The Smiler - General Discussion

[mikecloud1984]

IF the trains are still sluggish then WE know there are other factors, Yes it could possibly be the train but we dont know if they put that back on the track do we?

None of us are engineers it is all speculation, however taking into account that the trains are having slow down issue's today we can see that the track still needs further testing.

No, none of us are engineers.

It's not possibly the train - it is the train. We saw pictures of it being carted away without the UPVC front wheel on it.

The trains can be as "sluggish" as they want - as long as they complete a full cirucit! 1 train didn't - they took the train away and then tested the ride again to make sure of it. All trains this morning have made it round.

[astralAndy]

I am assuming you have also witnessed the temperature changes needed for this in a 15 minute period in Staffordshire in June?

4 trains made it - 1 didn't. Process of elimination please?!

Here's my process:
One of the trains struggles a bit more than others no matter what the conditions but still makes it round on a regular basis.
There is a problem with this train which means it will take less to stall this train than the others.
Some other factor comes into play (the morning sluggishness) but all trains manage to get round, other than the bad train because this train is already at a disadvantage.

Exactly! - so what do AT do? They cart the problem train away and let the other trains do full circuits!

They kept it shut yesterday as they had to move 4 tonne of train around the track manually back to the maintenance shed to the get rid of it to investigate.

You are right, but the point I was making was that there is more than one factor at play. The problem train is the obvious one, all we are saying is that other things can affect how the trains go round the track. Simple as that. Perhaps if there were a more extreme incidence of whatever this additional factor is then one of the other trains could stall. It's a possibility, we don't know everything. Not even you 

[mikecloud1984]

Here's my process:
One of the trains struggles a bit more than others no matter what the conditions but still makes it round on a regular basis.
There is a problem with this train which means it will take less to stall this train than the others.
Some other factor comes into play (the morning sluggishness) but all trains manage to get round, other than the bad train because this train is already at a disadvantage.

Exactly! - so what do AT do? They cart the problem train away and let the other trains do full circuits!

They kept it shut yesterday as they had to move 4 tonne of train around the track manually back to the maintenance shed to the get rid of it to investigate.

You are right, but the point I was making was that there is more than one factor at play. The problem train is the obvious one, all we are saying is that other things can affect how the trains go round the track. Simple as that. Perhaps if there were a more extreme incidence of whatever this additional factor is then one of the other trains could stall. It's a possibility, we don't know everything. Not even you 

Agreed - yet the facts dictate that all other trains have made it round.

Yes, there can be other factors that would make a train stall - but in thei case it blatently obvious that it is the train and just the train!

[bbooth2]

temperature changes in steel have to be pretty dramatic to alter its shape etc. not to mention it would have to be a concentrated temperature. just because its a sunny day doesn't mean the steel is going to warp or expand to a point where its gonna cause vallying, not to mention the bogeys on the rollercoaster cars probably allow for 0.000001mm of expansion or shrinking, if steel did begin to grow or warp to the point where it is altering the way the cars travel around the track, then im afraid most of the rollercoasters on the planet will have to have shut down due to track warp.

it isn't temperature I don't think

[mikecloud1984]

temperature changes in steel have to be pretty dramatic to alter its shape etc. not to mention it would have to be a concentrated temperature. just because its a sunny day doesn't mean the steel is going to warp or expand to a point where its gonna cause vallying, not to mention the bogeys on the rollercoaster cars probably allow for 0.000001mm of expansion or shrinking, if steel did begin to grow or warp to the point where it is altering the way the cars travel around the track, then im afraid most of the rollercoasters on the planet will have to have shut down due to track warp.

it isn't temperature I don't think

Thank you!  8)

[dangerousdave1983]

Lets just see what happens today, but from my opinion due to grease on the track made some sort of issue with the 5th train.

[Renoh]

There really isn't a bigger picture to look at - the facts dictate that 80% of trains make it around the track fine. 20% don't. The temperature has not changed in anyway to effect the dynamics of steel in this time and we have a picture of the said train being moved away from site.

It really can't be any clearer.

The train might be slow this morning but they are NOT STALLING. AT are not running the "problem" train and guess what - no trains are stalling.

