jargon.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Raptor rolled back back in June of 1994, they were shutting down the ride for high winds when it happened, my friends and I just got in line and we noticed they were running empty trains and when one was going thru the cobra roll, it almost stopped there, but made it thru it, and the train stalled on its way to the mid-course brake and it finally stopped at the bottom of the cobra roll beside Cedar Downs, I got it on video tape, it was cool. And when the park closed, they just attached a cable to the train and pulled it up to the brake run and sent it on its way.

No need to sound offensive, but Mean Streak trims were added because nobody can take a little bit of jostling on a coaster. Honestly though, the Mean Streak shoulf hvae been better in the first place, but I don't anybody else to go there. Sorry.

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Coasters- a little slice of heaven

Wrong... MS was trimmed because it was tearing up the track and causing a lot of wear, and the wear causes violent vibration, all of which we theorize could be addressed by lubing the track so the trains could properly slide through the turns, but clearly there's more to the story we don't understand or they would have done that by now.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com