Holiday Park Discussion Thread

[robbalvey]

Dumb question: How many trains does EGF have/typically run? I wonder if there was another train on the course at the time of the incident. And of course if there was, put yet another checkmark in the "Safety Systems Worked Flawlessly" category.

They have two, but it's very rare that they would be running two. Especially mid-week during the off season.

[rider-x]

Not knowing whether or not the cable will snap and hit your face, or that the car will derail.....hell yea, makes the ride all that more scary.

[KrautWithAltitude]

Well, I think I might have heard part of the real story on the grapevine, and that was years ago. Still I can´t claim to know about what happened yesterday. It would just be jumping to conclusions, and those in the know will never tell to the public. Did they ever? And why should they? So we need to feed on shady rumors and the yellow press, don´t we

 

Let´s see what they give us:

 

- eye witness words: „Es hat laut gequietscht, dann gequalmt, dann flogen irgendwelche Teile durch die Gegend. Die Bahn fuhr noch den Anstieg hoch, dann rollte sie langsam zurück. Die Leute haben panisch geschrien: ‚Holt uns hier raus!’” "There was loud screeching, then smolder, then parts were flying around. The train went up the hill, then rolled back slowly. People were screaming in panic: "Get us out of here!". (There was an ugly smell everywhere )

 

- official park statement: „Wagen vier der Bahn hat die Spurführung verloren. Dadurch setzte sofort der Notstopp ein. Es bestand aber zu keinem Zeitpunkt Lebensgefahr für die Gäste.” "Coach number four had lost rail track. Thereby emergency stop engaged immediately. But at no time were the riders in mortal danger."

 

One thing I wonder about is the statement about emergency stop. This coaster doesn´t have one, the only active brakes are in the station. So either the press got it wrong (as they often do) or they must have pimped their trains lately... The other statement is that about mortal danger. What if some of that flying debris hit you straight in the face? It was pure luck no one was hit by flying scrap! This park guy has to show nerve, I bet he thanked the lord all day long! But since the train is well designed, it couldn´t come apart nor could any restraints fail, since couplings and restraints are redundant and made to last such situations. Compare to Mindbender if you want, as fare as I remember, neither couplings nor restraints did fail on that one too. Since plastic bandages of coaster wheels are kind of an achilles heel and thus may come off, trains must be made to resist the forces of a derailed coach. Normally, it wouldnt completely derail like it seems to have happened on EGF, it would still be on track, but dragging. Why aren´t there better pictures of the train? Park must have been full of people, as the train was ??? All that I can see is that a whole wheel assembly seems to be missing. This was a serious malfunction for sure, but will we ever know? As I know "our" press, they will never catch up on it again. But don´t you blame it on the maintenance crew! Those guys know what they are doing. If you are looking for someone to blame, put it on the management. That will always do

[fdelhomez]

Does anyone have an idea of how much time it would take to fix a problem like that and make EGF run again?

[sorry if my question is stupid but I just want to know witch are the steps to repair that!]

[Solid Gold]

Dayum. Looks like I might be going to Tripsdrill in May instead of Holiday Park...

 

Hope everyone involved is OK and that the park doesn't have to face any major lawsuits from this.

Edited April 29, 2010 by Solid Gold

[RoCo]

Every time I pass by another horrible accident on my local freeway commute (which happens more than you'd believe - the Ventura 101 sucks ass), I think how much I'd rather be riding just about any roller coaster in the world, than driving down this asphalt death-trap. These pictures do nothing to change that attitude.

[Roosevelt]

Dumb question: How many trains does EGF have/typically run? I wonder if there was another train on the course at the time of the incident. And of course if there was, put yet another checkmark in the "Safety Systems Worked Flawlessly" category.

 

As Robb said, GeForce has two wagons. When they use both, they never send them on the track at the same time. The second train first starts when the first one is already back at the main brake.

 

As it should be.

 

_______________________

 

By the way! Has anyone noticed the new coaster Holiday Park is getting this spring? If not, here are a few infos. I just noticed it myself on the parks homepage while searching for informations about the GeForce Accident, and I think, its a cool announcement! Holiday Parks' third coaster

 

 

The name of the family coaster will be "Hollys' Wild Drive" (In German: Holly's Wilde Fahrt").

 

Height, width and length: 15 x 20 x 40 meters

Number of vehicles: 8 vehicles with 4 seats

Length of route: approx. 370 meters

Duration of ride: approx. two minutes

Total area: 800 m²

Producer: Maurer Söhne Rides GmbH

 

It will guide the riders through a cartoon-like village and through the forest, the trains will pass several serpentines, humps and drops. That means, the coaster type will be some sort of the "Wild Mouse" developed by Maurer Rides.

 

I expect something like the Volcano Coaster @ Freizeitpark Klotten that all of you should know (According to the TPR video )

 

Further infos on the parks' homepage

Edited April 29, 2010 by Roosevelt

[AndCamSS]

Does anyone have an idea of how much time it would take to fix a problem like that and make EGF run again?

[sorry if my question is stupid but I just want to know witch are the steps to repair that!]

 

I dont think anyone here is a qualified ride repairman who works on these rides to answer that question, and even if they were there are just a couple pictures to look at anyway.

 

I'll say.... 86.459 hours of work, thats my guess.

[traincrossin]

One thing I wonder about is the statement about emergency stop. This coaster doesn´t have one, the only active brakes are in the station.

I may be completely wrong, but I believe that the trains do have emergency brakes built in. I know that in 1998 on the Demon at SFGAm, a guide wheel separated from the axle of the last car. A mechanical safety system built into the wheel assembly engaged which prevented the train from derailing. I think that a similar situation happened here when the wheel assembly on Expedition GeForce failed. I'm just glad that the safety system worked and people aren't seriously hurt because it could have been much worse. Hopefully the European media won't make a big deal out of this like they would here in the states.

