Tidal Wave Question

m11stephen2 · Post by **m11stephen2** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 8:01 am

In this picture why does tidal wave have cat walks around the loop area of the ride? Is this because it didnt have enough power to go through the loop sometimes?

that_guy · Post by **that_guy** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 9:51 am

yeah, sometimes it wouldn't launch correctly and would get stuck between the loop and the far incline of the ride, making it easier to evacuate the catwalk was installed. There is a topic that covers this but i can't seem to find it at the moment…

segerken · Post by **segerken** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 8:46 pm

Originally they didn't have the cat walk and made evacuating people when the train got stuck on the wrong side of the loop. Why would it get stuck on the other side of the loop? When the operator pressed the button the fired the catapult the ride would check the status of a series of relays. If a relay was not set correctly, the brakes would come on to stop the train. If it was one of the last relays that was set wrong, it would put the brakes on to late. So, instead of stoping the train, the brakes would just slow down the train enough so that it could only make it one way through the loop. This didn't happen very often, but once in a great while it would.

that_guy · Post by **that_guy** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:25 am

Did Marriott have a choice between flywheel and weight drop launches when they bought them or was the flywheel launch not an option?

m11stephen2 · Post by **m11stephen2** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:11 pm

I think they did at least for the one at gurnee. If it just became available in 1978 they probably didnt want to do that because they would be different then.

NotBill · Post by **NotBill** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 1:49 am

I had a lot of friends on Wave crew and I can't remember but I may have even done attendant training on Wave when I was Lead over at Lobster/Gig, can't remember but I remember a lot about the ride operations.

On Wave if you hit the e-stop at the wrong time it was possible to hang a train so that it didn't have enough momentum to make it back through the loop and this happened once when I was there.

Basically the Wave is a giant slingshot -- big weight in the tower, cable comes back to the pusher that is at the back of the train (it even had a name, I forget what it was though). Anyway, if you hit the e-stop and the train was past a certain point the pusher would disconnect from the cable stopping all pushing but not the train itself since obviously there is only one brake on the Wave and that was the station brake.

Anyway, someone hit the e-stop at the wrong point once and the train couldn't make it back through. Worst of all, they couldn't get it to stop moving because it just kept moving back and forht between the forward spire and the loop. Eventually they got a whole bunch of towels to put out on the track for it to run over and slowed down to the point they could evacuate that train to the catwalk mentioned.

--Guy

that_guy · Post by **that_guy** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 9:11 am

Towels? Wouldn't they get caught in the wheel assembly and practically rip them apart?

NotBill · Post by **NotBill** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:56 am

That was the idea, they would stack a bunch of towels together and place them on the track to get run over by the train, gradually they were able to bring the train to a stop with enough towels.

that_guy · Post by **that_guy** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 3:44 pm

lol, I guess, I wouldn't have had a better idea except wait

UAORDStew · Post by **UAORDStew** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:38 pm

hey there notbill....trying to remember who you are....i was at the park the same time you were, but can't quite put a name to a face. i worked up at t-wave in 87 and 88 and i was one of the opening year leads up at power dive/cajun in 1989, worked the commercial shoot of shock wave in 88...blah, blah, blah......

anyhoo, the name of the pusher was oscar.

yes...it sounds like a very bad idea to put towels on the track, but that WAS the only way to stop the train from rocking back and forth. i was actually working up on t-wave on a day that it happened.

for some strange reason the ride had a habit of giving itself a "ride initiated e-stop"every so often during the years i worked up there. no e-stops were ever hit that day....and just as luck would have it, the brakes closed just at the right point to slow the train enough that it would make it thru the loop, but there wouldn't be enough momentum to make it back thru. after talking to the mechanics about it, if the brakes are closed half way thru the second to last car, that's all it needs to slow it down enough for the train to not make it back.

UAORDStew · Post by **UAORDStew** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:56 pm

okay...my bad at typing and editing...LOL!! that should be lead at dive/cajun in 87....LOL! rolling dumpster debuted in 89....

Tech Services 1 · Post by **Tech Services 1** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:06 am

UAORDStew wrote:
....and just as luck would have it, the brakes closed just at the right point to slow the train enough that it would make it thru the loop, but there wouldn't be enough momentum to make it back thru. . . .

And the results looked like this:
http://www.greatamericaparks.com/images ... m=33&pos=5

And although the braking problem occured more than once, I believe this picture was taken the day the cable broke during launch, and the counterweight fell in the tower, slamming to the base. The impact felt like a small earthquake in the immediate area of the park, and the noise was very strange. Scared a bunch of people working in Music Hall!

I happened to be in the shop when we heard & felt the impact, and the "Signal 2- Tidal Wave-" call came over the radio, so I grabbed my camera, and climbed up our radio tower to get on the roof of the utility building. I had a pretty good view of the evacuation, except for a few trees in the way.

It took a few weeks to get the ride repaired and operational again. I don't remember if I have any more pictures of this incident, but I'll keep looking.

PPG

nedge32 · Post by **nedge32** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:34 am

cool picture! thanks for sharing

UAORDStew · Post by **UAORDStew** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:04 pm

thanks for the pic tech services1.....ha ha ha...brings back memories.

as for the cable snapping, i remember back in 87 when that happened and the train "rang the bell". thank god no one was onboard the train at the time. the ride had one of it's "ride initiated e-stops" and maintenance was sending empty trains to see if it would happen again. a usual practice during a downtime to try and re-create/re-initiate the situation. well, i remember standing outside show wardrobe and hearing the train being launched. it sounded very strange and louder than normal, then came the snap of the cable, the loud bang and shaking of the ground from the counterweight in the tower and then i remember standing there watching the train go FLYING through the loop and up the front wave, striking the bumper (hence "ring the bell") at the top of the front wave. the impact was so great that the entire front car was complete demolished, the fiberglass front end came crashing down and landed ontop of a park garbage can that was situated in the employee backstage area. that was smooshed to bits. the second car in the train was also damaged. as i mention, fortunately no one was in the train otherwise there would have been certain death and injury. the disbaled train BARELY made it back thru the loop and stoppped on the runway. i remember there was a group of us that just stood out in the service corridor and watched in horror. i was to have worked up at the t-wave the next day, but the train was already taken apart and placed on the ground. i can't remember how long it was down, but it was for a LONG time.

RLAiello · Post by **RLAiello** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:57 pm

UAORDStew wrote:thanks for the pic tech services1.....ha ha ha...brings back memories.

as for the cable snapping, i remember back in 87 when that happened and the train "rang the bell". thank god no one was onboard the train at the time. the ride had one of it's "ride initiated e-stops" and maintenance was sending empty trains to see if it would happen again. a usual practice during a downtime to try and re-create/re-initiate the situation. well, i remember standing outside show wardrobe and hearing the train being launched. it sounded very strange and louder than normal, then came the snap of the cable, the loud bang and shaking of the ground from the counterweight in the tower and then i remember standing there watching the train go FLYING through the loop and up the front wave, striking the bumper (hence "ring the bell") at the top of the front wave. the impact was so great that the entire front car was complete demolished, the fiberglass front end came crashing down and landed ontop of a park garbage can that was situated in the employee backstage area. that was smooshed to bits. the second car in the train was also damaged. as i mention, fortunately no one was in the train otherwise there would have been certain death and injury. the disbaled train BARELY made it back thru the loop and stoppped on the runway. i remember there was a group of us that just stood out in the service corridor and watched in horror. i was to have worked up at the t-wave the next day, but the train was already taken apart and placed on the ground. i can't remember how long it was down, but it was for a LONG time.

Todd! I remember you!

Welcome to the boards!