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California Great America (CGA) Discussion Thread


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It'd be one thing if somebody got injured...but really, a ride evac that took longer than usual would scare people away from rides?

 

In related news, on my last trip to SFMM, people were evaced off of Riddler's lift, and Goliath got stuck on the lift, so I should probably never go there again according to the media

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It'd be one thing if somebody got injured...but really, a ride evac that took longer than usual would scare people away from rides?

 

In related news, on my last trip to SFMM, people were evaced off of Riddler's lift, and Goliath got stuck on the lift, so I should probably never go there again according to the media

 

The media has to make everything a spectacle. If they didn't make it a major deal, it wouldn't sell to the public.

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There's a poll on that article page "Does this incident with Invertigo make you not want to ride the rides at CGA anymore?" (or something like that)

 

39% said yes...

 

It'd be one thing if somebody got injured...but really, a ride evac that took longer than usual would scare people away from rides?

 

In related news, on my last trip to SFMM, people were evaced off of Riddler's lift, and Goliath got stuck on the lift, so I should probably never go there again according to the media

 

The media has to make everything a spectacle. If they didn't make it a major deal, it wouldn't sell to the public.

They could always say it was a swine coaster incident to double the percentage of yes votes in that poll.

 

 

 

Not surprising some people voted yes because afterall this is the park where someone died on Drop Zone 10 years ago as well as that wave pool drowning several years back.

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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.

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Wouldnt that suck if you really had to piss and that happened? I remember riding Tatsu while I kind of had to go once, it was not very comfortable (For the record, I didnt wet myself)quote]

 

I had to go on Psyclone. Trust me, I had to go BAD, it was Psyclone, my mom forced my restraint down... let's see..... 5 clicks beyond what it should've been..... yeah, you think having to go on Tatsu sucks....

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According to the local news, it looks that our beloved smooth Vekoma will be down for the rest of the season as portions of it are to be dismantled and sent off to their 'Japanese' manufacturer. I could probably imagine this being quite possible for this ride to go through this safety check with how high safety standards we have in CA. Correct me if I'm wrong though, but wasn't the ride made in the Netherlands?

 

Quote from article:

nspectors from Cal-OSHA's elevator, ride and tramway unit will dismantle the ride, potentially sending away mechanical parts for analysis, Monterroza said Tuesday morning. They will interview riders, operators and other Great America personnel and examine servicing records and other safety data for the roller coaster.

 

The ride's manufacturer, a company located in Japan, will likely be involved as well, Monterroza said. Parts of the coaster were also damaged during the rescue operation, she said.

 

Normally Cal-OSHA is not involved in incidents in which nobody is injured, Monterroza noted. However, the agency keeps a particularly close eye on amusement park rides, she said -- both the portable kind that pop up at county fairs and permanent parks like Great America.

 

Full article here.

 

I wonder how this will pan out for the coaster, or will they take it out of it's misery and leave it an empty plot of grass and cement?

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WOW! I was just watching the news and SFDK was on because Roar was down with riders "stranded" for 25 minutes, and they didn't even evacuate! I can understand why Invertigo was on the news, but Roar?! There needs to be a mass murder, that will give them something to report about.

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Things like this really irk me. 39% of people who took that poll obviously don't think outside of what the media "reports" to them. Not only did the media blow the incident on invertigo out of proportion, but tied in oter rides to it, in which for some reason people would now be concerned to ride Top Gun though it has nothing to do with the evac. It also irks me that since this is an amusement ride, it's a "resue mission" and an "emergency", despite the fact there were no deaths or injuries. I wonder if those same 39% of people who voted yes would not fly Southwest Airlines if they hear about one having to make an emergency landing, or not driving a Ford if they hear that some Taurus overheated. Things break. Machines aren't 100% reliable. Nothing is. Pens don't always write though they have ink. Cars overheat. Computers freeze. Cell phones drop calls. The Bay Area news agency who took it upon themselves to make this a national story need to be aware that they are utter douches of the highest calibur. Is it that slow of a news week up there? I mean Gay Rights protests are flaring up again. Our states still broke. 14% of us are out of work. The fcuking DMV is only open 3 days a week damn near and has waits of 2 hours for simple tasks that under better circumstances would take a 1/4 that time. With all this going on, they found the best story to report was a ride that broke down. DOUCHES OF THE HIGHEST CALIBUR.

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I got stuck on Superman: Krypton Coaster at SFFT for 2 hours in 2005, and had to be evacuated of the stairs, and there wasn't a single news story about that, no one thought they were going to die, and no vacations were given as compensation. I can asure you, it was just as hot as it would be in California, but we survived.

