For very large motors such as the lift motor, we use something called a Drive, which has its own built in computer. A drive allows us to dynamically change speeds and gives us many features for dealing with the large amount of power needed to run the lift motor. So much for brief, huh?
Croftybaby said:People keep suggesting that Fastrack helps the park to pay the bills and maintain rides etc. This isn't the case as far as I can see.
The park will get a budget per year regardless of how many fast passes they sell. If they sell more then is simply means Merlin get more cash.
Can anyone confirm that the money from fastrack for the park to keep?
DRH said:I don't believe power to be an issue. A single drive & a compressor. The motor won't be bigger than 100kw and the compressor maybe 20kw. Lights and music probably 10kw. (I don't know this as fact, just an educated guess) A drop in the ocean compared to the £75k approx they make a day from fastracks. Assuming they pay probably 10pence per kwh, that will cost them £13 an hour. Or £91 for the whole day.
Even double that because of all the smaller kicker motors & things I've forgotten, still the rate is so low compared to staffing, maintenance and upkeep. The elec is hardly worth mentioning I don't think.
Of course I could & probably will be proven wrong that oblivion uses much more power than that. Although I can't see it personally.
Easily half a million pounds a year upwards for electricity costs on a large roller coaster I would have thought would be a realistic figure.
Every large coaster at a minimum has a relatively powerful lift hill / launch, multiple compressors, many motors to power transport wheels. Large PLC computer / control systems. Then more things depending on the type of ride. Plus don't forget rides like the Rapids, those pumps are immensely power full things that consume lots of power.
As for lift hill power, I am not sure on exact ratings, but they are definitely well over 100kw. Given the weight of the trains and the angle of the slopes I would say 500- 700 kw to be more realistic.
I've worked with automated systems in factory's before, which in lots of ways are very similar to roller coasters, in terms of how they operate, and the components that they use to actually make them work. Some of these machines in the UK have been known to use many thousands of pounds per day electricity costs, and without a doubt most use less power than what most roller coasters would. Due to using similar but less powerful components, as most factory systems don't require moving around items as heavy as a coaster car.
Without a doubt one of Alton Towers biggest expenses is for electricity, possibly even larger than staffing costs. Rides are power hungry beasts! Like any large mechanical machine, be it factory or theme park!
No doubt things like fast track go towards paying for this major expense.
ChocolateStarfish said:DRH said:I don't believe power to be an issue. A single drive & a compressor. The motor won't be bigger than 100kw and the compressor maybe 20kw. Lights and music probably 10kw. (I don't know this as fact, just an educated guess) A drop in the ocean compared to the £75k approx they make a day from fastracks. Assuming they pay probably 10pence per kwh, that will cost them £13 an hour. Or £91 for the whole day.
Even double that because of all the smaller kicker motors & things I've forgotten, still the rate is so low compared to staffing, maintenance and upkeep. The elec is hardly worth mentioning I don't think.
Of course I could & probably will be proven wrong that oblivion uses much more power than that. Although I can't see it personally.
Easily half a million pounds a year upwards for electricity costs on a large roller coaster I would have thought would be a realistic figure.
Every large coaster at a minimum has a relatively powerful lift hill / launch, multiple compressors, many motors to power transport wheels. Large PLC computer / control systems. Then more things depending on the type of ride. Plus don't forget rides like the Rapids, those pumps are immensely power full things that consume lots of power.
As for lift hill power, I am not sure on exact ratings, but they are definitely well over 100kw. Given the weight of the trains and the angle of the slopes I would say 500- 700 kw to be more realistic.
I've worked with automated systems in factory's before, which in lots of ways are very similar to roller coasters, in terms of how they operate, and the components that they use to actually make them work. Some of these machines in the UK have been known to use many thousands of pounds per day electricity costs, and without a doubt most use less power than what most roller coasters would. Due to using similar but less powerful components, as most factory systems don't require moving around items as heavy as a coaster car.
Without a doubt one of Alton Towers biggest expenses is for electricity, possibly even larger than staffing costs. Rides are power hungry beasts! Like any large mechanical machine, be it factory or theme park!
No doubt things like fast track go towards paying for this major expense.
500kw motor? That's something like 650hp and nearly the size of a small car, I don't think a lift hill needs anything like that.
15Kw is normally the largest used on lift hills, the pumps on the rapids are bigger but not buy much.
As for a "drive" I assume you mean a frequency converter which is actually used to control the speed/acceleration etc. nothing to do with power.
The pumps have a soft start on them to build up revolutions.
John said:The profits from fastrack are absolutely staggering when you stop and think about it.
Someone posted on TPM that there is a daily cap of 100 platinum and 250 gold tickets. Sell out of those and that's over £20k already. There are three £12 packages, of which they probably sell at least 500/hr (combined), so that's another £6k per hour. Smiler is £7 with a cap of 200/hr, so that could take in £1400 per hour on its own. On top of that you've got the £21 silver package, the £6 young explorer package and all the other single ride tickets (which I don't know the prices for).
When you add all that together, I reckon that on a peak day you could be looking at a figure in excess of £75000, almost all of it profit.
I think 500kw would be rather excessive too, a Prius is only 50kw and that propels a 1.5tonne car to 80mph.
TedTheHuman said:So the Thorpe upsellers claimed (knowing full well it wasn't) an hour, the board said 25 mins, the queue looked (and was) 10 mins, and guests coming off the ride who had bought the Fastrack claiming they were told it was 75?
Words fail me...