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Gemini vallyed


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From screamscape:

Over this past weekend it appears Gemini suffered a bit of bad luck when a train on the Blue side somehow valleyed in the helix near the end of the ride. I’m guessing it may have happened when the park wasn’t open no evacs were reported anywhere yet, but one train was left to sit in the helix during the daytime with the second stuck on the lift.

http://screamscape.com/html/cedar_point.htm

2010_0606_GeminiValley.jpg

Weird spot to valley if you ask me.

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It's when the coaster train doesn't have enough momentum to complete its course, so it gets stuck somewhere in the middle of the ride. That's weird.. I was at CP Friday-Sunday and I didn't notice it valleyed. But then again I didn't really get a look at it on Sunday, so it could have happened I guess.

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Funny how ScreamScape makes this sound like a breaking news story.

Gemini has vallyed often over the years.

Usually, the operators will keep sandbags in the rear 1/2 of the train and have guests occupy the front 1/2 until there are enough guests to occupy the entire train for the whole day (which also is usually when the ride has warmed up enough).

I assume, given the *facts* in the information given, there were no guests on the train, and only sandbags on the back 1/2 half of the train thus leaving a light train which did not complete the circut.

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You can't "valley" at the top of a hill. You can get stuck at the top, you can get stuck in the middle, you can get stuck at the bottom. But you've only valleyd if you are at the bottom of the two hills otherwise known as the valley.

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And when a train valleys, it has not had enough momentum to make it up the next hill...so it slowly backs down that hill, speeds up, goes backwards up the preceding drop, doesn't make it to the top of that one, slowly stops, drops down the hill....on Son of Beast, this agonizing process can go on for 20 minutes or so...back and forth, back and forth, each time going a bit less than before, until the trains stops...in the valley.

Guests aboard may enjoy the process, be frightened, or both. But maintenance people, almost to a person, go "Poop!" (or something similar). Much hard work lies ahead.

Not so if a coaster just comes to a stop at the top of a hill due to lack of enough momentum. A gentle push and over it goes...to complete the course. Or, in the case of Racer, there were, until recently, helper chains to get it up that one certain next hill if it was going too slow...

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