The Smiler - General Discussion

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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RCD27
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Ride close time has been extended to 6pm do you think that they will hope to open it later today then
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mike_roller
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Is Air definitely closed or is it an error on ridetimes.co.uk?
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Rayson95
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mike_roller wrote: Is Air definitely closed or is it an error on ridetimes.co.uk?
yeah the guy said opening later today it has technical difficulties
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Jammydodger
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Saw has stalled a few times this year already, its not something that needs a tremendous amount of time to fix.
a day at most. I suppose it depends on whether they decide to go back to gerst or give it one last chance. I'm really starting to feel for gerst though, this cant be doing any good for their reputation...
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Wouldn't have happened with a B&M.... Just saying... ;)
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Phild94
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Chris-TT wrote: Wouldn't have happened with a B&M.... Just saying... ;)
I'm sure all coasters have had at least 1 stall in their time between testing and now ;)......

And I have to ask WHY.... why would they run this thing with empty trains :| surely they would've learnt by now :/
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JAMMYD777
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Chris-TT wrote: Wouldn't have happened with a B&M.... Just saying... ;)
Well, if you don't count Leviathan and Shambhala  ;)
Phild94 wrote: And I have to ask WHY.... why would they run this thing with empty trains :| surely they would've learnt by now :/
I'm pretty sure it is standard procedure to test with empty trains. You wouldn't want a slightly full train to stall during operation therefore an empty train is required to complete the circuit in testing. However, I still think it would be best to warm the trains up with dummy tests at first then move onto empty tests once warmed up. That way stalling will be less likely.
Last edited by JAMMYD777 on Tue Jun 04, 2013 11:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
SW7:
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Katherine
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TowersStreet just posted another picture of the stalled car.
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iriderides101
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Stalled! This is bad- just remember you crazy at fans it's a new ride and bound to have teething problems, so don't take it out on the staff :)
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Chaz
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Chris-TT wrote: Wouldn't have happened with a B&M.... Just saying... ;)
Oh Fail.

A lot of people (here, social media etc) are saying a similar thing; that we should have got a B&M. What an absurd idea, having a variety of coasters is what a park needs, and AT is now getting this. It is just a shame that this has happened, and seems to keep happening, I'm sure it is just further 'teething' problems and that it will be the last roll back....fingers crossed...
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GigaSurimi
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Phild94 wrote:
Chris-TT wrote: Wouldn't have happened with a B&M.... Just saying... ;)
I'm sure all coasters have had at least 1 stall in their time between testing and now ;)......

And I have to ask WHY.... why would they run this thing with empty trains :| surely they would've learnt by now :/
What you don't seem to understand is that the train behaves exactly the same whether it's full of obese people or completely empty. It's basic physics. Gravity affects an empty or full train in the exact same way.

Now external factors might affect the behavior of the train:
- friction of the wheels (which might be greater when the train is full)
- wind resistance
And I believe the reason why the train stalled today is probably due to a friction/wheel problem. :)

EDIT: uggh - Smiler closed, Air closed, Oblivion closed... that's gonna be a great day hahaha :D
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Chaz
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GigaSurimi wrote: What you don't seem to understand is that the train behaves exactly the same whether it's full of obese people or completely empty. It's basic physics. Gravity affects an empty or full train in the exact same way.
Isn't that only when it reaches velocity? Which certainly wont happen. So you are saying that a train weighing 1 tonne  will reach the breaks at the same time a train weighing 1.5 tonnes will? This cannot be correct? Look at racing coasters, that also depends on weight sometimes.

I'm confused.
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Dan
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I'm quietly confident they'll have it open for tomorrow.

It's had 4 days of virtually constant running (save for the odd breakdown) with no issues when completing the track. I think it's highly likely that this is the 5th train that hasn't had as much running as the others. A few tweaks to the wheel assembly once it's back in the mech bay will sort it out no problem.

On the other hand I could be completely wrong and it's a fatal design flaw with the trains that will keep it closed for a while, but I really hope not.
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MatthewR1990
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nicksy111 wrote: I'm quietly confident they'll have it open for tomorrow.

It's had 4 days of virtually constant running (save for the odd breakdown) with no issues when completing the track. I think it's highly likely that this is the 5th train that hasn't had as much running as the others. A few tweaks to the wheel assembly once it's back in the mech bay will sort it out no problem.

On the other hand I could be completely wrong and it's a fatal design flaw with the trains that will keep it closed for a while, but I really hope not.
It can't be a fatal design flaw. It has been running relatively well since Saturday.

I do pray it's open tomorrow though. My one trip a year tomorrow and will hate not to ride it. :/
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Dan
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It can't be a fatal design flaw. It has been running relatively well since Saturday.

I do pray it's open tomorrow though. My one trip a year tomorrow and will hate not to ride it. :/
I'm praying its open for Thursday. After being there for the original opening date I would be gutted to miss out on riding it again.
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JAMMYD777
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I've always had concerns over the design of the batwing if I'm honest. The two halves are pretty much identical in size. You would expect the second half loop to be smaller in height due to friction forces acting on the trains, lowering their momentum. However both loops are pretty much equal. Therefore, if it just makes it over the first half, it will almost certainly not make it over the second half and will valley.

In this case though, I pray it's a case of wheels not being broken in on either the new train, or just new wheels that have been changed. It's the only plausible explanation considering it's been running relatively well these past 4 days.
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Katherine
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Official unreliable source have told us there is a badger on the vertical lift hill on #TheSmiler
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bbooth2
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Chaz wrote:
Chris-TT wrote: Wouldn't have happened with a B&M.... Just saying... ;)
Oh Fail.

A lot of people (here, social media etc) are saying a similar thing; that we should have got a B&M. What an absurd idea, having a variety of coasters is what a park needs, and AT is now getting this. It is just a shame that this has happened, and seems to keep happening, I'm sure it is just further 'teething' problems and that it will be the last roll back....fingers crossed...
not to mention that air breaks down at least once a day.
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Katherine
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JW599
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Oh Dear! Now Rita is closed.

On a positive note courtesy of ATG, crane spotted on site:

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Last edited by JW599 on Tue Jun 04, 2013 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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