WT trains arrive.

The green things are just covers. There is a series of four latches on top and a groove underneath that hold them in place. Sticking out of that is the three contacts that release the restraints, as well as the button and what appears to be a relay on the little control box. Here's what they look like without the cover:

http://www.refreshinglook.com/coasters/SupermanUltimateEscape/rolling.htm

Not sure I see any real functional reason for them, but they do make it appear more "substantial." There are also rubber latches there to secure the wheel covers.

What I found interesting about the train is that it was never obvious to me before how the series of fins on top worked. The center one is copper, and is the one that is actually driven by the LIM's, while the outside pair are used for braking only. Makes sense, but having never seen the fins "naked" I never realized that.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

On a side note, Intamin did build a four accross seat ride. Flashback as everyone may recall was built by intamin, it featured seats that were four across. I think they did hire B&M to do the carts though. If someone would like to confirm that statement, that would be great.

yep your correct.

Nope, your not.  Where's the proof, B&M rocks?  B&M wasn't a company when flashback was built!

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- Peabody

The Intamin Stand-up and SpaceDiver were really B&M, but they were under the name Intamin. Look at the track and trains of The stand-up at SFAW, and look at Iron Wolf's track and trains at SFGAm. They identical.

You people dont listen! Look up the Drayton Manor Shockwave on rcdb.com and when you see how LONG after B&M were on their own that it was actually made by Intamin, you can come back and say you were mistaken!

It happens to the best of us. Just admitt you're wrong!
jeremy
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"Nobody writes about the planes that land." Steve Salerno Washington Times 7-10-01

http://www.gtec.ch/" target="_blank">www.gtec.ch  and look under Inverted Coasters/P

Someone pointed out that it appears that the seats have lights facing out... look for your self: http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/inside_park/rides/thrill/2002/wt/construction/picture.cfm?id=100

Do you guys think those are lights, or some other cosmetic feature?
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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"

*** This post was edited by Zero-G on 1/26/2002. ***

Interesting. I don't think anyone noticed those on our construction tour. They're not on the left (beach) side of the cars. I suppose they could be lights, but that would mean some kind of battery to power them. For a more practical use, I'd guess something to indicate open restraints to the operator.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

How are Nemisis' lights powered? I thought a generator was attatched to one of the wheels to create the energy for the light, but it seems like that would surge the lights at fast parts, and make the lights dim on slow parts of the ride... unless the lights are charged up.... Interesting!

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"

It's probably an alternator, that charges a battery, rather than powering the lights directly. Either that, or a battery in the train, that is charged whenever the train is in the station or "off duty".

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Current favorite coasters:
Wooden: 1) Beast 2) Raven 3) Son of Beast 4) The Boss 5) Timber Wolf
Steel: 1) Raging Bull 2) Millennium Force 3) V2 4) Wild Thing 5) Mr. Freeze
Visit: http://www.dynamicgroove.com

Also worth noting Jeff, is that S:UE has lights that correspond to the status of the train when parked in the station... the only problem was that the light was covered by one of the plastic shells, so maintenance decided to leave them off. That way they could see the light without having to take off the panel every time.

Now as to what the light indicates, my two guesses are:
1: That all restraints are locked (But almost all control systems these days will display that at the head operator's panel).
2: Power is flowing to the car. S:UE has drop down power connectors that tell the seats to release pressure on the harness pumps. This also relays info to the ride computer.
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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"

I like the color.
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"This Movie spent way to much money on special effects, look they couldnt even afford to buy those little dudes shoes!"

Jes: Quick correction: The Intamin restraints are hydraulic, but have no pumps. The pressure is provided by moving the bar up and down; the reservoir is located behind the seat, and the release is an electric valve. No electric, the valve closes and the bar won't open; apply power and the valve opens, allowing the bar to open.

I suspect that all three fins are used for the LIMs, but only the outboard fins are used for braking. It appears that Intamin may be using the center fin for a double-sided LIM and the outside fins for single-sided LIMs using the same coils as the center LIM. It's mostly a guess, of course.

Jeff: On the top of the chassis on the one side there is a pushbutton to release the restraints (when power is applied) and a contact for the restraint remote release; the other thing is just a connector. I wonder if that is the connector where the wiring to the seats plugs in.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I've been corrected by RideMan! What an honor! Yea, I meant to say hydraulic pump, but your post confirms that I know the harness systems well!

Actually Dave, that little light I'm talking about is most likely the same pushbutton. Is it the round, beige-yellow light that comes on when the electric connectors come down, or is this a totaly different button with no light in it?

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"

Yeah, I mentioned the restraint release button above. Looking at my photos again, I suppose the thing next to it is a covered connector for the infamous Intamin battery restraint release box.

I would add that it's odd that the seat wiring is unterminated. Odd because undoubtedly the seat assemblies will be disconnected from the chassis when the train is removed, so those wires have to be disconnected.

Maybe you can explain something about the LIM configuration. Do the white blocks apply a magnetic field on both sides of them? If so, what has to be on the other side of the fin? The Intamin LIM's have some thin piece of something there outside of the outter fins.

I ask only because I'm not entirely convinced they are using all three fins (led on by the fact that the center fin is copper, the others not), but don't understand them enough to really be sure.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

I believe the rotating field is focued in that small area between the two white boxes...where the center fin flies through... thats why metal objects don't go flying towards the blocks when they are activated.

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"

Yea, I've always kind of wondered how such a huge burst of electrical power can be sustained in the LIM's area.
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"Well I heard that guys with long signatures are just trying to make up for a shortage in their pants..."

I confess, the pushbutton I mentioned is the same as the one Jeff was talking about earlier (yes, Jeff, I noticed you mentioned the pushbutton and the contact; I was merely noting that the other box doesn't appear to be a relay), and I'm not sure if it is illuminated or not...but it's literally on the top of the car, not on the side. There might be an indicator on the side of the train, but honestly I hadn't noticed it.
As for the LIMs...if you look at the explanation of LIMs given on the Force Engineering web page (assuming it is still there) they note that to build a LIM you basically take an induction motor and lay it out flat. The last thing they do in that explanation is to take the backing plate steel off of the reaction plate and replace it with a second coil, forming a double-sided LIM. Now, if I remember correctly, the coils in a LIM are wound at a right-angle to the direction of travel. So if you start with an iron core and wrap six coils of wire around it (two for each phase) and apply three-phase power, you should get a field on both sides of the stator core. The strongest force is going to be between two coils, which is what we see at the center of the Intamin impulse LIM. But there would still be a field on the outboard side, and since Intamin has a fin there anyway, they might as well take advantage of it if they can. An outboard backing plate would allow for that.
The fins would have to be different, though, because their performance in the brakes would be more critical than their performance in the motors. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that an aluminum fin works better for brakes than a cobalt-copper one. Different metals have different characteristics. I know that the brake fins on the Moser Drop of Fear ride include a whole bunch of different alloys to give the acceleration curve they needed for that ride.

I'll do some research and see what I can find out.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I knew you'd come through, Dave. If the motors are built the way you describe according to the manufacturer, I have no doubt that they do act on all three fins.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"