Rail Blazer Question

I was reading the Rollercoaster Rollback news on the home page today and it said a women died on this coaster. After looking it up on RCDB it said it was originally a Mine Coaster and then the trains were changed to stand ups. Is the reason its back to a mine train because of this accident? Does anyone know what really happen?

Yes a lady did fall from Railblazer and unfortunately she died.

Back then SFOMA (SFStL) had two mine train coasters that sat next to each other. The current coaster was the one that had stand-up trains added for less then a season. The other coaster is now Big Bad John at Magic Springs.

As far as I remember the coaster shut down after her death and that was that. It wasn't too far into the season when it happened. There were stories that she was too large and the restraints didn't lock into place. There were also stories of her husband pushing her out of the train, although if the retraints worked properly this shouldn't have been possible.

I'm sure someone else can shed a little more light on the subject, but your assumptions are correct.

...and I suspect it was changed back to a mine train because the ride was NOT designed as a stand-up coaster. I can only imagine how rough some of those Arrow transitions were...OUCH!

Where the trains installed Arrow trains? As far as I know they didn't make stand up coasters. I wonder if this change was made with the help of Arrow or if it was done with out there help.

Which would be better, Railblazer of Extremeroller? I personally would take Railblazer. Even then it would still be the most boring stand-up ever.

Was Arrow the one who designed the trains for these two coasters? Was it their idea that they pitched to the park?

Regardless, it didn't take them long to learn that you just can't add a stand-up train to any coaster and call it good. Interesting to note that Arrow never produced a stand-up coaster from the ground up.

edit: Here I was typing away when Crashmando asks the same questions that I was curious about. I hope someone knows the answer.

*** Edited 7/7/2005 6:40:33 PM UTC by Incidentalist***

For those wondering, Extremeroller was the name of the Arrow corkscrew coaster @ WoF that was briefly changed into a stand-up coaster, the first in North America.

mOOSH

*** Edited 7/7/2005 6:47:16 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

A couple of things re: Railblazer

It *did* re-open after the accident, and lasted the rest of that season. I rode after the accident, and due to it, there was something like 6-8 ride ops, all with clip boards monitoring *everything.* Also, they installed a seatbelt with a lock that needed a special key. Needless to say, dispatch times were horrible, and I believe that they only ran one train after the accident.

Yes, the trains were in fact produced by Arrow, and I would guess that no others were produced since they were *so* unpleasant to ride. Do you like the thought of standing in a tiny fiberglass shower stall, that someone is shaking madly back and forth? Didn't think so :0)

The case was settled out of court, husband changed his story several times, etc. The popular theory during the time (I was a freshman in college, and one of my dorm mates was in security/first aid at the park) was that they planned to get hurt for $$, but it didn't go so well. Of course, this is theory/opinion only and was never proven.

Jeff

ETA: There were a few changes to the track elevation on Railblazer, which still remain. One would assume that Arrow was involved, due to track changes/fabrication. It was a *much* better mine train before Railblazer. *** Edited 7/7/2005 7:11:57 PM UTC by jkingstl***

Thanks! :)

Know-it-all! ;)

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jkingstl said:
Do you like the thought of standing in a tiny fiberglass shower stall, that someone is shaking madly back and forth?

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Apparently SOME do, hence, Iron Wolf... ;)

Hater! ;)

There are some pictures of the Extremeroller at WOF here:

http://www.worldsoffun.org/picturegallery.asp?name=Screamroller%2FExtremeroller%28EXT%29&picname=screamroller&numpic=6&picdir=

I don't know which of the two parks SFSL or WOF was the first one to decide to install stand-up trains on their Arrow rides. Worlds of Fun opened their ride first by a few months, but Six Flags may have had the idea first and then WOF tried and did beat them. It was a really bad idea and it is probably one thing the park wishes that they didn't do.

Maybe they were competing with each other? I know there is like a 200 miles difference but maybe thats why? Was the stand up coaster even invented yet or was that a few years later? When was the first stand up built?

There were Togo stand-ups in Japan a few years before these two Arrow's got stand-up trains in 1984, then Intamin and B & M began making stand-up coasters. http://www.rcdb.com/installationresult.htm?column=1,2,3,26,4,5&order=5,1&design=7

So these 2 would have been the first US ones. Maybe they though it was a cheap way to get on the cutting edge of something.

Ahem! Ummm...someone [me] already pointed that out above:

...the first in North America.

Didn't see that. Sorry oh mighty one.

Did those trains have the bicycle seats? I can't tell from the pictures provided, and from the looks of it, those restraints don't seem to be very sufficient.

No, there wasn't a bicycle seat. You just stood there, behind the long OTSR and the leg pad.

I guess the leg pad functioned in the way that the bike seat does, obviously just not as effectively. The idea of riding a coaster completely free standing up like that sounds exciting though. (I'm sure it was horribly uncomforatable on an Arrow though)

The thought of taking the bump/banking/turn-transition on Carolina Cyclone while standing up is NOT a pleasent one.