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Holiday Park Discussion Thread


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"Now it is very important to gather the facts. We are working together with TÜV-Süd and Intamin on finding the cause of the defective axle. One car of the seven-car-train was affected by the axle. That caused the stop. The train itself is on the track, completely. Meaning, the train did not derail.

 

Thanks again for the support. --Rudi ”

 

To summarize....

 

Train: Did not derail.

Thread: Did.

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The train really did not derail completly, but a part of it did... it doesn`t stay correct on the track and the park really try to calm everyone down. It was luck that nothing happened and the park knows this. The park just tries to relativize the press and coaster fans worldwide... Can understand it, the (really nice) park seems to has many problems with his reputation and has to fight to survive.

 

But what i finding more intresting is, that in german forums they were saying that they had many problems this day, and stopped the coaster for a longer period. And one guy mentioned that it smells the whole day after molten plastic and that it makes a strange noise sometimes, before the brokedown.

 

So there is my question!? Why didn`t the operator stops the coaster when they had problems!? If i remember right, on mindbender the operator stopped the train befor, because of strange noises, even the same in the disney park coaster crash, where the operator reported, that he wanted to take the train out because of strange noises, but sends it on his fatal last round.

So what i want to say is, that i hope the parks will train the operators especially to stop coaster if they making any strange noise, immediatly! If a train makes strange sounds, its comes in 90% percent from the wheels or other movable parts. They should be reminded that strange sounds on such machines could be deadly at any time.... i think the most coaster accidents could have been prevented by doing this.

 

and i don`t want to blame anyone (the manufacturer, the park nor the operator)... just remind them that they working with big, fast deadly machines, with people on it, everyday... sometimes maybe they forgot this

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I am sure I remember being shown how some of these fractures are only visible on XRay before they actually break completely and no park is going to XRay their trains, that's just ridiculous.

Actually, it's not ridiculous at all. Sending out the trains for X-Ray or using mobile scanning units to test the track for stress fractures or other issues is actually a common practice. Most parks do this at least once per year for each coaster.

 

EDIT - sorry this info was already posted on the previous page. I do think it's important to point out though that we should all be VERY careful posting such information as "no park is going to X-Ray their trains" unless you really know for sure...because EVERY PARK actually does X-Ray their trains!

 

I know I am a quite a few pages too late (I went away for the weekend) but I just wanted to make an apology to everyone on here for speculating like that and being completely wrong, It's just out of interest in this event and wanting to know what happened, I wasn't trying to cause any offence or problems amongst us, I was actually more trying to ask if any one had anymore information and I didn't really word that very well! - I did post afterwards to say thank you to someone for correcting me where I was wrong as I really did appreciate the extra information provided!

 

Just wanted to say a big thank you to Robb for letting me know about parks X-raying their trains, I never knew it happened, and now I do, that's kind of why I am on this board, to be informed, educated and entertained, and also to say thank you for providing information direct from the park as that is what I really wanted ultimately, I just wanted to know a bit more about what happened!

 

Also, want to say sorry to Robb and Elissa as I know my comments were at the beginning of this thread going off the rails (no pun intended) but I genuinely didn't mean to be a part of that, I generally don't like getting involved in that kind of thing on here, I try and make positive/useful comments wherever possible! You guys do a lot to keep the boards going and keep people on topic and I really do appreciate that, even when you have to play 'Bad Cop' to get us back on track!

 

Glad to see this thread getting back on topic and I will be interested to hear any more REAL INFORMATION when it becomes available, and less of my speculating... sorry guys!

 

My Apologies,

 

Matt

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Train: Did not derail.

 

The train may not have derailed, but one of the cars most certainly did.

 

^^It will be interesting to learn if there were, in fact, any odd signs that something wasn't right with the train before this happened, as maybe there were some tell-tale signs that the ride ops didn't react to? We'll probably never get the full story, but will have to wait and see as the facts unfold.

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A visitors - also active in the fan communies - said, that there have been a problem with wheels of one of EGF's trains the sunday before the incident. He said that the ride ops called the technical service due to strange noise from a wheel assembly and the ride closed for the rest of the day because of several checks the technical service did. As the Holiday Park opens only in the main season under the week except for wednesday, the first time the coaster ran again was the wednesday the wagon derailed. Another fan, who was there on this wednesday, said, that there have been problems with the wheels again and EGF opend after the "problem train" of this day (we don't know whether it's the same train of which is said, it made problems the sunday before) had been replaced by the second train, which is the one whose car derailed.

 

If at least 50% of this is correct, strange things must happend there. I hope they will find out what caused this incident and inform 'us' what the cause was. I hope it was neither a major technical issue nor a human's fault - we will hopefully see...

