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First I must point out I am no engineer and do not know the specifics of these designs. The information I provide is purely from my own observations, which anybody can see themselves, I am merely trying to explain it the way I understand how these things operate and hope this gives you a better understanding as well. This is an explanation basically of the catch cars, not the braking system or anything else. Invertigos use an enclosed-chain driven catch car on both lifts (big black thing with white wheels on the sides). Basically, it catches the train on one of the brake swords. The train is released from a hook which the catch car brings the train up to on the 1st lift at the beginning of the ride cycle. On the 2nd lift the catch car stops suddenly and releases the train at the drop off point. There are flat 'rails' that run along the sides of both catch cars that squeeze in on it when the train is to be released and swing away from it when the train is to be caught, these are yellow. On a GIB the idea is the same but a different design. Each lift has a catch car that is driven by cable. Each catch car has a hydraulically powered catching mechanism to grab the train on one of the brake swords. Because this needs power to work and it needs the signals to be able to catch and release the train at the proper times, there is a contact rail that it runs along in addition to it's own track and wheels similar to a coaster car. The Invertigo catch car simply runs along the enclosed pathway the chain runs in. Both these systems work in a similar way except on the GIB there is no hook at the top of the first lift to hold the train before releasing, it just uses the catch car for that. The interesting thing about both of these is that the chain/cable is connected to both sides of the catch cars in a closed loop, that is to say the chain/cable connects to one side of the catch car, runs up the lift, over a pulley or sprocket, down through the gearbox (around a drum on the GIB), then around another pulley or sprocket at the bottom of the lift, then connects to the other side of the catch car. Not only does this have more control of the catch car and allows the 1st lift to be able to bring the train all the way into the station, but keeps the catch car from flying up in the air when it releases the train because of backlash, all that weight suddenly being released. On a Boomerang the catch car only has the cable connected to one side and you can see it fly up the rails when the train is released. The closed loop arrangement on the Invertigo and GIB prevents this from happening. Next time you are there watch Invertigo through a ride cycle (next season) and pay attention to the catch cars, which are easily visible under the yellow track, and the rails that squeeze in on them to release the train, and you'll see what I mean. If you ride it, sit in the last seat facing up the 1st lift so when it gets to the top you can see the hook I was explaining engage a roller at the end of the train and then release it. These designs are marvels of engineering and the fact that they can do this over and over again, day in day out, catching and releasing the train at the right moment, is incredible. Of all the coaster designs mechanically, I think this one is my favorite. Fascinating to watch.

Yes. Invertigos and GIBs have a short section of track before the boomerang at the end of the station that can be removed when they need to remove the trains for rehab. Easier to remove the train car by car this way than having to disassemble the wheel assemblies to get it off the track. Not sure if the Boomerangs feature the removable track, I imagine they would though or maybe they just remove the upstop wheels and hoist each car off. Did you happen to notice where the catch car was?

Whenever I go to the park I make sure I ride both at least once. Eventhough they are not the most thrilling and forcefull coasters there I find them both to be a lot of fun. I don't care that Scream! is over a parking lot or Riddler's is slow through the top of it's loop, doesn't matter. They are both unique (good or bad) and appealing to me and fun in their own way. Isn't that what it all comes down to? If the majority of guests have a good time on them then I think these rides are doing their job.

^^ AMEN TO THAT! Great post and could not agree more. Roar was on the news because it was stopped for 25 minutes? So what! Here we go, get ready for all kinds of silly reports about amusement rides. It's funny, in all this I don't seem to recall the media ever mentioning the fact that these rides are a million times safer than the car you drove in to get to the park. Well of course not, you know they have to focus on the negative stuff to grab your attention.

Eventhough the media blew this thing out of proportion, tonight they reported that Great America is offering the riders a weekend getaway to Knott's Berry Farm as a token of the park's appreciation. That's better than a free ticket to Great America.

