INTAMIN Cable Lift Question

[GAcoaster]

Questions for all the experts on INTAMIN cable lifts (I've only seen the one on Millennium Force).

 

Do they all start directly out of the station?

Can they only engage a train from a complete stop?

 

There is great debate from people who attended the unveiling of El Toro of whether or not it will have a cable lift system, some people insisting they heard it will and some hearing it won't.

 

My personal thought is chain lift since that's what was in the generally reliable animation of the ride, and the trains make a U-turn out of the station before engaging the lift. On top of that, I'm pretty sure the marketing department would be bragging about it as a "first of it's kind" feature if it were the case.

 

For it to have a cable lift (assuming my understanding of the cable lift mechanism is right), the train would have to roll out, come to a dead stop at the bottom of the lift, then engage the catch car. That just seems overly complicated and unrealistic.

 

I love the idea of a cable lift on El Toro, but I just don't see it as practical.

[CoasterFanatic]

I don't think for one second that this ride will have a cable lift. At it's height, it is completely unneccesary.

 

You're right in the fact that the train has to be at a stop to engage the sled.

[Thrasher]

As far as I know, the cable system can only been used from a complete stop. The cable lift system works like a sled on the end of the cable. It connects to the train in a one-way release. The train can move forward over it, but cannot move back(think of the chain-dog ratchet system). The only way it would be possible to include this on El Toro is if they someone how synced(sp?) up the system just perfect.

 

Also, the Cable lift system has been used on 3 coasters by Intamin. Goliath at SFH(now Walibi World), Expedition GeForce at Holiday World, and of course Millennium Force.

 

EDIT: beat me too it on the sled part Coasterfanatic!

[Captain Jack]

Well, correct in that the train has to be at a complete stop...however, all Intamin's with the cable lift HAVE to start with a direct lift from the station. This is as far as my coaster knowledge knows, Robb probably knows that Mil. Force, Goliath, and Exp.G-Force all have lifts that start right from the station. This is the only way for the cable to grab the coaster car, even in RCT2 and RCT3. I could very well be wrong, but I'm 99% sure that a cable lift hill must start from the station, and since El Toro has a turnaround before the lift and the video shows the classic chain...I do not predict a cable lift.

[Yeah 7]

IIRC, the cable on Goliath picks the train up at the bottom of the lift, not in the station like on E:GF, there is a slight jolt on the train when it engages the cable sled. Kicker wheels move the train out the station and up onto the lift where it engages.

[viking86]

Fuga da Atlantide in Gardaland uses cable lifthills. The cars/boats stops (as far as I remember) at the bottom of the lifts and waits for the catch car to come down. It may seem pointless for such a small ride, but it takes no time to get to the top. I belive it helps increasing the capacity in such a busy park as Gardaland as its much faster than a regular lift.

[imbordisux]

There's really no reason WHY it couldn't have a cable-lift, as the catch-car mechanism works much like a normal chain-lift - if the catch only works in one direction, then there's no reason that it couldn't engage even if the car is moving.

 

Let's say the train rolls out of the station as normal; well, it's not gonna make it up the lift hill with such little momentum, so it'll just come to a stop naturally when it gets to the lift-hill, and, assuming that the sled is already at the bottom of the hill (since it'll come right back down after taking the train to the top), it can just engage that way. No holding break needed, as the train would stop naturally.

 

I'm pretty sure the ONLY problem with this scenario is that there would need to be a straight-section BEFORE the lift-hill, because the sled would have to engage the train at least half-way back, since at least half of the train would have to make it over the apex to pull the rest of the train over; this is where chain- and cable-lifts differ, as chain-lifts grab on to EACH car, so that, even after the first train crests the lift, the chain continues to push more cars over until the front-half of the train is heavy enough to pull the rest, whereas cable lifts (so far) only grab onto one car, and, since the car it grabs onto would have to be at least half-way through, then there would have to be a straight-section of track prior to the lift-hill that is at least as long as the front half of the train, unless they could get the sled to navigate the track. I assume this is why many cable-lifts start right out of the station - because there's really no reason to have a little section of plain, boring, straight track before the lift-hill.

 

All that said, I'm relatively sure this one won't - it's unnecessarily complicated. Plus, I love chain-lifts - that "click click, click click, click click" is awesome.

[Guest]

Isn't this ride only like a minute and ten seconds or 40, I forget which one. With all of those hills even though speed is higher, couldn't a cable lift work? Shorter time from station to first drop. Just a thought I had. I could totally be wrong though.

 

And I don't think woodies should be without a chain lift either. That sound is beautiful!

 

Katie

[SonOfBeastSucks]

^ The legnth of it is 1: 42.

[Homey G.]

Thunder Dolphin also uses the cable lift : http://www.rcdb.com/ig1845.htm?picture=26

 

Not to mention, El Toro will be taller than both Expedition GeForce as well as Goliath at Walibi, so the "it's not tall enough" doesn't hold a lot of water, imo.

[Wishmaster]

Do they all start directly out of the station?

Can they only engage a train from a complete stop?

Only the first generation cable lift.

 

Goliath @ Walibi World is the only one with a second generation cable lift. On G! the cable doesn't come into the station. Like Yeah 7 said, the train is pushed out of the station by kicker wheels, it passes the cable sled and than the cable sled catches up to the train. The train doesn't stop to hook up to the cable sled.

 

As for El Toro, cable lifts are only being used on steel coasters. Colossos and Balder don't have cable lift's either.