[robbalvey]

One thing I wonder about is the statement about emergency stop. This coaster doesn´t have one, the only active brakes are in the station.

I may be completely wrong, but I believe that the trains do have emergency brakes built in.

No offense there traincrossin, but with Norman's experience (he's made it clear in previous posts that he's done work with Stengel designs on several of Intamin's coasters) I would think he probably knows what he's talking about.

 

--Robb

Edited April 29, 2010 by robbalvey

[Montuman99]

Wow, Intamin can't seem to get a break. Even if this has nothing to do with them and is solely the park's fault it is still going to be looked at as another Intamin ride failure.

that's a really good point. It might not be the ride neccessarily. SFNE's Bizarro isn't really well kept up, it's Six Flags, they can be lazy.

[saxman47]

that's a really good point. It might not be the ride neccessarily. SFNE's Bizarro isn't really well kept up, it's Six Flags, they can be lazy.

 

that is a ridiculous and unfair statement. I'll leave it at that.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

^Though I can see what your point is and on some level agree with you, I think what Montuman's point was is that even if a park (for the sake of the arguement any park) doesn't follow the manufacturers service manual to a tee, that would still make the manufacturer look bad.

[coaster1000]

No.

No.

NO!

 

This is a catastrophe for Intamin. Though it may not be their fault, I have to say that the recent numbers of incidents are unsettling. This, Xcelerator, TTD. Also, ExpG has had a cable snap before. Millennium had one, too. And there's probably a lot more.

 

I'm not saying it's the company's fault, it *COULD* also be the parks doing a bad job with the inspection. Even still, compare the number of Intamin accidents to B&M. It just isn't right, and no matter who has got the responsibility this is just bad for Intamin.

 

BTW, it does look like the safety system worked as it should. The accident it self isn't really that serious. It's just... the public impact!

 

Really hoping this won't affect operation of other Intamin Hypers, Megas and Giga around. Any risk?

[spacemtfan]

It's a shame to see something like this happen. And although no one was hurt, you have to admit that the picture really makes it look like they were in a precarious situation.

 

On the plus side, nobody was seriously hurt, the evacuation occurred without any problems, and once everything is figured out, the park/manufacturer can work so that this won't happen again...

[SharkTums]

^^Dude, calm down, it is not 'a catastrophe for Intamin'.

 

You're 14, and in Denmark, go have fun riding Piraten or Tornado.

[coaster1000]

^^Dude, calm down, it is not 'a catastrophe for Intamin'.

 

You're 14, and in Denmark, go have fun riding Piraten or Tornado.

 

Sorry... Maybe that was a bit exaggerated.

 

And I will. Until Piraten derails.

[Voyager]

One thing I wonder about is the statement about emergency stop. This coaster doesn´t have one, the only active brakes are in the station.

I may be completely wrong, but I believe that the trains do have emergency brakes built in.

The only e-stop method is friction - that is, when the wheels literally come off, the friction of the bottom of the metal train car against the metal track will tend to bring it to a stop. Hopefully this happens without parts of the train catching on track cross members, which would result in a more damaging, and possibly violent, stop.

 

I think the park guy is really stretching the meaning of "emergency brakes", or he just didn't know any better. Also, you never know what some people will say when a microphone is shoved in their face or they get a call from a reporter.

 

We should be grateful everyone is OK, but a bit disturbed that a wheel assembly apparently failed in some manner.

 

Has this happened to an Intamin train of this style before? (I haven't heard of it, but then again I'm not nearly as in-the-know as many here.) -Mike

[Mr. Starr]

You're 14, and in Denmark, go have fun riding Piraten or Tornado.

 

Thanks for making my day!

[traincrossin]

One thing I wonder about is the statement about emergency stop. This coaster doesn´t have one, the only active brakes are in the station.

I may be completely wrong, but I believe that the trains do have emergency brakes built in.

No offense there traincrossin, but with Norman's experience (he's made it clear in previous posts that he's done work with Stengel designs on several of Intamin's coasters) I would think he probably knows what he's talking about.

 

--Robb

None taken, I learn something new everyday. Since Voyager just answered how the train would slow down in this situation, then what prevents the train from completely derailing?

[robbalvey]

I think the park guy is really stretching the meaning of "emergency brakes", or he just didn't know any better. Also, you never know what some people will say when a microphone is shoved in their face or they get a call from a reporter.

I'm also going to assume that Rudi said that in German and it was probably no translated into English 100% correctly. When I read it, I read it as "emergency stop" not exactly "brakes" as in someone pulled the Emergency Brake lever like the one you have in your car...

[WFChris]

...well, what I heard from the dippin dots guy is......

[robbalvey]

...well, what I heard from the dippin dots guy is......

He's out of Chocolate?

[cfc]

...well, what I heard from the dippin dots guy is......

He's out of Chocolate?

 

That's a catastrophe for Dippin' Dots!

[Voyager]

I'm also going to assume that Rudi said that in German and it was probably no translated into English 100% correctly. When I read it, I read it as "emergency stop" not exactly "brakes" as in someone pulled the Emergency Brake lever like the one you have in your car...

Excellent point. I did mean to say e-stop. I'm assuming that was triggered, either automatically and/or by a ride op, after the train stopped and didn't make it to the next block.

 

None taken, I learn something new everyday. Since Voyager just answered how the train would slow down in this situation, then what prevents the train from completely derailing?

The other wheel assemblies, the linkages holding the cars together, and the engineering of those parts. -Mike