The Boomerangs are different than the Invertigos and GIBs and work as you describe. The GIBs and Invertigos have a catchcar on each lift. The Invertigos use chains on each lift with a catchcar and the GIBs use cables on each lift with a catchcar. If you were to look at both lifts on Invertigo you would see they both have the same catchcar and enclosed chain except the 1st lift has a longer chain obviously get to train out of the station, the same goes for the GIBs with the cable lifts. Unlike the Boomerangs, the Invertigos and GIBs use the catchcar on the first lift to slowly bring the train back to the station after it catches it when the ride is over. On the Boomerangs, it just uses the brakes at the base of the lift/station to bring the train in. I agree with you though on two things. The first is I think there should be some kind of evacuation platform under the lifts to maybe get people off faster when this kind of thing happens (and now maybe there will be), and secondly they should have been able to use the lift to lower the train back down to the station unless something in the lift (chain, gearbox, whatever) failed so badly that they can't even move it and had to evacuate the train where it is.

No coaster can do that. 99.99% of coasters that use lifts use gear boxes that are one way only. If you allow for it to move in two directions, it then has the chance of slipping back, so you'd be trading a moderate problem (stuck on lift) for a major one (train rolling back into station) Actually this coaster does that every ride cycle and both lifts do it. At the beginning the 1st lift raises the train up to the drop off point, after it is released the lift (chain) lowers or runs in reverse, the catch car to get set up for the end of the cycle when it will catch the train on the upward motion then reverse to bring it gently to the station. How else do you think it does this? The 2nd lift does a similar thing. So you see on Invertigos and GIBs the lifts do run in both directions if they didn't the ride would not work. The catch cars on both ride types have to be able to raise the train then return back to a starting position to be able to catch the train again and the only way to do that is run in reverse. Yes it's true on a roller coaster where the lift's only job is to raise the train to the top of the hill, they can only go one way, they cannot run in reverse. But on Invertigos and GIBs the catch cars, which are part of the lifts, must be able to run in both directions and they have to do it every ride cycle so the lifts, whether cable or chain, run in both directions, a forward or up to raise the train to the release point, and reverse or down to either bring the train back to the station or move the catch cars to a position to be ready to catch the train on the next ride cycle. That is also why there are no anti rollbacks on these rides, if there were the ride would not work. If the catch car fails or releases early there are brakes at the bottom of each lift to stop the train from vallying anywhere because of lack of momentum. Anyway, that is why I was saying something pretty serious must have happened to the lift for them to not be able to reverse it and bring the train back down to the station because normally with the train stopped where it is they should be able to do that or lift it to the top and let it go to either finish the cycle or stop it on the brakes but apparently whatever happened to the lift is so bad they cannot move the train with it at all.

Does Invertigo have escape platforms in it's future? One news channel, the reporter seemed a little flustered, but she said the lift chain broke, which I highly doubt. But Something pretty serious must have happened since they couldn't just run the lift in 'reverse' to lower the train.

I watched the different news shows to get a laugh at how dramatic they were making this, it was almost a obsurd. The NBC channel seemed to be more focused on the facts, no one was hurt, everything going as planned, etc. Even the reporter seemed calm as she was talking. Some were just annoying. The park said there was a problem with the lift chain, still early but will be interesting to see what the investigation turns up. And why bring up Boomerang, it was TEN YEARS ago, not even the same coaster design.

