Revolution Love

Ug! Funny but a sick thought. I could see that loop covered in bronze with a little wooden plaque...

There is a picture in Robert Carmel's book of the first car alone at the top of the loop. And I don't think the track was even done. Apparently, they took a pic of that to start to market and promote the ride. Guess Intamin did 'pull throughs' way back then?

Years ago when Revolution opened (otherwise known as Great American Revolution), I kept the full page LA Times Sunday Calendar ad that was in the paper. I still have it saved, even though it's pretty yellowed at this point. I always liked that ad because it was different from any of the other ads they had at the time. It's this very stylized cartoon like drawing of the coaster from the air, and it gives about five numbered points of what takes place at different points on the coaster. One of them being that when you go through the center of the loop, another car would be going around you as you did it - which never happened to my knowledge, but somehow ended up as one of the unique points of the ride according to the advertisement.

^There is a postcard pic of a train goin through the loop and around the loop here:

http://tinyurl.com/ypxpdd

If it were run by the standards of German fairs, that would probably happen alot! That history I linked above said it had 'Disney-like capacity' when it first opened.

I do remember riding Whizzer at Great America and there were trains everywhere. When a Demon train went down the drop another one was on the lift. Times are MUCH different now.

I have seen that postcard before, but I have to say, I have no idea how that is possible in the real world. For a postcard I'm assuming you could do it because the cars could be loaded and sent off one after another. But in reality I can't imagine how they could move the next train in, unload it, load it, check it, and send it off - all in the same time it takes another car to go from the loop to the time it ends up inside it, it's really only moments away. Even the first year running when they were moving the cars out pretty quick, and it had no gates, I never saw anything close to that fast of a turnaround.

I'd love to know what the actual time is that it takes the car to get from the loop to going through it. When I'm there next time, I'll have to time it, it's got me sort of interested.
*** Edited 12/15/2007 12:00:43 AM UTC by bunchastuf***

^Now that you say it like that... makes me think. That's like what maybe 10-15 seconds between the 2? Does seem near impossible. There is also the pic of one rounding the loop, one threading the loop, and one going down the third drop... I mean, I suppose they could have run it manually just for the pictures...? Back then, maybe?

That's gotta be what it is, but what's funny is that my original ride opening ad says that the coaster would do that. You would think that someone would know that there was no way. Either that, or the ad agency just came up with concepts without knowing what they were talking about - maybe other early drawings, press releases they were supplied with? Who knows?

When I was a kid, I used to draw the Tidal Wave with like 3 trains on it :) I really wasn't sure at that point...

Revolution was designed to run with 4 or 5 trains simultaneously - hence the many block brakes along the ride.
I am pretty convinced that it was absolutely designed for the trains to be able to meet in the loop (It's just never run that way nowadays)
*** Edited 12/16/2007 5:23:20 AM UTC by superman***

^Seems that way... But now that I've got to thinkin about it, how could it, those spots are like 10-15 seconds apart...

I mean, other than staging it and doin it manually. Or maybe if the trains never stopped and people just jumped in and out.

Or maybe if they had separate unload/load and always had an empty train right behind one leaving the station....

Didn't Whizzer used to have unload/load with 5 trains??

Those old Anton coasters have LOADS of blocks. Of course, using the maximum number of trains on those things is really only possible when you're using the original restraints... ;)

Notably, the second train on BGA's Scorpion reappeared for the visit this Sunday. Yes, that was designed for two trains, and COULD still run them, at least partly because they're run lapbar only as God and Anton intended...never does though. With all the excessive restraints on Revulsion, the lagging capacity is the LEAST of its issues...

I've never even been to California, but search a POV of Revolution and you'll clearly here at least two blocks between the loop and the cross through.

Imagine Cedar Creek Mine Ride running 5 trains back in its day at CP. New restraints and safety systems have put a stop to the incredible operations these classic rides once pulled. Disney to my knowledge are the only parks that seems to design mega capacity into their rides still. I will never forget the first time I saw Rockin' Roller Coaster load. The trains get in and out so fast, it's unbelievable.

Wow, Scorpion with 2 trains! I haven't seen that in years. A ride op last summer told me, the 2nd train is 'put away' somewhere. I think that would run 3 trains in Germany.

Now you know MM has a ton of old footage, manuals, etc., about the revolution. I need to get my grubby hands on them!

I have old manuals for the Texas Giant and Judge somewhere. They look like they were typed out, probably cuz they were!

Revolution always had it's unload/load at the same spot - but of course without gates, which can make it a little quicker. The thing that helped with speed in the station, is that (like now) the car didn't roll in, it was brought in quickly on a chain drive from it's waiting position behind the loading car.

I have been riding Revolution since it opened. Never have I seen the cars get loaded fast enough to go through the loop while another one is going around it. My recollection was always that when the train went over the top of the first hill, the prior train had easily cleared the top hill that led into the loop. The third train would pull into the station the moment the prior train left, usually waiting a moment behind it for it to finish loading. If there was a forth or fifth car on the track when I was there, I can't comment on. Maybe four, but I can't imagine five - not that it didn't happen, I just never saw it.

I will time it next I'm at the park to see how long it takes from going around the loop to going through it, it's got to be like J7G3 says, about 10-15 seconds apart - I think more like 10. I guess I'll have to see!

Just watched a couple Revolution vids on youtube. Newer ones of course. The time from mid loop to threading the loop is roughly 24 seconds (alot longer than I thought!) Of course, that after tunnel brake grabs pretty hard.

The lift from engage to disengage is roughly 30 seconds. So unless they have basically a loaded train approaching the crown and one engaging at the same time, it couldn't happen.

Interesting to note that in the movie Rollercoaster, there are no trim brakes on hill #3 (that kick butt drop!). Seems that now all the hills have a set of friction tires and trim brakes. Can those curved Intamin/Anton brakes (the ones in the middle of the track) stop a train? Or is it only the 'side brakes' that can stop the train?

I just timed the seconds it takes from going around the loop to going through the loop on a You Tube Revolution POV. It took 25 seconds - longer than I would have thought! Still not that long in comparison to loading/unloading etc.

Just thought I would throw that out there since had checked.

That's funny! you just posted right before I did! Oops

Sure did :) Now I'm gonna go cue up the DVD to see how long it USED to take to get from loop to 'bridge'. Remember the ending credits!... damn I'm a nerd.

Your point about the lift is a good one too. For sure there was never a car going up as one disengaged from the top of the lift hill - that I'm sure about. You would always see the train flying by the station going down the second hill before the train loading in the station left behind it.

Ah! That old station fly-by! I just watched then end credits of Rollercoaster and from top of loop to threading the loop is about 21 seconds. Makes sense, the thing is running without brakes there.

So maybe we should conclude, unless everyone was on crack, that really couldn't happen during normal operation.

That newpaper article probably deduced from the drawings of the ride (there was a drawing before it was built viewing the ride in similar fashion as the postcard with 3 trains on it) that you criss-cross like that.

Just like I used to think (when I was like 6) that maybe, just maybe, the Tidal Wave had 3 or so trains ;)

I think you could make pretty good conclusions from your different accounts. I don't think it could be done either. After you brought up that you timed the lift hill, I'm not even sure if the loop thing could be done real time for a photo shoot. Loading two trains on the lift hill? Sounds weird to me.

At some point I will try to scan the original newspaper ad. I think people might get a kick out of it.