Steel Vengeance closed for minor accident

Can't believe no ones posted this yet, but according to the Sandusky Register, there was a minor collision between 2 of the trains at the station. http://www.sanduskyregister.com/story/201805050006

I'm seeing posts from people at the park now that it just reopened a few minutes ago.

It was on PointBuzz right when it happened. Apparently Digger got Chess from behind, and Chess smelled of burning rubber.

Maybe that trim on the first drop was needed after all. :)

I understand, but I just don’t understand.

The coaster re-opened at 9pm tonight for some guests lucky enough to be able to ride.

I’m sorry, but when two trains make any contact at all, how is that ride able to re-open the same day at all? Even if traveling at 1 mph, two trains should never make contact. This bit I’m hearing about a train shedding a wheel coating doesn’t seem to shed any light on why there would be a collision and seems unrelated.

I just don’t understand.

TheMillenniumRider said:

Apparently Digger got Chess from behind, and Chess smelled of burning rubber.

Huh?

Does the ride use blocks in the 'traditional' way, or can a train enter the station if the other is exiting?

Programming error?

Gaga Tatt Monster said:

I just don’t understand?

Are you asking us if you don't understand?

We don't know the context of what happened, but apparently it wasn't that big of a deal. And honestly, if the problem is an actual control issue, that was solved by running just one train. It's not ideal, but trains can't bump if there's only one. I think the whole thing has been a little blown out of proportion because it's a new ride.

To make an intamin joke or a tear it down joke. Too soon?

If Intamin built this everyone would be in an uproar. But as of now everyone still has the rose colored goggles on for RMC. The reality is that sometimes things don't go as planned, trains get a bit frisky, the random bits of code cause the machine to evolve, etc. I'm sure it will be resolved and it really wasn't that big of a deal anyway.

My concern is that they decide to slow, trim, or modify an incredible ride before I have a chance to ride it.

What does Intamin have to do with anything at all? We don't even know the reason for what is, relatively speaking, a non-event.

It takes time and a large sample size for a company’s reputation to change. RMC had a great start — their two rides in Texas and those at SFMM and SDC seemed to open without major issue. People were willing to give them a break for Dollywood because it was their first launched coaster and their vendor’s first launched coaster.

However, since then they’ve had a number of stumbles. First, their new gen trains were recalled two years ago. Twisted Timbers has had a very rough spring, and my understanding is that it’s still not reliable. Wonder Woman is more than two months late, and now we have Steel Vengeance. (To add insult to injury, there’s pics floating around today of a piece flying off the train as well as after it landed on the ground.)

As someone who follows these things, it’s definitely enough to make me sit up and notice.

It’s important to note that RMC only fabricates and builds these rides — they outsource ride design, vehicle design, and computer systems to third parties. However, it’s their name that ends up on these rides (to the degree that Kings Dominion sells RMC merchandise) so it’s their reputation that gets tarnished even if they did their part right.

What’s interesting to me is that there’s nothing fundamentally special about these rides — Dollywood aside, they have traditional lift hills, sometimes a mid course brake run, and brakes into the station. That’s about as simple as coasters get these days. B&M and GCI seem to open coasters with the same elements and limited drama, so what is RMC doing wrong?

You can't really draw any conclusions unless they're all similar problems. A control problem vs. a wheel failure vs. instrumentation... these wouldn't collectively make a trend, especially if, as you say, everything is contracted out beyond fabrication.

My concern about this particular ride would be the wear and tear on the wheel bearings, especially on the upstop axles (I'm surprised the wheels aren't larger). I assume they're engineered for the forces, but all I could think about was all of that airtime and heavy trains. I don't know what the trains look like

All joking aside, that is why I walked away from my ride on Steel Vengeance yesterday out of breath and at a loss for words. I read the media day reports and the chatter from the hoedown. I read Tony Clark’s review and an interview Jason McClure had done. But nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared me for the ridiculous and insane airtime that thing delivers. It’s rare that a ride surprises me anymore, even one I haven’t been on. My first laps on Valravn, Gatekeeper, Fury, etc., were all awesome and unique, but there was still that feeling of “I’ve done something similar to this.” But I ended my ride on Steel Vengeance hysterically laughing and truly wondering what the hell just happened. The last ride to make me feel that way was X2, and to a lesser degree, Voyage.

I find it a little odd how people are not concerned that two trains can come into contact, particularly given it's Cedar Point who took great interest when it happened on Wildcat and Magnum and quite right too.

Pure speculation here, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't a case of "blown through the brakes and plowed into the other train" like Magnum, The Beast, Superman(s), etc..

Seems to me that it may have been a case of the ride bumping trains as they were being moved. I've seen many accounts from ride ops on plenty of other rides that said they did the same thing their opening year, but it generally happens when the park isn't open. I mean, trains have bumpers for the same reason cars do.

the most important thing is that no one was seriously injured, and it was relatively minor - although trains shouldn't ever touch, this outcome is the best case scenario if they ever do.

They were running Chess yesterday, and fully loaded, too. So that is a good sign that it was pretty low speed and no damage was sustained.

I’m surprised they reloaded Chess before she was bumped. There was a lot of chatter about the train making noise, shaking, and smelling of burned rubber on her last lap before the bump. If she needed a wheel, wouldn’t they transfer the train off to do that? Or is it that quick a repair they can do it under the station (which sounds like an accident waiting to happen itself)?

The answer is probably that the observed stuff festered from rumor to fact.

Reading this thread I'm reminded of my last visit to Kennywood. On Exterminator (continuous loading spinner) it was almost every single time a car rolled into the station it bonked into the one in front of it. The one ride op seemed unconcerned and said something along the lines of "This isn't supposed to happen but whatever... " Keep in mind this is with people in the cars too! This is one of the reasons I'm not the biggest fan of Kennywood... Although if Kenny got away with THAT then CP should've just ran Chess with the faulty wheel :P

Ok, so from the context, Digger and Chess are the names of the trains? If so...why?