IOA Power Outage

[inkkognito]

Just heard on the news that IOA had a power outage today and lots of people were stuck on rides.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Which station? I am not finding any reports.

 

[thrillriderbb]

Just heard on the news that IOA had a power outage today and lots of people were stuck on rides.

Tis possible, I remember back in 98 when there was a power outage in Disneyland because of an accident on the street next to tomorrowland and everything went down because of it.

 

[Figment22]

I know this is now yesterday's news (I wasn't on the DIS yesterday) but I found a bit of information on the power outage:

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2007/3/2/power_restored_at_universal_theme_parks.html

Universal Studios lost power to both of its theme parks for a short time Friday evening.

A spokesperson says a power surge probably caused the problem.

Both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure went dark for about a half an hour around 5 p.m. The park does have procedures in place for situations like this, and they say they made sure everyone was helped safely off the rides and there are no reports of injuries.

 

[Melanie230]

That would have really been a bad time to be on the HULK!

 

[macraven]

That would have really been a bad time to be on the HULK!

or maybe a good time as long as you weren't upside down.....
can you imagine being on the dueling dragons where the two coasters meet?

 

[kenban]

If the coaster stopped while upside down then there would be something wrong with the train or the track but a power problem could not cause it.

Coasters are designed to always have one set of brakes between trains. In the case of a power loss they automaticly engage and the trains will stop at the next get of brakes. Its normally a pretty fast stop but it is always on a flat section of track that is easy to get the guests off of. In the case of the Hulk it would stop in one of two places either the final brakes or the mid course brakes which are on a flat piece of track where it goes through the center of one of the loops. Heres a picture from RCDB. Since the park only lost power for 30 minutes I don't know if they would even have gotten the people out and down the stairs by then. I would think that it might have just been restarted after the power came back let the train finish the course and get the people off back at the station.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

It's possible to be stuck upside down at Hulk. Highly unlikely, but possible. How? The first inversion. If the brakes at the top of the launch tube activate and stop the last part of the train, the rest of the train (front) can be stuck going upside down or partially upside down. Not fun. Luckily, the odds of this happening are very low.

 

[phamton]

Your chances would be less than winning the lottery. Most rides can only stop in safety areas so if the ride broke down in one spot, it will automatically proceed to the safety area either via magnets, gravity, or electrical generator backup.

Roller coaster cars don't run on just electricity; they mostly run on inertia. Cars are pulled to the top of certain hills by motors, but then gravity and momentum do the rest. There's no reason for the car to stop due to a lack of electricity, particularly not upside-down. The only accidents I have ever heard of where someone was actually stuck upside on a coaster was in Scotland: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6119632.stm and in Ft. Wayne , Indiana in July 2006 because a wheel broke (which caused it not to be able to move to the next area) and one in Belgium http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop_(roller_coaster). As far as I know those are the only coasters that has happened on.


Coasters are powered by gravity, they can't just stop and go backwards, certainly not anything built by B&M (Hulk, DD, Montu, Kumba, SheiKra). They would valley as they are far too big to do anything else.

ETA: I just realized after posting this that I have spent way too much time lurking on rec.roller-coaster newsgroup. Maybe Robvia or Slacking will drop in on this discussion. They are more of an expert on this than I am.

 

[kenban]

It's possible to be stuck upside down at Hulk. Highly unlikely, but possible. How? The first inversion. If the brakes at the top of the launch tube activate and stop the last part of the train, the rest of the train (front) can be stuck going upside down or partially upside down. Not fun. Luckily, the odds of this happening are very low.

I did not realize there were brakes high enough up the tube for that to happen. The only thing I can think of its a design flaw. Can I assume it has happened at some point?

 

[macraven]

i feel so educated now.

if i ever get on the jepardy show, i will win....



jk, i'm just playing with you

 

[Slacking]

Physics was always my weakness, but I believe phamton is correct. since they are powered by gravity, I don't think the power outage would affect the coasters too much (once out of the lifthill). My only concern would be at the brake runs, since those are powered, but I would think that they would possibly have backup generators, but I have no idea.

 

[Timmy Boy]

There is no way that a coaster can stop once it has cleared the lift hill, unless something crazy happened, such as a wheel falling off, which would cause the train to "skid" to a stop.

