The Ultimate, train not being filled up

[cp23]

I made it to LWV for the first time ever today, and was rather surprised/disappointed by the way the Ultimate was being run. For the whole day, the back third of the train was full of petrol cans and no-one was allowed to sit there. What on earth is the reason for this? Does it somehow save running costs? I saw they were doing something similar on the ladybird coaster as well.

This annoyed me for two reasons. First of all, it meant that queues were longer than necessary, as the train (only one was running) was taking about 16 people fewer than it could do each time. The park may not have been that full but you still have to wait about 8 minutes between train dispatches, and not filling up that many seats seemed absolutely ludicrous.

Secondly, the front seats get lowered down the drops (especially the first one), so not using the back 1/3 of the train meant very few seats remained where you could really experience the drops properly.

So - why do they do this? I was at Europa Park last weekend and of course never expected LWV to be in the same league in terms of efficiency, but this really just took the biscuit. Are the trains *ever* filled up right to the last seat any more?

 

[Hixee]

On a quiet day I would have said it was to give the train that extra bit of weight. The Ultimate has stalled a few times (don't press me on the details, but it has happened more than once) and by giving the train that little bit more momentum it would hopefully make it all the way round.

However you say that it was busy... only thing I can assume is that it is for consistency. Instead of having kids etc who don't weigh an awful lot, the containers would be more consistent.

 

[Mackem Lad]

As Hixee pointed out, it is to help prevent the train from stalling.

Conditions were windy this weekend and The Ultimate had trouble reaching both the second lift hill and lift back into the station. On Saturday the back cars were closed off for the first hour or so until the wheels warmed up before opening up the full train.

It's not an ideal situation but if they sent it round without them there's a good chance it wouldn't complete the circuit and you'd find yourself not getting on it at all for some time.

 

[Ollie]

But if they have enough people to fill the seats then surely they should be able to fill the whole train?
That's what I found annoying as you had to wait extra long to get on because there's loads of seats not being used on each train.

 

[T0M]

The thing needs new or refurbished trains. The wheel hubs will be shot by now surely and a lot of energy is being lost. The effect has been gradual over the years and less noticeable to the regular rider, but I have had the 'fortune' of having a ten-year gap between rides and there is virtually no momentum whatsoever left by the time it reaches the last helix and tunnel.

 

[cp23]

That is a shame, hopefully something can be done to fix it and restore it to what it once was.

Quite apart from the wheels, though, the train running on Sunday (blue) was in a sorry state of repair; the body of the train was covered in graffiti and cracks/chips, and chunks of foam had been gouged out of the seats and lap bars, leaving a fair bit of exposed metal here and there.

 

[T0M]

^ Yep, train replacement/refurbishment is absolutely essential for next season, particularly as it is having its 20th anniversay. The station could do with some TLC as well.

Apart from this, the ride has held up remarkably well over the years and is still a brilliant and unique experience.

 

[Hixee]

But if they have enough people to fill the seats then surely they should be able to fill the whole train?

That's the part about consistency I was talking about. If each of those drums weighs around the same as a fully grown adult then they're reducing the risk of the back of the train being filled with eight-year-olds, who would be too light.

 

[Xpress]

On Saturday the back cars were closed off for the first hour or so until the wheels warmed up before opening up the full train.

You would have figured they would have made a wheel warmer by now to heat them up to operating temps before running the ride..

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just fill the middle cars up instead, freeing the most popular front and back ones? Or would this not help the problem?

 

[rickydoodle]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just fill the middle cars up instead, freeing the most popular front and back ones? Or would this not help the problem?

Perhaps only for convenience as the barrels are stored next to the back cars when not being used.

 

[Hixee]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just fill the middle cars up instead, freeing the most popular front and back ones? Or would this not help the problem?

I wouldn't have thought the position of the barrels in the train would make that much difference. I think they're purely doing it to bulk up the weight, not affect the hangtime/ejector or anything like that.

So I can only assume it's for convenience, like rickydoodle says.

 

[cp23]

Are the petrol cans really that heavy, though? I could be wrong, but I find it very hard to believe that they weigh as much as a fully-grown adult. In fact, I would have thought the average small child would weigh more. As I've said, I may be wrong, just that they don't look that heavy to me!

 

[slappy mcguire]

from memory, they are full of sand - therefore similar to rock when in a container.

 

[Hixee]

Are the petrol cans really that heavy, though? I could be wrong, but I find it very hard to believe that they weigh as much as a fully-grown adult. In fact, I would have thought the average small child would weigh more. As I've said, I may be wrong, just that they don't look that heavy to me!

from memory, they are full of sand - therefore similar to rock when in a container.

Or water. Both would do a similar thing I would think.

 

[Mackem Lad]

The petrol cans are filled with small pebbles.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just fill the middle cars up instead, freeing the most popular front and back ones? Or would this not help the problem?

Perhaps only for convenience as the barrels are stored next to the back cars when not being used.

Ah, yes, would make sense.

 

[gerstlauer]

Are the petrol cans really that heavy, though? I could be wrong, but I find it very hard to believe that they weigh as much as a fully-grown adult. In fact, I would have thought the average small child would weigh more. As I've said, I may be wrong, just that they don't look that heavy to me!

They are bloody heavy!!

Helped the team lift them into the train once, they way a tonne (not literally)