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Towers Loving Care

Rick said:
That's not strictly true. On many rides they serve as a size/safety indicator. The ratchet or hydraulic will often lock the restraint in a position lower than 'up', but unless the seatbelt fastens, you won't be permitted to ride.
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On Nemesis you can get the belt to engage but the harness may still not be down enough for the train to be dispatched, normally requiring the hosts to give it an extra push (three 'clicks' required on Nemmy, presumably also Oblivion).

But in any case, the seatbelt is pointless... there's redundancy (everything duplicated) in the locking mechanism so it's not going to fail
 
Alsty said:
But in any case, the seatbelt is pointless... there's redundancy (everything duplicated) in the locking mechanism so it's not going to fail
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Restraints can and have failed, worryingly so on rides that weren't designed with seatbelts but that have been retrofitted later.
 
Gordon Mutton, the long-standing Head of Product Excellence at Merlin has left the company.

The new role is available.

Hopefully we will see someone with a fresh vision join and continue to facilitate the TLC work at Alton?

:)
 
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Oh that is interesting. I wonder why he has moved on?

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WickerManiac said:
Gordon Mutton, the long-standing Head of Product Excellence at Merlin has left the company.

The new role is available.

Hopefully we will see someone with a fresh vision join and continue to facilitate the TLC work at Alton?

:)
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Isn’t Towers “TLC” run locally by the park’s own head of product excellence, Wayne Burton and nothing to do with central office?
 
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skyscraper said:
It says that the job is no longer available. :confused:
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Here's the description if you're having trouble viewing the link.

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TakeYourMedicine said:
If you think enthusiast complaints are bad, you should see the public's daily complaints.

Many of which are kind of justified it has to be said, even though theyre usually nastily put.
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I can believe it, whilst we as enthusiasts are generally clued up with the comings and goings of the park and dare I say understanding of the bigger picture; it must look pretty naff to the average punter.

They turn up for their promised fantastical escape or whatever, first impressions count so if they're lucky to see the monorail going, they'll arrive at the plaza with queues in every direction. Get into the park and half the promised attractions are shut either to open at an undefined time in the future or not on that day at all. Half the place looks like nobody gives a flying one about its appearance.

I'd say they've done well with Wicker Man, despite it not getting off to the best of starts, but I do wonder how long it'll be before the novelty wears off and it gets left to blend in with the state of everything else
 
b2311e said:
Get into the park and half the promised attractions are shut either to open at an undefined time in the future or not on that day at all.
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On my last visit I walked past one of those queue time screens at about 10 o'clock. I watched some people look at the sign and then proclaim "Oh, Nemesis and Galactica are closed today".

I wonder at what point in the day they realised it was open, and I doubt they were the only ones.

If Alton Towers are going to have staggered ride openings then they should consider changing the signs to say "Opens at 11" (or whenever) instead of just "Closed"
 
Alsty said:
If Alton Towers are going to have staggered ride openings then they should consider changing the signs to say "Opens at 11" (or whenever) instead of just "Closed"
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They've done it on Ride Times so it's perhaps a technical or styling shortcoming with the software that drives those boxes.
 
They really need to try much harder with communicating the staggered ride openings. The times should have been printed on the park map, and should be displayed on the electronic billboards around the park. Half of the problem is this lack of communication. If they can get that sorted, then at least it would be slightly easier for guests to plan and enjoy their day.
 
IanSR said:
how do you keep the hydraulic pressure up while the train is circulating the track without a compressor on the back of each train?).
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I agree with what you are saying. Makes sense to fail in the closed position. Exactly how the breaks on coasters require power to open them and not close them. It would be easy to keep the hydraulic pressure up throughout the ride though for example. You don't need a compressor to provide constant pressure for hydraulics. Like most liquids, hydraulic fluid can't be compressed enough that it can be used for its compression properties. One of the forklifts I use at work. We can leave that with the forks extended high into the air, which are hydraulically powered, with a few tonnes of weight on the forks. The truck can be completely switched off, the hydraulic pressure will keep the forks in the air supporting tonnes of weight for days, even weeks.

They could easily have it the other way round. You would not need a compressor on the trains. But for safety reasons like you pointed out, they do it the other way around. Incase of hydraulic failure.
 
You don't need to keep hydraulics pressurised. I would imagine when you pull the harness down you're just moving the liquid from one cylinder to another via a 'check valve' (one way). Add some sensors and an electric solenoid to release the check valve in the station, duplicate the whole thing for redundancy, job done.
 
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