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Galactica: General Discussion

ScottishChris said:
When I worked in the industry (a long time ago) we had to announce 'all clear' before dispatching this was due to a near miss with a maintainance guy on a transfer track (which was just before the lift on a coaster).

So basically, it is likely a warning that the ride is about to operate for anyone in the near vicinity.
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Was that actually within audible range?

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Alsty said:
How does an announcement, either spoken or automatic, actually make you safer?

It doesn't
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Fully agree. An announcement does nothing to enhance safety if proper checks on the harnesses have been made by the hosts. It's a knee-jerk reaction by Merlin to a problem that does not really exist.

Back when I worked on the rides, you'd be amazed how many parents would insist on checking their childs harness then telling you not to do so as they'd done it - and then complain when you did go and check it.
 
ihaveaspergers said:
Was that actually within audible range?

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Depends where you were standing. In the immediate vicinity of a coaster station - yes. Completely within the ride area of a flat - yes. I think it was a 'better than nothing' view.

My major attractions were a woodie - so once the train actually got started you could here it coming, and a rapids. The rapids didn't have a turntable, but 3 manually operated belts - which moved fast and suddenly when engaged... So the 'all clear' was quite vital there.

I suppose it all comes down to good practice, and being able to say procedures were in place if something goes wrong.
 
Alsty said:
The question is, why is somebody in the ride area when it's operational? I don't know the ride, but that doesn't sound right to me.
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Maintainance sometimes can only do certain things when rides are operation - greasing tracks, checking running, visial inspections etc.

Then you have people. People do dumb things. I have seen guests jump safety gates to collect dropped items etc.

Above all, I think it does make sense to be proactive and alert people that a ride is about to cycle.
 
Kraken27 said:
Fully agree. An announcement does nothing to enhance safety if proper checks on the harnesses have been made by the hosts. It's a knee-jerk reaction by Merlin to a problem that does not really exist.

Back when I worked on the rides, you'd be amazed how many parents would insist on checking their childs harness then telling you not to do so as they'd done it - and then complain when you did go and check it.
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Not true.
Recent late night PBS cable show.
Eastern efficiencies in safe production.
When a job is completed...the worker points out it has been completed safely...points out to all workers in the area the job has been completed fully and safely, other workers point at the job, look to see the job is done well, and all say job well done.
Slows production by 1%, increases overall h&s, and quality of production, by 10%.
Makes you look a bit of a twit when you do it though.
 
To me that sounds a bit haphazard and after everyone's said it for the hundredth time, I doubt the same level of attention is being given. Better to have a process that everyone follows, and that process means people are cross- checking each other's work (think why we have "enabling controls" on dispatch, for example).

An operator saying "all clear and safe" is meaningless as it's not cross- checked against the people doing the actual harness checks.

We've spoken before of security theatre. I think this is "safety theatre". Make people feel better without actually doing anything substantive.
 
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There was one time a while a go they shouted the 4-1 3-1 all clear etc but my partners shoulder straps hadn’t locked and I had to get the attention of one of the ops and they did a release and recheck. So could this train have dispatched without them locked or would they be like the swarm where they sometimes lock after dispatch?
 
I have seen that before too although I can assure you it was locked.

The vest retracts when the harness opens, a bit like the seatbelt in your car, but similarly it doesn't always retract fully under some circumstances. When this happens it can be loose around the shoulders when you close it again. Even when the harness locks, that slack remains and the vest feels insecure. It's unlikely the control system would detect that as it is locked and it is in a valid position.

However the vest doesn't actually form a safety critical part of the harness, so even if it was completely loose it's not a problem. It's the section across your lap which secures you.

Galactica's vests also tend to tighten anyway as you go round so the chances are it would've sorted itself out during the ride.
 
When Galactica had the VR headsets on the last three rows of the train, the harnesses of those three rows were locked/unlocked via a seperate control panel at the back of the station, to allow the ops more time to check/clean/put away the headsets.
 
We're talking here about the Station Operator's panel, which can be found on both station 1 and 2.

The orange buttons are for rows 1 to 7, and "all rows", then the bottom row is to latch, lock and unlock the harness. Also flap release.

This did not change with Galactica, you'd just operate on individual rows rather than selecting "all rows" first.

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Credit: TowersNerd
 
I’m confused about the release flaps button, shouldn’t the flaps release when the unlock harness button is pressed, I maybe missing something obvious.
 
Maybe because air was a first they weren’t connected for whatever reason but in later ones (and possibly air via an update) they are and that button isn’t used anymore.
 
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