Ten people hurt in minor Pony Express collision at Knott's Berry Farm

DantheCoasterman said:
It must have been raining.

From the TV footage it appears to be dry, so I am guessing it wasn't rain related.

I also find it hard to believe that all of the launch brakes don't automatically engage when any of the sensors indicate a train going the wrong way.

Sorry, that was a Cedar Fair joke. I forgot to add my wink. ;)

Ahhhh....a Magnum reference....don't feel bad Dan, I missed that as well.

kpjb said:
Well, the brakes don't need to close at all if the train is still going in a forward direction. It's when the sensors see a train moving the wrong way that they should clamp shut.

Actually, if I am right, the brakes should close everytime they are not waiting for a train to pass through. They default in the closed position. This way if they power went out or something they train is "guaranteed" to stop.

Yeah, they should, but they don't need to. There has to be something to detect reverse motion on any ride that can have a potential rollback is what I'm getting at.

But why? If standard blocking rules are followed, the only thing that is really necessary is some means of preventing a train from backing out of a block. It is not necessary to detect negative progress, it is only necessary to prevent it from causing a block violation. The simplest solution is to just close each brake as the train passes the first time, then open them again once the block is clear. Reverse motion needs not be detected; it can be implied by a lack of progress into the next block.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.