If on Dragons, the trains clear the lift, and 2 seconds after that, the power goes out, those trains won't stop until it hits the brake runs outside the castle. So the trains would go through its course, and when it hits the brakes, it would stop right there, and not roll into the castle like it usually does.

If they're there for a long period of time, the guests will be evacuated off the ride and led down stairs can back into the park.

Coaster are powered by gravity. You can't stop gravity, not even the biggest power outage in the world.

 

[inkkognito]

Being a Chicago native, I can tell you that, while HIGHLY unlikely, you can indeed get stuck upside down on a coaster from personal (well, semi-personal...seeing it on the news vs. being stuck) experience. My husband the coaster fanatic used to always make fun of the show "Get a Life," which featured an episode where this happened. He SWORE it was impossible. Fast forward a few years to the Demon at Six Flags Great America (an older Arrow Dynamics coaster). A problem with the train stuck that sucker fast in the top of one of the loops!! Here is the blurb from Wikipedia about it:

"A major incident on the roller coaster occurred on Saturday, April 18, 1998. Twenty-three riders were left stranded upside-down after the train in which they were riding came to an unexpected halt in the middle of a vertical loop. Firefighters used a cherry picker to bring the passengers to safety. Some riders were stuck for nearly three hours. Four passengers were taken to local hospitals out of precaution but released that afternoon.

Investigators concluded that the incident was caused by mechanical failure. A guide wheel that runs along the inside of the track separated from the axle of the last car. A mechanical safety system built into the wheel assembly engaged, preventing the train from derailing.

The roller coaster reopened shortly after the conclusion of the investigation and continues to operate at its original location."

 

[phamton]

How scary!

I knew of three other coasters that had been stuck upside down but all of those were from a mechanical problems not from a power outage. I was trying to agree with kenban's statement:

If the coaster stopped while upside down then there would be something wrong with the train or the track but a power problem could not cause it.

I just don't think anyone should worry about power outages. It's an inconvenience but not a danger.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

I did not realize there were brakes high enough up the tube for that to happen. The only thing I can think of its a design flaw. Can I assume it has happened at some point?

Not a design flaw, but a safety feature. If for any reason the ride needs to stop, it will, even if it means stopping the ride at the most inconvenient possible time for riders.

I have personally seen it where 1/2 the coaster was sticking out of the launch tube at Hulk, but had not cleared the upside-down part. The emergency brakes would have to engage at the LAST possible second to catch it even partially upside down.

 

[robvia]

I've never heard of an accident happening in the middle of a coaster ride due to a power failure.

There's been one time I heard about Hulk bringing a train back from the top of the launch tube because a sensor went bad. But it didn't get stuck.

 

[macraven]

Being a Chicago native, I can tell you that, while HIGHLY unlikely, you can indeed get stuck upside down on a coaster from personal (well, semi-personal...seeing it on the news vs. being stuck) experience. My husband the coaster fanatic used to always make fun of the show "Get a Life," which featured an episode where this happened. He SWORE it was impossible. Fast forward a few years to the Demon at Six Flags Great America (an older Arrow Dynamics coaster). A problem with the train stuck that sucker fast in the top of one of the loops!! Here is the blurb from Wikipedia about it:

"A major incident on the roller coaster occurred on Saturday, April 18, 1998. Twenty-three riders were left stranded upside-down after the train in which they were riding came to an unexpected halt in the middle of a vertical loop. Firefighters used a cherry picker to bring the passengers to safety. Some riders were stuck for nearly three hours. Four passengers were taken to local hospitals out of precaution but released that afternoon.

Investigators concluded that the incident was caused by mechanical failure. A guide wheel that runs along the inside of the track separated from the axle of the last car. A mechanical safety system built into the wheel assembly engaged, preventing the train from derailing.

The roller coaster reopened shortly after the conclusion of the investigation and continues to operate at its original location."

i was at great america when that happened. my kid was on it.
i have not been on that ride since the incident.

no serious injuries but one guy was hoarse from screaming his head off.
his son was in the seat behind and he was overwhelmed with fear for him.

six flags had emergency crews there immediately.