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Slowest Lift Hill In The World?

You could get away with reading a book going up The Ultimate, let's be honest it's so friggin' slow!
 
I can't believe there's anything slower than the beginning of Teststrecke's lift hill, not even the beginning of Beast (when it's waiting for the other train to return) is that slow. I guess I'll just have to take your word for it.
 
God about half that video is taken up on the lift hill section alone. I know they are pretty slow, its the same with the single loop model we have in Ireland but Teststrecke still looks alot slower.

I reckon it would be a close call between it and The Ultimate.
 
I did it scientifically and ran both POV's side by side.

It's a very close run thing, but I think Teststrecke just about pips The Ultimate in slowness.

Of course, The Ultimate is more annoying as it's taller and there are two, but I think it's just that bit quicker.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_1f1vlAKRI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiVNqWUGv58[/youtube]
 
Laser was slow, but not that slow. Now that Teststrecke has new trains it's slowed down to a crawl. I think it is due to the new trains having trouble attaching to the chain and it has to go very slowly until they get the green light that it is attached properly (as least that's what it looked like from my observations when I rode it).
 
Millennium Force for sure! ;) No really, Out of all the coaster's I've ridden, I think Beast, Mindbender (SFOG), and Firehawk take the longest to get up the lift.
 
Knott's Boomerang is definitely the slowest lifthill I've ever had the mispleasure to be on.
The thing takes AGES to get to the top. Easily slower than Ultimate I think.
 
^Nu uh :p It's actually quite a pleasurable pace :)

The reason (as I was told by someone who deals with the electronics on a ride) for the slow lift speeds is sometimes because of a shot controller, where the park doesn't have the money to replace it or they're too lazy to repair it. OR they're waiting for the off season.

A damaged controller can't send the power through the power lines it would normally be able to if it's fried, so it sends a lower current through to keep itself from burning out completely.

Another reason, which has been mentioned, is for blocking. I know more current controllers also are proportional wit the "throttle" so to speak, so it can adjust according to a trains position on the following block, to allow it to clear before the train reaches the top of the lift. No more 2 speed settings. Just nearly perfect timings, so dispatchers can dispatch a train faster.

Also, like on Goliath at SFMM, they and program (yes, they can be programmed- these ain't your cheap run of the mill controllers) them to slow a train once it's reached a certain point, triggered by a sensor in the track, to build suspense.

But lift hills that have been slow from the start (as in from the date the ride was opened) are either A. geared better to run on a less expensive lift motor system to haul the train up easier without excessive current going through the lift motor, or B. the controller can't handle the intended currents needed to pull the train up the lift fast.

From what the engineer was saying, Ultimate was a lower budget ride, so they decided to go with a higher geared lift motor which cost them less on the rides total materials price.

-or so I've been told. I am fairly avid with the nuts and bolts of things, such as lift motors, speed controllers and gearing and the likes, so I can back up his statements a bit :)
 
I really think Suspended coasters like Flight Deck, Iron Dragon, Big Bad Wolf, and Ninja have the slowest lifts ever! But El Toro and Balder on the other hand...
 
loefet said:
Especially Jet coaster at Wonder Rakutenchi. Over half of the total ride time is spent on the lift hill, and that lift is pretty short :)
I have found a video that really shows the slowness of this thing, they even run the video on 2x and it still slow as heck...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwihSEibsOY[/youtube]
 
^Aw... I was so pissed when I went to Beppu and that place was CLOSED! At least the Hello Kitty Park and Kijima were open though.
 
sometimes the vampire at chessington woa is a bit slow. the second lift hill is slow when they have three trains running.
 
Xpress said:
Also, like on Goliath at SFMM, they and program them to slow a train once it's reached a certain point, triggered by a sensor in the track, to build suspense.

I found this to be interesting, I wonder what other coasters do this...
 
Mike said:
Knott's Boomerang is definitely the slowest lifthill I've ever had the mispleasure to be on.
k.

I will agree with you on that.
 
I think Alton Towers Oblivion is really slow but that is one of the good points about it. It builds up supension which is great.l
 
^ Yeah, Beast. The first lift hill is especially boring because it doesn't really lead to anything. At least after the second lift hill you go into that awesome double helix.
 
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