Multiple Train Shuttles--Why Didn't they Take Off?

[KevinM]

Does anyone else wonder why the Mr. Freeze concept of having two trains with a transfer track station was never duplicated? Shuttles are cool, two train operations are cool... why haven't more two-train shuttles been built?

[let1gre]

I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that the ride time is so short and the principle of "what goes up, must come down" kind of toil with the idea of having two trains on a shuttle.

[larrygator]

Does anyone else wonder why the Mr. Freeze concept of having two trains with a transfer track station was never duplicated? Shuttles are cool, two train operations are cool... why haven't more two-train shuttles been built?

 

Probably because few shuttle coasters have been built at high traffic parks in recent years,

Edited October 26, 2010 by larrygator

[Airtime&Gravity]

Does anyone else wonder why the Mr. Freeze concept of having two trains with a transfer track station was never duplicated? Shuttles are cool, two train operations are cool... why haven't more two-train shuttles been built?

 

I believe the transfer track was a cause of frequent downtime when the ride originally opened. Plus, in my times to SFSTL, when both sides are running, it doesn't seem like a big improvement. It only seems to work if the second train is checked and waiting for dispatch. This doesn't seem to happen often though as people are still taking their seats or the lap bars are still being checked when the other train has already returned.

 

 

If it works, it is great, but it doesn't seem to work often enough to warrant it on other launched coasters. Then again, no new launched shuttle coasters are being built these days.

[coasterlover420]

It seems like the biggest thing to me would be if one train takes a long time to load or something happens, the other train can't unload, and that's just more people that get stuck on the ride. I'm sure capacity would in theory be better.

 

(Something funny: while I was working at WT, we got some people complain that we weren't running two trains )

[ILoveRides]

Every time I see the title of this thread I think of this:

It's kind of annoying.

[Houston Thrills]

It seems like the biggest thing to me would be if one train takes a long time to load or something happens, the other train can't unload, and that's just more people that get stuck on the ride. I'm sure capacity would in theory be better.

 

(Something funny: while I was working at WT, we got some people complain that we weren't running two trains )

 

The transfer tables work independently, and I've even seen one side dispatch 2 times before the other one dispatched once, even though that's rare. In fact, I believe they're not even allowed to move the tables at the same time anymore, as they used to do for years, because of problems it was causing. At SFOT, when they're running 2 trains, which seems to be pretty often, they're pretty good at having each side ready to dispatch when the other comes back. There was one time this year when i went that they had 4 ops on the ride instead of 5, though, which meant there was only 1 person checking restraints on each train. They were a bit sluggish that day, obviously.

[Noobitizer]

So far everyone is pretty spot on. The ride has a fairly low capacity and ride design that was ahead of its time. And with any LIM/LSM type coaster, its an energy hog, typically requiring its own independent power transformer to handle the loads. However the Freeze coasters loading system has always been one of my favorite dramatic loading sequences.

[Erik_73]

And with any LIM/LSM type coaster, its an energy hog, typically requiring its own independent power transformer to handle the loads

 

The Lynet @ Farup doesn't have its own power transformer; It has a fly-wheel generator combination and is therefore a "normal" consumer for the electricty network.

[themeparkman25]

^Someone back me on this, but I am also pretty sure that Wicked at Lagoon also utilizes a fly wheel generator to "recapture" some of the energy, yielding a more efficient launch.

[Gav]

I'm going to say the reason this type of coaster hasn't really taken off is because these days they're more likely to just go and build a short full circuit launcher rather than a shuttle coaster, and subsequently be able to run two trains easily without the need for a sliding station. If you look at some of the shorter accelerators (Eg Stealth) the amount of trackage is comparable to rides Mr Freeze anyway.

[palmerleeberry]

I do know what you mean; there are two rides I know off that has the mulitple train shuttles, both of them are called "Mr Freeze's Chiller coaster" and one is located in Six Flags Mid America (outside of St. Louis) and the other one is located in Six Flags over Texas (near Dallas). I rode both of those coasters and I love them to death, especially the top hat inversion.

 

So why didn't more parks get a ride like "Mr. Freeze"? It would seem logical for a park that needed a high-thrill ride that didn't take up a large amount of space, plus the concept of mutiple stations that would alternate (one side loading while the other side was in operation) was groundbreaking at the time. But I think the two major drawbacks for this ride has to be the extra downtime (two stations = double the problems) and the extra staff needed (two stations = two sets of ride attendants). Besides, with other types of launch coasters (such as Kennywood's Sky Rocket) and other parks perferring their coasters to only have one station to operate in maybe the reason why the mutiple Train shuttles didn't take off.

 

Still, there might be another Mr. Freeze type ride somewhere in the future. You never know.

 

"And I know there's a place in the future you will have to stop typing and lay your head on me!"

[Noobitizer]

And with any LIM/LSM type coaster, its an energy hog, typically requiring its own independent power transformer to handle the loads

 

The Lynet @ Farup doesn't have its own power transformer; It has a fly-wheel generator combination and is therefore a "normal" consumer for the electricty network.

 

That is correct. The new generation LSM coasters (no LIMS to my knowledge) are far more efficient than the older LIM and even LSM systems and do not require an independent power system.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

I do know what you mean; there are two rides I know off that has the mulitple train shuttles, both of them are called "Mr Freeze's Chiller coaster" and one is located in Six Flags Mid America (outside of St. Louis) and the other one is located in Six Flags over Texas (near Dallas). I rode both of those coasters and I love them to death, especially the top hat inversion.

 

So why didn't more parks get a ride like "Mr. Freeze"? It would seem logical for a park that needed a high-thrill ride that didn't take up a large amount of space, plus the concept of mutiple stations that would alternate (one side loading while the other side was in operation) was groundbreaking at the time. But I think the two major drawbacks for this ride has to be the extra downtime (two stations = double the problems) and the extra staff needed (two stations = two sets of ride attendants). Besides, with other types of launch coasters (such as Kennywood's Sky Rocket) and other parks perferring their coasters to only have one station to operate in maybe the reason why the mutiple Train shuttles didn't take off.

 

Still, there might be another Mr. Freeze type ride somewhere in the future. You never know.

 

"And I know there's a place in the future you will have to stop typing and lay your head on me!"

 

This is the same basic problem we've seen with the vekoma & B&M flyers using dual stations....Batwing hardly ever uses both platforms simply because it takes twice the staff to run if they did it that way.

[palmerleeberry]

Concurring with my reasons why the Mutiple Train Shuttles never took off, KDCOASTERFAN added this line:

 

This is the same basic problem we've seen with the vekoma & B&M flyers using dual stations....Batwing hardly ever uses both platforms simply because it takes twice the staff to run if they did it that way.

 

You are correct, but I do know of one park that I have visited on numerous times and I have seen them use both station for their flyer coasters. I'm talking about FIREHAWK at Kings Island. They are probably the only ride staff I know of that I feel properly know have to move the riders in and out. But as for BATWING in Six Flags America , always ride that coaster first or you'll be waitng all day as they only run one station and one train.

 

"And that's the truth you can sleep on!"

[BarryH]

Every time I see the title of this thread I think of this:

 

Is that a real shuttle?