Invertigos do not have anti rollbacks, the train is held by the catch car. According to the local news, the reason they couldn't just release the train and let it valley is because of "mechanical failure" whatever that may be. So apparently they are not able to release the train from the catch car and had to evacuate the riders. Here is a link to the local news with an article and video: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=6957962 Article text: By David Louie SANTA CLARA, CA (KGO) -- 24 people got trapped on a roller coaster at the Great America theme park for hours after their ride got stuck on Monday. Riders were stuck as high as 80 feet in the air. It took rescue crews several hours to get them down safely, bringing down one person at a time. Many park guests did not have a clue what was happening on the "Invertigo," one of the most visible rides at the park. They were shielded from the area and Great America staff told many people to go home and would only say they were closing down for repairs. Fire rescue teams from Santa Clara County, the City of Santa Clara and San Jose responded to the incident. They used a 100-foot aerial ladder to get the 24 stranded riders back to the ground. It was a painstaking process. Firefighters have had to strap each person into a safety harness before releasing the rollercoaster's harness. The first rescue was completed around 3:15 p.m., just over two hours after the incident began. Great America spokesman Jim Stellmack told ABC7 they process was intentionally slow. "All the guests are seated. They're not upside down or anything like that. They're in a seated position, comfortably. So, safety is our number one priority, so we're taking it slow and easy to make sure that we do this and don't have any issues as a result," he said. "Most of the kids that were up there, they were pretty much, they were kicking their feet and they didn't look like anybody was in any distress. Looked like a lot of people were handing them water and stuff, keeping them hydrated," recalled park visitor Brian Murrell. It was a very hot afternoon in Santa Clara so riders have been provided bottled water in order to stay hydrated. Invertigo made its debut 11 years ago at Great America. It experienced a similar accident in April of 2000 when 25 riders were stuck halfway up for half an hour. There were no injuries then and none have been reported today. A Cal-OSHA official in charge of park safety is heading to the park to take a closer look at what happened. Park officials could not say exactly what led to the car getting stuck. Another local news source: From NBC11: Updated 6:02 PM PDT, Mon, Aug 10, 2009 It took rescue crews nearly five hours to get 24 passengers off of a roller coaster at Great America in Santa Clara Monday. The ride was supposed to last just 70 seconds, but got stuck. Images from news helicopters above the scene showed dozens of people stuck on the ride several stories above ground. The people on the lower end were at least 40 feet off the ground, with the people on top another 40 feet or so higher. The park said the ride suffered a problem with its lift chain, but that no one was ever in any immediate danger. They said fixing the ride was priority No. 2 and that getting the rider safely off and back on terra firma was priority No. 1. Half of the riders were stuck leaning back and the other half were leaning forward in their seats with their legs dangling. Some of the passengers could be seen holding bottles of water. The passenger at the very bottom of the ride were tended to first by rescue crews on a cherry picker. The ride is the Invertigo, which is a roller coaster in which riders' feet dangle below them as they are taken in loops at speeds of up to 50 mph. Fire Capt. Scott Kouns said the good news is that the riders aren't upside-down, although they are at a steep angle. "They're sitting upright," he said. "They're not hurt, there's no injuries." It's a hot day in the Santa Clara with temperatures in the 90s. Any time trapped on a roller coaster would be uncomfortable to say the least and it took at least an hour to get the first person off the ride. Fire crews on cherry pickers took passengers off their seats one by one. As soon as two people were off-loaded they were lowered to the ground. Kouns said that to release the riders' harnesses, which come down over their shoulders, two pins have to be released simultaneously. Invertigo is North America's first inverted face-to-face roller coaster. It took rescue crews nearly five hours to get 24 passengers off of a roller coaster at Great America in Santa Clara Monday. The ride was supposed to last just 70 seconds, but got stuck. Images from news helicopters above the scene showed dozens of people stuck on the ride several stories above ground. The people on the lower end were at least 40 feet off the ground, with the people on top another 40 feet or so higher. The park said the ride suffered a problem with its lift chain, but that no one was ever in any immediate danger. They said fixing the ride was priority No. 2 and that getting the rider safely off and back on terra firma was priority No. 1. Half of the riders were stuck leaning back and the other half were leaning forward in their seats with their legs dangling. Some of the passengers could be seen holding bottles of water. The passenger at the very bottom of the ride were tended to first by rescue crews on a cherry picker. The ride is the Invertigo, which is a roller coaster in which riders' feet dangle below them as they are taken in loops at speeds of up to 50 mph. Fire Capt. Scott Kouns said the good news is that the riders aren't upside-down, although they are at a steep angle. "They're sitting upright," he said. "They're not hurt, there's no injuries." It's a hot day in the Santa Clara with temperatures in the 90s. Any time trapped on a roller coaster would be uncomfortable to say the least and it took at least an hour to get the first person off the ride. Fire crews on cherry pickers took passengers off their seats one by one. As soon as two people were off-loaded they were lowered to the ground. Kouns said that to release the riders' harnesses, which come down over their shoulders, two pins have to be released simultaneously. Invertigo is North America's first inverted face-to-face roller coaster. Meanwhile, Great America security guards had blocked off much of the park and visitors said some of the other aerial rides had been taken out of service. Many visitors wondered what was happening and some were upset that so many rides were restricted. A Great America spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment. The Invertigo consists of seven-car train that takes riders upside-down six times, to heights of up to 161 feet, in one minute and 10 seconds, according to Great America's Web site. Each car is attached to the track from above and seats four riders back-to-back, with their feet dangling below them. Apparently, it was at the beginning of the of the ride cycle as the train was being pulled up the first lift hill and the train is stopped about halfway up. So, I wonder what happened to the lift chain? Of course, on one of the channels, they also had to mantion the 'famous rollercoaster accident' at Marine World with Boomerang and the Drop Zone accident. Totally unrelated but whatever, you know how the media is. And I don't know why they keep calling this an accident, NO ONE WAS HURT, so calling it an incident would be more appropriate. Good job to the Great America staff for the way they are handling this and the Fire Department, etc. Actually this really is not that big a deal. I think the only reason it made it to the news is because of the fact they had to call in outside assistance (since there is no other way to get riders off the train at that point) and how long it is taking. I am very interested to know what exactly happened.