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Found an interview with Rudi Mallasch here:Newspaper: Main-Spitze

 

The roller coaster "Expedition GeForce" in the Holiday Park is closed since one week now. After a technical issue the train with 26 passengers on board stopped immediately on the track. Spokesman Rudi Mallasch explains how the park deals with the breakdown.

 

Did you find the exact cause of the incident?

 

No, not yet. The investigation by TÜV Rheinland on behalf of the prosecution take ongoing. Unfortunately, we do not know when that investigation will be completed. But we hope of a quick result, so that the roller coaster can soon be released to the public.

 

How often is the maintanance of the award-winning "Expedition GeForce" in normal operation?

 

There is a specific checklist for maintanance for each day. Thus, it is serviced daily by our technicians and at least once a year tested by the TÜV. Unfortunately I can´t explain the exact maintenance work with all the details, yet.

 

How does the Holiday Park and the visitors respond that the roller coaster is not currently in use?

 

It´s clear to our visitors that even here, "Safety is First" - that's why they have an understanding of the current situation. We accomodate with the admission campaign "Children's rates for all ". This means that adults pay the same admission as children: 22,90 € per person. This special is valid as long as the roller coaster "Expedition GeForce" is out of service. The ticket includes all rides and shows still working. And we have a whole mix of offerings, from the devil river up to the thunder drums. Not all visitors will finally take the "Expedition GeForce".

 

You also have some current attractions such as the Water Stunt Show "Jim Pond H2.0". How is the appeal of the shows?

 

Very good. Especially "Fakir India, one of the most elaborate reptile shows in Germany, is being very well received. Above all, of course, because some of the reptiles can be touched by the audience after the show - to the delight of the younger visitors.

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^^Yeah there are some photos, but not official ones... one guy (Source: http://karten.org/) shot some pictures of the fragmented train and "onride.de" might be good forum for you http://onride.de/viewtopic.php?t=58269&start=225! But like it was said the official homepage will anounce when it will be opened again... and this will take some time in my opinion!

 

EDIT: What i forgot to mention is that the park lowered his entree prices. For the period while Exp. G-Force is closed everyone just had to pay the child price of 22.90 € instead of 26.90 € .

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Nothing major. Just keep an eye on their website as they're updating it fairly regularly.

 

27.05.10

 

All Holiday Park attractions in operation except for Expedition GeForce.

 

As a special offer Holiday Park entrance fee is currently the campaign "Children's Prize for All." This means that adults pay the same admission as children: 22,90 € per person. This special action up to and including 6th June 2010. Included in the ticket are all in service include rides and shows (except "Expedition GeForce").

 

So I'm guessing we'll get more news on June 7th. Most likely just an extention of the current deal while the ride is still down.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The interesting point in that article is, that the attorney are investigating (among other points) bodily injury caused by negligence by the park and it´s employees.

 

This just doesn´t fit into the statements from the park, that this was an intended emergency brake.

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No Robb, that is exactly what the managment of the Park are trying to tell the public.

 

According to the press releases there was no derailing or anything else that could have been dangerous, it was just an intended emergency brake.

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^There is a lot of confusion not just with the translation from German to English, but also that terminology can mean different things to different people.

 

Even a simply term like derail. Some people will define derailment as any wheels leaving the track and coming to rest on another surface, while others may define derailment as the act of the whole vehicle (all cars) leaving the track.

 

Emergency Brake is another term that there is confusion around. Some are taking "emergency brake" to mean that the ride was engineered to stop the train when some wheels left the track, Some are interpreting it to mean that someone manually hit a button to brake the train due to an emergency. Some can interpret it to mean the train came to a grinding stop due to the emergency situation, such as metal dragging on metal causing friction and an "emergency" stop.

 

Right now there is no clarity, so you are not the only one confused.

Edited by larrygator
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Judging from the pictures, and if the people who were riding have anything to say, the park can't talk its way out of this. Clearly they are trying to spin this, regardless of the language or interpretation.

Edited by fatdaddy
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^Thank you Larry. It just seems like, as I read through the last 20 pages or so, I have noticed many people being criticized for commenting on the accident. It seems, to me anyway, that certain people can make comments about certain parks, while others cannot. As a person that reads the forum frequently I have noticed certain parks are bashed while others, such as Holiday Park, it's forbidden to comment negatively on.

Either way lets hope this classic ride back up and running safely.

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Judging from the pictures, and if the people who were riding have anything to say, the park can't talk its way out of this. Clearly they are try to spin this, regardless of the language or interpretation.

 

This is Germany, a country that is very serious about accidents. Neither the park or any newspaper will be able to "spin" anything.

Whatever happend, it will be disclosed and when the ride is ready to reopen, it will do so.

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