 

The news really over-reacts. Coasters get stuck every day and riders have to get evacuated. I don't understand why something as simple as this makes national news. I'm sure the riders were very well compensated. Yeah, it may be a scary experience being lowered from a coaster car that is hanging and at a 45 degree angle, and sitting there for 4 hours probably wasn't fun, but this shouldn't be making national news.

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^^ 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.

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Doing CGA again this weekend instead of Santa Cruz (some stuff came down so we decided to do a day at CGA again) I decided to check out Invertigo's aftermath from the stall. The train's now removed from the station, not sure how they got it to lower down. I noticed in one of my pictures I snapped that there was a section of rails just before the Boomerang element removed, probably to take the train off? Does the invertigo coasters have a section of removable rails to do so? I can assure this ride will be out of commission for the rest of the season.

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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?

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I never actually noticed if Invertigo had a catch car...not as obvious as the Boomerang's Catch car. Here's some snaps I got of it today. I'm really confused about how the Invertigo's lift works as it's quite different than a conventional Boomerang's. I know a boomerang's lift uses the cable-driven catch car that bites onto the rear of the train (for the first run) and a raising/lowering conventional chain for the second run (I believe it raises/lowers from when I was watching the mechanical parts of it).

invertigoFail.jpg.6a083ceb9ff9a2aa82112b3ef07dd02a.jpg

And the last thing I noticed when later reviewing my pictures coming home, the removable section that we were just discussing.

invertigoLift.jpg.66208eb06fe1668009d1ff52a05a3721.jpg

Probably the best shot of the lifts I got.

invertigoChain.jpg.96331153cb857c993e6cd21af41584dd.jpg

First thing that stood out (Besides the train missing) was this exposed area where you can see the coaster's chain drive. I'm still confused about how an Invertigo works. I understand the Boomerang's concept, using a cable pulled catch car, and a raising/lowering chain lift for the second lift

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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.

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Since I will be making my first visit to the park this Friday, did they really have to close the entire ride for an investigation?! It broke just as every ride does from time to time. I really wonder if they're just trying to please the public or really do feel the need to spend all this money and downtime to try to look for a cause. Regardless, one of the park's few coasters is closed.

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I'm pretty sure what happened warrants an investigation. If they couldn't move the train or chain at all, it must have been a pretty bad breakdown. I was there on Saturday, and the train was had been taken off the tracks. Hopefully, it can reopen by next year.

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Apparently, Invertigo had some issues all along for the past month according to a recent news clip I caught earlier today. About a month back, the ride had detected a problem and shut off as a safety. Now, it looks like that the lift chain broke, being the cause of the problem. The picture I posted above looks like it could be very well be broken, seeing that slack.

 

Yes, I know a lot of standard coaster lifts have slack in their chains, and utilizing a counterweight to take some of that slack out. I'd link the video directly but there isn't a direct page.

 

Check out www.ktvu.com and look toward the right side at their top stories (which could change real fast). The video will play on the homepage above those links.

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That's very interesting but the computer could have shut it down for many reasons, faulty sensor, etc., not necessarily because of a lift chain problem but who knows. And besides that, coasters shut down all the time because of errors the computers detect, sometimes minor, sometimes operator error, sometimes major, whether that is related to this we will see. As far as the slack I noticed that too but if you look closely in the picture after the chain comes off the pulley there is a 'rail' it rides on, like it's there to hold the chain if there is some slack. But, to the left of that it does look like the chain has a lot of slack. Since we don't normally see this in operation there is no way to know unless someone 'in the know' can shed some light on it. Plus the tensioning mechanism for the chain might be near the gearbox or even at the top of the lift, or maybe there is none at all on this design, although that would not make sense. It's possible if it does have a tensioner that THAT is the assembly that failed maybe causing the chain to have too much slack and bind on something- actually that would make sense as to the cause of this incident and possibly why they could not bring the train back down the lift when this happened. If the chain actually broke, depending on where it broke, I think the train would have just rolled down to the station brakes (if it broke somewhere between the front of the catch car and the gearbox), or if the other section broke they might have been able to bring the train down. Again, don't know plus there probably is a sensor to detect too much slack or a broken chain. If that's the case, then that might have been why they had to evacuate the train.

 

I always wondered what was behind those covers. I knew the chain ran through there but it's neat to actually see it.

 

I know the investigation will take time but I am dying to know what happened!

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It was a tour that TPR did the past week, in which CGA was part of the parks they visited. They happened to visit CGA the day before the incident, I was also there (but not as part of their tour, just a coincidental visit). Luckily it didn't cut out with all of them on it...but again, if it did, we wouldn't hear all these silly GP-ish things on the news about feeling like you were going to die (unless they were joking ofcourse). Instead, you'd probably hear things too knowledgeable for even the media to broadcast.

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