Too bad. Well then now they need get rid of it and put in something like a rollercoaster in that spot.

I finally went this season, great time (beer and rollercoasters- woo hoo!). Noticed fizzly-Grizzly wasn't as rough as last time, not that it was anymore fun, and I rode Firefall for the first time. Interesting but uncomfortable. It was nice to see the theater by Flight Deck open again and it makes me wonder what they have planned for the Pictorium. Can't remember the last time it was open. I hope they refurb it because watching a movie on that GIANT screen is awesome!

Stupid economy! Hopefully the next buyer will keep it 'Great America' and will be able to run it well and let's hope it's not the 49ers, it would be nice if they ended up sharing the stadium with the Raiders.

As it has been pointed out many times in other threads and regarding any park for that matter, it does not matter if it SEEMS like there is room for a new coaster or not nor how big or small the park is... if they really want to put one in they will find room to do so. So to say they could only fit maybe two more coasters in is actually not true. Whether that means removing something or not doesn't matter. If they want it bad enough they will find a way.

I could not agree with you more.

That's great news... we don't need another stadium around here anyway. Sharing a stadium would be good for everybody plus that particular one is easy to get to and easy to leave from. Maybe now CF can consider expanding the park like they mentioned when this whole thing started. Screw you bitchy neighbors and 49ers!

^Well they did mention they were painting one of the theaters.

Well that's good news for Grizzly and way overdue. The last time I rode it, it was absolutely horrible I hope this makes it better. I am actually kind of amazed they would do that considering how many people have voiced how much they hate it. Maybe this will change the minds of those people and this is probably less expensive I am sure that tearing it down and building something else. At least they are doing something to improve it and I am all for that. And that "wheels rollin'" in italics..... Hmmmm, wheels, rollin', part of the announcement?

Yes it is! Where could they possibly put one?

I don't think CF would give up so easily unless things couldn't be worked out with the bitchy neighbors, etc. Since the '09 coaster fell through it will be interesting to see what they come up with now for '09 & '10. It's possible plans have already been made that we don't know about. Remember... ..."there's quite a lot to be excited about in the next few years." There's other spots in that park where a coaster could fit and if they really wanted to they could make one fit anywhere.

The seats on Vortex have a lot of side to side slop where they are attatched to the rails that allow up and down adjustment before they are locked. Riddler's on the other hand has absolutely none and has almost no head banging. If it wasn't for this slop it would be much less painfull. This has the effect of throwing you into the restraints when there is a direction change. I would guess all the older B&M standup trains are like this. This is also exaggerated because of it's tight/compact track layout.

Now that would be awesome!

I don't think Vortex is going as it is still listed under thrill rides but who knows, this could be it's last season. Actually I would be surprised if that went before Grizzly. The blog did mention there is "quite a lot to be excited for in the next few years." Also mentioned is they expect to make a formal announcement early in January about what's new for 2009.

I'm hoping that means expanding the park into the main lot or at the very least a couple or 3 awesome new coasters. Whatever it is I am exited for my park's future and I am sure they will find a way to get more coasters in there... bitchy neighbors or not I would guess management is leaning that way and they know it's time for Grizzly to be replaced. They already refurbished one theater and are painting another one. Could this mean the Pictorium is next? I always enjoyed it.

Take out ANOTHER coaster without putting one back in? That would be absolutely terrible! So we'd be in the hole what.... 3, 4 coasters maybe? This park needs help CF come on.