• Mr. Freeze stalls, strands riders

    by
    Matt H
    Published on 07-20-2012 10:56 AM
    7 Comments Comments
    Mr. Freeze at Six Flags St. Louis stalled and came to a stop in a valley Thursday. Riders had to be evacuated.

    A power problem in the magnetic-powered launch motors caused the issue, the park said.

    Mr. Freeze uses linear induction motors, called LIMs, to launch the six-car train through a tunnel, inverted top hat, overbanked turn and vertical tower. A second set of LIMs pushes the train farther up the vertical hill before it reverse course and travels through the elements again.

    Six Flags said the coaster didn't malfunction but didn't have enough speed to make it finish the course. Riders were safely evacuated from a low section of track equipped for such an evacuation.

    For more, visit kmov.com.
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    Comments 7 Comments
    1. coasterlove - 07-20-2012, 02:51 PM
      I'm curious where it stalled, between the tophat and the high banked turn or the high banked turn and the tower and in which direction. My guess is that the LIMs didn't operate or push the train up far enough and stalled between the high banked turn and the tophat when returning back. If I remember correctly, it doesn't go very fast through the tophat on the return trip as it is. So that's where I would think it would stall and valley.
    1. Matt H - 07-20-2012, 04:11 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by coasterlove View Post
      I'm curious where it stalled, between the tophat and the high banked turn or the high banked turn and the tower and in which direction. My guess is that the LIMs didn't operate or push the train up far enough and stalled between the high banked turn and the tophat when returning back. If I remember correctly, it doesn't go very fast through the tophat on the return trip as it is. So that's where I would think it would stall and valley.
      It appears it stalled out between the Tophat and the high bank section.
    1. Wes - 07-20-2012, 06:16 PM
      That must have been an interesting ride, as gravity would've slowed the train down of course and it would've rocked back and forth until coming to a rest. Glad noone was hurt, but that ride really has no way to hurt you unless the LIMs just went berserk.
    1. peeps28 - 07-21-2012, 12:57 AM
      They have a ride there called x-caliber that's gotten stuck upside down a few times
    1. coasterlove - 07-21-2012, 01:37 AM
      I stalled on a boomerang once and it's actually not a lot of fun. We weren't able to go all the way up on the second lift for the return trip. We stopped there for a while and waited for probably 20-30 minutes. They finally released the train without warning and we made the first loop but didn't get through the boomerang itself. We ran out of speed while completely upside down and then back and forth between that and the loop. So the first few times we stalled, we would be stopped upside down before falling back. We would keep falling into our restraints and it was kind of scary. Glad when it ended.
    1. Brian H - 07-22-2012, 02:19 AM
      I really think the media overdoes these minor problems with rides. "According to sources, everybody onboard at the time it stalled were forced to climb down a ladder to get off the ride." I would assume being forced to climb down a ladder (evacuate), would be much better and safer than staying on the coaster for hours, waiting for a crane to haul the train back to the station. What do they want, an escalator, bucket truck, elevator?!
    1. Wes - 07-22-2012, 07:57 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by coasterlove View Post
      I stalled on a boomerang once and it's actually not a lot of fun. We weren't able to go all the way up on the second lift for the return trip. We stopped there for a while and waited for probably 20-30 minutes. They finally released the train without warning and we made the first loop but didn't get through the boomerang itself. We ran out of speed while completely upside down and then back and forth between that and the loop. So the first few times we stalled, we would be stopped upside down before falling back. We would keep falling into our restraints and it was kind of scary. Glad when it ended.
      That's crazy they wouldn't just leave the train on the 2nd lift where at least it would be stable. Maybe they figured it would be safer to evac with it off the lift.

      Carolina Cobra got stuck one time on the 2nd lift when power went out at the park. It was lightning and raining really bad, I felt sorry for the riders.