Gemini vallyed

[Fear the Four]

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

Weird spot to valley if you ask me.

[The Interpreter]

It's not the first time...nor is it likely to be the last...

[pkiboy]

I know this doesnt mean anything but the last few times Ive been to CP the Trims have been off. I like me a good ol trimless ride on Gemini and Maggie to.

[shark6495]

what does vallyed mean?

[Dbfan]

what does vallyed mean?

When the ride stops where it is not supposed to, in most cases it does not have the speed to get up a hill, or in this case the helix, and stops.

[Dvo]

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.

[KI FANATIC 37]

Weird! Very odd place to get stuck.

[CincyMan98]

How does it just randomly slow down though - was there something on the track to have that happen?

[Dbfan]

When I rode it last year, it seemed to be going almost too fast into that helix...odd.

[Fear the Four]

Temperature and humidity.

[TombRaiderFTW]

^ Exactly. I've had some cold spring morning rides on Gemini before, and it was nearly crawling by the time we got to the top of that helix. I'm honestly not surprised by this incident at all.

[Dvo]

yeah it was cool on sunday morning, and there was a LOT of moisture in the air from the storms that went through Sandusky early that morning.

[Fear the Four]

Just how Flying Ace vallyed on opening day. It was cold in the morning and it did storm the night before.

[The Interpreter]

And some in the business call valleying "saddling," saying a coaster has saddled. Think about what a saddle looks like from the side, just like a valley...

[IndyGuy4KI]

And some in the business call valleying "saddling," saying a coaster has saddled. Think about what a saddle looks like from the side, just like a valley...

It that case, someone needs to tell Gemini to quit horsing around!

[Browntggrr]

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.

[PhantomTheater]

Gemini's near by cousin CCMR also has a history of not making back around during testing. It also relies on sandbags for testing weight, along with no back car riding in the morning.

[CincyMan98]

Has a roller coaster ever vallyed on the very top of a hill? If so, how would everybody get down? Would it eventually start moving again?

[footballfreak]

Has a roller coaster ever vallyed on the very top of a hill? If so, how would everybody get down? Would it eventually start moving again?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAk8A4bTFDQ

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

Yep

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6254958468684676624#

[The Interpreter]

...except that is called getting stuck...by definition, valleying means stopping between two hills....

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

I do not see much of a difference. Both need to be pushed to get back to the station

[The Interpreter]

Ha. Ask maintenance. It's a lot easier to give a coaster train a short shove from the top of a hill than it is to winch a train, push it up a huge hill...or, as was done on Son of Beast, cut a section of the track away, use a crane, and reconnect the track...

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

Maybe easier but either way the train is stuck somewhere

[Go Browns]

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.

[The Interpreter]

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...

[Dvo]

Also see Hades at Mt. Olympus

had there been no anti-rollbacks on the 2nd hill, it would have valleyed. This, however, is stuck.