Back from Orlando and trying to catch up with everuthing I've missed. So, is The Smiler on 4 train operation every day now? (Technical issues aside)

I think so, it never seems to be going over half an hour which suggests this, however I don't know what the hourly throughput was when it had 3 trains, does anyone have a rough idea?

I think it was stated as around 800pph on 3 trains.

MakoMania wrote:

I think it was stated as around 800pph on 3 trains.

The total throughput on a 5 train service according to Coaster Bot on YouTube is 1000 riders per hour so on a three train service, throughput would be reduced to only 600 riders per hour (1000/5 = 200. 200 X 3 = 600)

Tom170499 wrote:

MakoMania wrote:

I think it was stated as around 800pph on 3 trains.

The total throughput on a 5 train service according to Coaster Bot on YouTube is 1000 riders per hour so on a three train service, throughput would be reduced to only 600 riders per hour (1000/5 = 200. 200 X 3 = 600)

It's doesn't work like that, taking off one train doesn't make it 200rph less, unless it goes from 3 to 2.

As Owen said it's a bit more difficult than that to work out the actual throughput. Now that the Smiler is on four train operation is it loading and unloading simultaneously?

Question. At the park today a guest who had boarded the train pointed out a 'loose bolt' on the train, this turned out to be a mis-alignment of the coloured marks that the engineers put on when they do the checks. The ride ops emptied the train, looked at the bolt, sent the train around and then loaded and carried on.
Should an engineer not have been called? Surely the bolt having moved means that it's not torqued correctly?

Dannyski wrote:

Question. At the park today a guest who had boarded the train pointed out a 'loose bolt' on the train, this turned out to be a mis-alignment of the coloured marks that the engineers put on when they do the checks. The ride ops emptied the train, looked at the bolt, sent the train around and then loaded and carried on.
Should an engineer not have been called? Surely the bolt having moved means that it's not torqued correctly?

Did they continue to use said train?

If so, I'd imagine they were told what to do - if it's something like that that doesn't require immediate attention, it's better than temporarily closing the ride as it could wait until the end of the day.

Dannyski wrote:

Question. At the park today a guest who had boarded the train pointed out a 'loose bolt' on the train, this turned out to be a mis-alignment of the coloured marks that the engineers put on when they do the checks. The ride ops emptied the train, looked at the bolt, sent the train around and then loaded and carried on.
Should an engineer not have been called? Surely the bolt having moved means that it's not torqued correctly?

Interesting that happened yesterday and now the Smiler has temporarily closed after reports something fell from a carriage! http://www.itv.com/news/central/2016-09-01/alton-towers-visitors-stranded-on-parks-smiler-ride-15-months-after-crash/ Chances are it was just a piece of dirt or a coin or something rather than something from the carriage itself.

I have two problems with these types of reports.

The phrase "broken down" is thrown around like leftover food, a ride stopping for safety reasons, manual or automatically is the ride functioning correctly. I want it to stop and allow me to get off in an appropriately safe place if the ride says something is wrong. A break down is a motor failing, a component failing, the chain failing, electrical cut off. Maybe I'm just being picky.

The second problem is exampled quite well this article, just how vague it is sometimes "debris". It implies something that isn't normally part of the ride, mud, a shoe, who knows.

Here we go again

Nothing fell from the train, if anything did it would have been a loose belonging. All the news sites are already on it though. Every article I've seen is incorrect in some way.

Max wrote:

Nothing fell from the train, if anything did it would have been a loose belonging. All the news sites are already on it though. Every article I've seen is incorrect in some way.

Yeah one of the ITV updates say that people were left dangling for 30 minutes. Well last time I went on The Smiler, you're not dangling on that vertical climb but lying on your back!

This is the statement issued by the resort following the growing media attention on what appears to be a simple E-stop.

Alton Towers Resort stopped The Smiler to investigate claims a piece of debris had fallen from a carriage.

At no time were guests on the ride at any risk and all were safely removed from the ride promptly by staff, in line with our comprehensive standard procedures.

As the health and safety of our guests is our priority, the ride will remain closed whilst the Resort's technical team investigate the matter.

The Smiler has beaten Donald Trump on the headlines

MakoMania wrote:

The Smiler has beaten Donald Trump on the headlines

What has the world come to when stories about a ride temporarily stopping are more important than stories about a man who is trying to destroy America.

Mirror claiming riders stuck upside down

MakoMania wrote:

Mirror claiming riders stuck upside down

The Sun doing exactly the same

It annoys me when they say it stopped mid-air. It's a rollercoaster, where else is it going to stop?!

MakoMania wrote:

The Smiler has beaten Donald Trump on the headlines

The smiler pledges to build a wall around Oblivion to stop guests riding a superior coaster. In all seriousness the reporting has been terrible for a normal occurrence.

Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk