MF Transfer Track - CoasterBuzz

When I was at Cedar Point on June 24, I noticed that the transfer track on Millennium Force is shorter than the trains. Could someone please explain how the trains on Millennium Force are transfered from one track to the other?

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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

Think of the transfer track as more of a "switch" than a transfer table. After the track has been moved over, a train can then be backed up from the load station onto the storage track.

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James Draeger
-Proud co-founder of the Coasterbuzz street team

That reminds me of a cool thing I saw on Dueling Dragons. We were in the station when they were adding trains. The transfer track is in front of the station. Normally, that would mean that the train would have to be pulled onto the main track and then run through the circuit to return to the station in preparation for guests.

On DD, they have the ability to "back up" the trains into the station and load guests immediately. I haven't seen another coaster do that.

The other cool thing about Dueling Dragons is that it can transfer two trains at a time, one to each side.

Yes, the Intamin mega and gigas have different kind of transfer. A small S-curve replaces a straight track and leads to the storage track.

I think Intamin's transfer is more efficient cuz it probably uses less energy because it has to move only the S-curve instead a a train's length piece of track.

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Its always neat to watch them transfer trains, espicaly on MF. But on a differnt coaster, how do they transfer trains on x-flight? When I was there I looked at it for a long time and couldn't realy figure out how it worked.

wahoo skipper said:

On DD, they have the ability to "back up" the trains into the station and load guests immediately.

I'm surprised they wouldn't want to run the trains through the circuit once before loading them. When I worked at SFOT, attendants had to do a check ride on the added train before loading.

X-Flight also uses an S-shaped switch. It's the second switch downtrack of the station. In both cases it's rotary switches (one track on top, one track on the bottom, rotate the one you want to the top). The first switch is to select which station is connected to the second switch. The second switch switches between the mainline and the storage track. A third switch at the end of the ride, uptrack of the stations, selects which station the train will roll into.

On the Vekoma SLCs, they combine the rotary switches with the ability to push the train backward out of the station. To take a train off, they rotate the switch, then shoot the train backward from the station to the storage track, then flip the switch back over again to allow the other train to proceed from Trimstation to Station.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

At the parks I have worked at Block Checks were needed before you could load guests onto a ride vehicle. This includes before it opens as well as when adding a vehicle. I think its putting too much faith into the machinery and computer to just load guests without at least a simple test cycle let alone Block Check.

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"ok everyone go ahead and pull down on your shoulder restraint so you feel nice and stuck!"

On DD they do run it through at least 1 test cycle before they load people however they do back the trains into the station unlock and relock the restraints and then send it throught the course empty.

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Joey Ciborek, Florida Coaster Club, Member
"WE RIDE ALL YEAR!!!" www.FloridaCoasterClub.com
"It's like an addiction" Me, The Discovery Channel, Ultimate Guide: Roller Coasters 5/27/02

Atlantis, I rode the (DD) train after it was put on the main track and they did not test it prior to me jumping on. Perhaps they tested them all before opening but, as a former coaster operator, it certainly startled me that it wasn't run through the circuit before we boarded.

I like the Intamin Hyper/Giga transfers. The little curve. It's a lot different hten others.

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-Sean Newman
84 coasters in Track Record!! Hypersonic XLC # 100 in July. Waiting for the 305 foot drop tower in 2003. Thank you PKD.

I believe all B&M's can move backwards when transferring. On S:UF, I saw them move a train from the station backwards to the brake run with the transfer track.

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My two favorite coasters are named Superman.

I saw mantis go in its transfer track it was kinda strange