• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Highest recorded throughputs

E

Ethan

TS Member
I was wondering if anyone knew what the highest recorded throughputs are for the big 7 and Spinball Whizzer. Do you also know what year this was achieved? Very interested to know what the coasters are realistically capable of in an hour if operations are flawless
 
I’d guess Thirteen had the biggest throughout. @Matt N seems to have a lot of data on this so is probably your best guy to ask.
 
I would say Oblivion, back in the day, when running full whack, beats all the other coasters.
The batchers were amazing, every queueline had eight in it within a few seconds, waiting for the gates to open, in advance of loading, every last time.
It really used to be one big meat processing machine, gobbling up the humans at an amazing rate.

A decade ago, a pirate said...
"I know that in theory, the highest capacity ride is Oblivion, which used to be capable of about 1,600pph. Not that it has got anywhere near that for years, mind you. I'd guess the lowest would be Spinball?".
I googled.
 
I don’t personally have all-time throughput data for any of the coasters, but I have heard a few top-end figures given for some of the coasters by a variety of sources (some include members on here). Some of the figures I’ve heard include:
  • Galactica (Theoretical of 1,500pph): I’ve heard from multiple sources that 1,456pph was the highest throughput ever attained on Galactica, with over 50 trains per hour being attained on a good day and somewhere in the high 40s for trains per hour being common in the early years.
  • Nemesis (Theoretical of 1,400pph): I once heard 1,440pph given as a top end attained throughput, with this figure being attained in some of the earliest years.
  • Oblivion (Theoretical of 1,900pph): I’ve never heard an exact top-end figure given for this, but I’m inclined to understand that the top-end attained in its early years pretty much saw what is now the shorter 30-35 second interval between the first and second cars in the dual dispatch sequence being maintained pretty much constantly, which would have led to a throughput of around 1,600-1,700pph.
  • Rita (Theoretical of 1,150pph): From people who worked on the ride, I’ve heard 1,080pph given as the best ever attained throughput.
  • Spinball Whizzer (Theoretical of 950pph): I once heard that the top-end figure attained on this was just shy of 200 cars per hour, or 800pph.
  • The Smiler (Theoretical of 1,200pph): I’ve heard it said that Smiler once hit or exceeded 1,000pph in the early years when it ran 5 trains, but I’m led to believe that somewhere around 960pph, or a train every minute, was a more typical top-end throughput.
  • Thirteen (Theoretical of 1,100pph): This was well known to have far exceeded its theoretical throughput in the early years. The quoted figure I’ve commonly heard for Thirteen’s maximum attained throughput is 1,440pph, or a train every 50 seconds, and it even reportedly attained 1,260pph in its very first hour of operation!
  • Wicker Man (Theoretical of 952pph): This is the only one where I can actually give first-hand knowledge! By my reckoning, the highest I’ve seen Wicker Man attain is somewhere in the ballpark of 1,080pph.
In most cases, I ascertain that these were attained when the respective rides were very new.

If anyone else feels that I’m wrong with any of these, feel free to correct me, but that’s just some things I’ve heard from various quotes and various sources over the years.
 
How can the actual be higher than theoretical? Theoretical is an unrealistic best case based on loading every seat and dispatching a train at the minimum safe interval consistently for an hour, surely?
 
WillPS said:
How can the actual be higher than theoretical? Theoretical is an unrealistic best case based on loading every seat and dispatching a train at the minimum safe interval consistently for an hour, surely?
Click to expand...
Different manufacturers calculate it differently, with some being quite optimistic and others being more conservative. In some of these more conservative cases, the best case actual throughput sometimes outweighs theoretical throughput.
 
WillPS said:
So 'manufacturer quoted throughput' rather than 'theoretical throughput', then?
Click to expand...
I guess so, yes, but that’s often, perhaps incorrectly, referred to as “theoretical throughput”.
 
My personal guess for most throughput would be Oblivion. Theres usually never more than a 15 minute wait for it because it just slices through the queues being able to load 32 people (if two trains are sat in the station being boarded). The only thing which slows it down is the break run traffic jam, but thats pretty hard to avoid due to the length and ride design.
 
Thing is, back in the 90s and early 2000s you could dispatch trains with guests still on the platform, didn’t have to worry about keeping guests behind locked exit gates etc plus loads of other health and safety things which really do slow down dispatches. Staff get the flack for a lot of slower throughputs these days but most of the time they’re dealing with pre dispatch, non guest loading processes rather than just getting guests loaded.
 
Interesting comment @rob666. The only coaster than still seems to have tons of staff is Oblivion. And that gets through a lot of people.

Probably be for the chop - Merlin won’t want to be paying for all those staff.
 
AltonLover123 said:
Thing is, back in the 90s and early 2000s you could dispatch trains with guests still on the platform, didn’t have to worry about keeping guests behind locked exit gates etc plus loads of other health and safety things which really do slow down dispatches. Staff get the flack for a lot of slower throughputs these days but most of the time they’re dealing with pre dispatch, non guest loading processes rather than just getting guests loaded.
Click to expand...
I can't speak for the 90s but by the early 00s they absolutely were not dispatching trains with disembarking guests still on the platform. As @rob666 says there used to be more staff and one of the things they used to do more was hussle guests along.

The closest I can think was that Black Hole and Corkscrew used to have gateless airgates; but that didn't really affect throughput compared to just operating with proper gates.
 
On some rides, however, I think new H&S processes do play a role. For instance, the needing to walk from one end of the platform to the other and lock yourself behind a secure gate while the ride is in motion is new on Runaway Mine Train and has nothing to do with staffing.

You could also look at the Monorail, where people aren’t allowed to wait on the platforms anymore due to a lack of airgates.

On Oblivion, which still has a full staffing complement, the throughputs are a lot lower than they were. The ride gets just over 1,000pph on a very good day now, whereas back in the day, it supposedly used to get 1,600-1,700pph. If it still has the same number of staff, new H&S rules or similar must have something to do with the reduced throughputs.
 
Oblivion does not have a "full complement" of staff though...it has less staff than it used to on peak days..."more" does not mean "full complement"...not in historic terms.
The queue used to constantly shuffle forward, you rarely stood in the same spot for more than thirty seconds.
I'm pretty sure they often had batchers at each end of each line, as well as bag passers on busy days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top