Why do coasters sometimes stall in loops?

[MattJackson]

How can a train that`s been running fine for a while just suddenly valley? The facts just don`t add up!! :?

[Blazen_AZN]

^^ cold weather, amount of weight in the train. alot of different things

 

but... how, exactly, did those people get out of that loop on that shuttle coaster? what did they do, position the cherry picker under their seats and release their restraints?

 

Mark "a lapbar'd ride with headbanging!" W

[timetrial3141592]

My favorite vertical loop accident: a Deja Vu train split apart. Half of it was between the boomerang and loop, and half was between the loop and the second spike.. I don't have a picture...

[waterviper]

This isnt a loop stall but a valley. Almost just as bad without being upside down!

 

The Texas Tornado at Wonderland Amusement Park in Amarillo Texas valleyed between the drop and the first loop due to a near thunderstorm gust that slowed it down when it just came off the lift. Reports of it stated that it seemed like an hour for it to stop as it rolled back and fourth between the lift hill and the first loop!! :shock:

 

 

Here is a picture of Texas Tornado but not of the acual valleying.

Picture from RCDB

[ebl]

^ I tried to ride that last May, but it was down for maintenance. It looks like a pretty quirky ride. If I remember correctly, it was O.D. Hopkins' first coaster and designed and built sort of by trial and error (check out the second loop in pictures on The Roller Coaster Database.

 

We're supposed to be going out again next year, so hopefully I'll get on it then!

 

Eric

[KrakenKing]

Was the loop supposed to follow the main supporting? Or did they make the loop "smaller" after they found out it wouldn't make it though the main supporting?

[SFMM rocks my socks]

The boomarangs get stuck because the chain lets go early i think.

[coastercraze2005]

Did anybody watch Travel Channel showing when Flashback at Six Flags Over Texas. It was like some family who was riding and the car got stuck in the first vertical loop. for like 3 hours.

[Satoshi]

i hear shuttle loop sometimes gets stuck!

[thomas2]

Well they couldn't push the train of Turbine (aka Sirocco) because the hydraulic device they used wasn't powerfull enough. It toke more than an hour to find a correct tool. Great coaster though

[Corkscrewed]

So um, I guess to answer the original question (and someone did touch upon it a bit...)

 

There are plenty of ways a coaster can stall, including but not limited to:

 

WEATHER

If the track is, say, too cold, it can produce more friction than normal, causing the train to lose speed too quickly and not make it up the next hill. Less common but conceivably possible is something like rain making the track TOO slick, so that the wheels lose contact and cause the train to valley.

 

WEAR AND TEAR ON TRAINS

If the wheels are too old or worn out, they may produce more friction and cause the train to valley.

 

WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION

Say a train has a bunch of heavy people at the end. The greater concentrated force towards the back can actually slow down the train enough to valley. That's the simplest example; there are other ways an unbalanced train can valley, of course. That's also why flat rides are balanced so that, in the event you don't fill the train, at least you have people on opposite ends and such.

 

FAULTY CHAIN RELEASE

Like in that Boomerang scenario, if a train almost flukishly catches the end of a dog and sort of stutters before dropping, the loss in speed may cause it to valley.

 

LAUNCH WASN'T ENOUGH

Coasters may be listed as launching at a certain speed, but this is rarely completely consistent. It might fluctuate up and down a few miles per hour, and like in last year's (or it might have been 2004) TTD incident, that might be enough to get a coaster just perfectly stuck.

 

 

Basically, a train will get stuck because something causes extra friction, which slows the train down enough to get it stuck. You'd think that a coaster should have plenty of momentum, but when you have such large vehicles with large forces, something relatively minor can actually add up to something major like the coaster getting stuck. In cases where the coaster is stuck in an odd position, like upside IN a loop or right at the crest of a hill, it's often the combination of the above factors getting it just right to balance the train perfectly in an awkward position.

[Vekoma Fan Boy]

I only know of 1, and that was Deamon at SFGAmer.

 

The reason was because of a broken wheel axle, which just happend to stop the train on the loop.

 

I saw that on "Real TV" and actually the park had a power-outage causing acitvation of skid brakes on the cars since there is no electriciy for the normal brakes, and it just so happed that the train was mid-loop.

[AznShortBoi8021]

^ There are no brakes on a train. So you can't really brake a train while in a loop, unless there are brakes in the loop.

[niiicolaaah]

I saw that on "Real TV" and actually the park had a power-outage causing acitvation of skid brakes on the cars since there is no electriciy for the normal brakes, and it just so happed that the train was mid-loop.

 

 

LOLLLLLL thank you for bringing some laughter into my evening.

[pvcoasterguy]

^ My thought exactly.

 

However, Demon did have a safety system that engaged because of the axle breaking, which unforunately stopped the riders in the loop.

 

The same thing happened to the Mindbender, with much different results. (Do a Google search: Mindbender Accident.)

[jason10]

This isn't really a coaster but... Slammer at thorpe park got stuck upside down in the middle of the cycle for about 3 hours. They brought up water for them in buckets because they would get dehidrated being upside down for so long! They never did get the ride working later that day so the had ladders to bring everyone down!!! My god that would be scary. Also corkscrew at alton towers got stuck in the corkscrew for 2 hours. Don't know much more though. Thats all I've heard of except for TTD getting stuck. Oh yer... for those people who don't know when it happened it happedned on June 24, 2005.here's a link to a video of it!

Here's a link to a video of it!

[IceDragon]

This isn't really a coaster but... Slammer at thorpe park got stuck upside down in the middle of the cycle for about 3 hours. They brought up water for them in buckets because they would get dehidrated being upside down for so long! They never did get the ride working later that day so the had ladders to bring everyone down!!! My god that would be scary. Also corkscrew at alton towers got stuck in the corkscrew for 2 hours. Don't know much more though. Thats all I've heard of except for TTD getting stuck. Oh yer... for those people who don't know when it happened it happedned on June 24, 2005.here's a link to a video of it!

Here's a link to a video of it!

 

 

i nearly vallied on Corkscrew at AT... only 3 other people on there at the time... we slowed down a lot!

 

it always feels like youre going to valley on camelbacks

[Loco]

Jubilee Odyssey stalled on its turnaround....it was probably so bumpy and rough that it caused the train to slow down.

Heres a vid of it stuck on the turn

I dont think anyone was on the train.

[Real]

^ Old Schwartzy would be proud. See ... you don't need OTSRs after all

 

That was one of his selling points. I think I remember him actually telling that to either park owners or insurance people if they claimed it wouldnt work, he would always offer to prove to them. I think they always declined

[suf03sfgam]

My favorite vertical loop accident: a Deja Vu train split apart. Half of it was between the boomerang and loop, and half was between the loop and the second spike.. I don't have a picture...

Actually that was a result of the mechanics trying to get the train home... They split the train in half, pulled half of the train through the loop, followed by the other half. Then the train was reconnected and sent on its marry way. When it did get stuck in between the loop and cobra the good old loop brakes decided to grab the train at the last second on the return trip slowing it down enough not to make it home! The computer just had a good old premature ejaculation. And yes that did happen twice it’s the curse of the name.