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Scenic Railway


dr_teeth
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Hey guys, was in melbourne over the last week and managed to get the time to head off to St Kilda to visit Luna Park Melbourne. I have a question over the lift mechanism that the Scenic Railway uses. Is anyone in-the-know of how this actually works? It just appears to be a continuous cable that has no pins or links that the train might latch onto?? Obviously there has to be some sort of way the train grips the cable so, yeah was just wondering if anyone can throw some light onto it. While wer on the topic has anyone whos ever ridden this coaster noticed that there is no safety latching on the lift...id hate to see the mess that would make having a train full of people going backwards through the station. :blink:

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ok so i just got back from luna park and whoa that place really needs some work done to it! all of the parks 'good' rides were closed including the scenic railway, metropolis mad mouse thing, the enterprise and the pharoes curse. the park seriously looks like a pit of tar with a few carny rides placed on it... i hope lindsay fox does a good job with the place in the near future.

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Although "Luna Park Walt Disney World" would be just such a good name for the park. In all honesty I think they could do the place up a little more than it currently is at the moment, but it is afterall just a tacky little amusement park. But hey, they can clean it up a little and make it look respectable of course.

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I think the ride op just pulls the brake lever back, causing the train to grip onto the cable. As for a roll back, if the ride op let go for some reason I doubt much would happen because the ride never runs two trains so it wouldnt hit anything.
Ah yeah would make sence i guess to use the brake. If the train ever did break free and roll backwards i dont think id want to be on it...theres a kink at the bottom of the lift hill after the station that if you went thru at any sort of speed wouldnt be pretty :lol:
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Although "Luna Park Walt Disney World" would be just such a good name for the park. In all honesty I think they could do the place up a little more than it currently is at the moment, but it is afterall just a tacky little amusement park. But hey, they can clean it up a little and make it look respectable of course.
Well now that the new owners have taken over... im sure we will see the place done up.... they want to add new rides....Boot Pharos Curse, Metropolis and Twin Dragon!, oh and GForce
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Where tho B? Like theres no ratchet device on the lift, and as far as i could see from my front seat perspective on the ride, that there are no trims or any other sort of braking devices "on track"....I think the only stopping device is the actual brake that the driver uses. I mean it wouldnt matter if the ride went backwards in any part *other* then the lift cos it would just valley out. However having said all that, i guess for insurance and safety reasons there would have to be some sort of emergency device that could be used in the event that the train escaped the lift....what that is tho i have no idea.

Edited by dr_teeth
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  • 2 weeks later...

Has been quite a while since I've stumbled in here, good to be back. As for the question of how the train grips the cable, it is surprisingly simple and highly effective. The brakesperson has no role in it (if the brake was activated whilst on the cable... well you'd have the brake fighting the lift motor with disasterous consequences, the big leather belt in the motor room would probably slip, the cable would slowly stop, and you'd be stationary on the incline) Underneath the centre boagie is a set of jaws that remain forced shut with a high powered spring at all times. Just before the train rolls up to the cable, the boagie rolls over a ramped block of wood, which connects with a spring loaded arm on the jaws which opens them just at the point the train is rolling (in perfectly synchronised speed) to the cable. Once over the cable, the block of wood ramps off, depressing the mechanism under the boagie causing the jaws to spring shut with the cable between them. At the very top of the lifthill, lies another ramped block which once again opens the jaws, allowing the train to roll off the cable. Incidentally, IMO, the point the train engages with the moving cable on the lifthill, is the smoothest I've ever felt, there is rarely any 'kickback' unlike almost all other chained coasters - a perfect design. Of course, if an empty train is running, and for example, the track is cold, there is a bit of a kick as it's moving down the platform a lot slower. Am pretty sure I've posted somewhere how this device works somewhere else on this forum. It's a good question, one that puzzled me for a while. (it's amazing how simple some things are designed when revealed...) As for the anti-roll-back tracks, you didn't look too hard! They are on each side of the centre of the track, along the inner side of the rails, pretty standard PTC designs, a few sets of dogs under each boagie. The Scenic Railway IS, remember, a SCENIC RAILWAY. (and IMO gives the best views of any coaster in Aus). If you're after 'coasterbuff' thrills, then this is not your ride. Your criticisms are void. And what's with all this whinging about the bumpyness of the ride? What do you expect, it's a woodie, and a 1912 gravity design at that. ;) That's my two cents worth. Yes a great pity both original Big Dippers are gone from our LP's, I never did get to ride them :(

Edited by Zamperla
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  • 10 months later...

Exceptionally well said Zamperla.. You appear to have great knowledge of this machine. Your comment about how smooth the transition is between station and lifthill is spot on. When i rode the ride it was a perfect transition between the two. Such a simple design, yet so effective. dr_teeth - Do look harder next time, Zamperla is yet again, spot on about the roll backs. Speculation and assumption will only lead you to the wrong path.. Try having a talk to some of the operators next time you are there.. They were more then willing to explain some of the finer points to me and extremely friendly to approach.

Edited by playwithme
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