As I've said, it's very clear that 1 train isn't going around and 4 are. You haven't discovered how to turn water into wine with that shocking realisation. So they took a train away, it doesn't prove it's the only problem just because the other 4 are completing circuits. It proves that that particular train is seeing a greater effect from whatever is causing the trains to vary in speed so much.

The latest post said it isn't temperature. Fair enough, but that doesn't mean you can just say "It's the trains" and call end of discussion.

The main point is that taking one train away doesn't prove it's the only problem with the ride. It could be the only problem, but it doesn't prove it to the point where you can keep telling people they are wrong.

[JamieH93]

Is the smiler actually open today?
Are people queueing or arnt they aloud?

[MatthewR1990]

Testing again. But it is still scarily slow.

[Dan]

Is the smiler actually open today?
Are people queueing or arnt they aloud?

We have someone on site who is in the queue and has posted a picture of it testing.

RideTimes is showing it as open but we've not had confirmation yet

[dangerousdave1983]

Testing again. But it is still scarily slow.

mmmm seems like wheel issue causing to much friction, or grease issue

[GigaSurimi]

Air 0 mins
River Rapids 0 mins
The Flume 0 mins
The Smiler 0 mins
Mine Train 5 mins
Nemesis Sub-Terra 5 mins
Nemesis 15 mins
Th13teen 20 mins
Rita 25 mins
Sonic Spinball 45 mins
Oblivion 60 mins

Wow, by the looks of the queue times I'd say that everyone is desperately queueing in front of the Smiler's entrance?  

[mikecloud1984]

There really isn't a bigger picture to look at - the facts dictate that 80% of trains make it around the track fine. 20% don't. The temperature has not changed in anyway to effect the dynamics of steel in this time and we have a picture of the said train being moved away from site.

It really can't be any clearer.

The train might be slow this morning but they are NOT STALLING. AT are not running the "problem" train and guess what - no trains are stalling.

As I've said, it's very clear that 1 train isn't going around and 4 are. You haven't discovered how to turn water into wine with that shocking realisation. So they took a train away, it doesn't prove it's the only problem just because the other 4 are completing circuits. It proves that that particular train is seeing a greater effect from whatever is causing the trains to vary in speed so much.

The latest post said it isn't temperature. Fair enough, but that doesn't mean you can just say "It's the trains" and call end of discussion.

The main point is that taking one train away doesn't prove it's the only problem with the ride. It could be the only problem, but it doesn't prove it to the point where you can keep telling people they are wrong.

So what you are saying is that the issue is with the problem train then? 

If there was another issue then it would effect ALL trains! I really don't know how to make it any clearer.

[Kirsty25]

So Matt said I believe that one wheel on one of the cars wasn't sat on the track, more hitting the track. Is it not a daft question to say is this the issue? I only need to think of dodgy wheels on supermarket trollies or cages to know how bad dodgy wheels can affect things.

[mikecloud1984]

So Matt said I believe that one wheel on one of the cars wasn't sat on the track, more hitting the track. Is it not a daft question to say is this the issue? I only need to think of dodgy wheels on supermarket trollies or cages to know how bad dodgy wheels can affect things.

A dodgy wheel will do it!

So it was a train issue then?!

I would say I you so - but i'm not that kind of person!

[SamPowell]

So the Stalling is nothing to do with washing machines? 

[dangerousdave1983]

But why would all trains be slower today?

if it was a dodgy wheel, it doesn't make sense, if it was indeed one train then all trains should be running perfectly not slow.

[Renoh]

So what you are saying is that the issue is with the problem train then? 

If there was another issue then it would effect ALL trains! I really don't know how to make it any clearer.

How can you say it's not affecting all trains just because only one is stopping? A track problem could be affecting all trains but not all of them are slowing enough to stop! If all trains have their own problems too (as I have acknowledged before), and only train 5 is stopping (if it even is train 5), it can be said that train 5 has a slightly bigger problem than the other 4. After all, they are all going slower.

[JW599]

Looking from another angle, there could have been an unknown fault on the track that became worse as the trains passed over it on the limit of stalling. Hence why they are running slower today - with dummies.

Anything such as a well timed gust of wind hitting the train head on while at low speeds could have caused it to go stall as it was running on the edge.

[RCD27]

Ride times has gone back to Closed. Can't see why it won't open at some point today