Sooperdooperlooper chain in station

Jason just gave a pretty good description of the hoisting system on the Schwarzkopf transportables with the pusher. The advancing chain on Sooperdooperlooper and others, though, is completely different, as it is a standard roller chain used to push the train out of the station and onto the lift.

If there was a complicated way to build a system on a coaster, Anton Schwarzkopf probably tried it. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

In case I missed it, Scorpion also has the chain. It is kind of funny when you come into the station, because it almost feels like it is helping stop you.

c-fan, that was the one I was referring to....:)

P.S. The way they run Cheeta Chase though, Scorpion isn't the only coaster worth riding in Timbuktu these days! :)

According to the photo it looks like Shockwave at SFOT uses wheels to start then a chain lift.
http://www.rcdb.com/installationgallery28.htm?Picture=6

Jeffrey Seifert said: "Where did you ride a Doppel Looping? Florida? "

Actually I rode the one at the CNE... Canadian National Exhibition.. 3 years ago.

Shaggy

Probably the same one that winds up down in Florida. I only know of one portable Doppel Looping in the U.S.

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RideMan said:

If there was a complicated way to build a system on a coaster, Anton Schwarzkopf probably tried it.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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You know, I always thought the same thing! In some cases his work seemed rediculously simple such as a plain "u-shaped" lap restraint and the basic track design. Both were simple but worked very well.

But when it came to other things like braking, advanching trains, etc. It seemed like he went with what was most complicated. I mean, seriously, did he really NEED a chain to move a train from the station to the lift? There had to be a reason for that I'm sure.

One thing...I know its not one of his, but the Disney Big Thunder Mountain Railroads (DL and WDW at least) all use a chain on the flat sections before the lift hills. What's the purpose of this? I mean theres a chain to take you to the chain.

Sooderdooperlooper is one weird coaster. From what I remember, it has the chain in the station, a tire lift, brake fins on the sides of the train, and two brake fins on the bottom of the train. It seems to me that there has to be a more simple way for it to operate.

What about tires on a chain lift? I remember seeing that movie "Rollercoaster" and wondering why Revolution needed tires on the chain lift? Was this my imagination...I know they aren't there now...are they?

I think the station chain makes sense for transportable rides. It was easier to start and stop a train with a one piece chain (incorporated into the track) instead of having tires and brakes, which require more spare parts and maintenance.
It is even possible to get one train out of the station onto the lift, while the next train is going into loading position at the same time. It was not necessary for the incoming train to wait until the other was out of the station. On rides with five-train operation this was saving time and increased capacity.

Later stationary models often used a wheel drive in the station instead of a chain (Nessie at Hansaland, built in 1979 uses this technique, but it can only run three trains).

The multiple braking systems were part of the redundancy that was demanded by the TÜV, plus Anton seemed to like double and triple safety. (To this day showmen use to say that Schwarzkopf build his rides for eternity).

During the seventies, security and trim brakes used to be two different entities. The side-fin brakes were only capable of stopping the train while the trims (or reducing brakes) sat in the middle of the tracks.
For the same reason he added the "booster" tires on rides such as Revolution to make sure that the train was not too slow when it advanced the drop into the loop, or incase it was stopped there.

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tricktrack said:
I think the station chain makes sense for transportable rides. It was easier to start and stop a train with a one piece chain (incorporated into the track) instead of having tires and brakes, which require more spare parts and maintenance.
It is even possible to get one train out of the station onto the lift, while the next train is going into loading position at the same time. It was not necessary for the incoming train to wait until the other was out of the station. On rides with five-train operation this was saving time and increased capacity.

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From what I have seen on Revolution...there are two seperate chains. One in the station and one on the lift itself, so I dont understand how it could increase capacity any more than the use of a tire driven system.

I also find it interesting that nowadays many new rides dont use brakes in the station (as a part of regular load/unload operation). Coasters such as Goliath (SFMM) just use the tires to stop the train.

The tires on the lift chains on SDL & Revolution are rollback switches. If the train stops on the lift and rolls back, it drives the tires backwards and activates a switch in the safety circuit. As for the chain in the station, it is used only to bring the train out to the lift chain. There are fin brakes in the station area to stop the train. When the train is dispatched, dogs drop into the station chain (KAchunk!) and that chain pulls the train onto the lift. There is a clutch on that so that it is only driven until the train is completely on the lift chain. On the original Schwartzkopf system, the train had "grabbers" which locked onto the sides of the lift chain, instead of a set of dogs which drop into the links. At the top of the lift, these "grabbers" were separated from the chain. This is also the reason for the rollback tires, as it was more prone to rollbacks on a lift stop with the original system. This type of chain system was replaced on Looper in the mid-1980's (and I assume Revolution too). On SDL, the rollback tires and switches were never removed, although they serve no useful purpose anymore. *** Edited 8/28/2004 9:12:42 PM UTC by Comet Rider***