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News: Lightning strikes Conneaut's Blue Streak

Posted at 11:14 AM EDT (1514 GMT)

Jun. 23rd, 2006 -- Lightning struck Conneaut Lake Park's historic Blue Streak roller coaster on Thursday before the park was scheduled to open to the public.

The ride was struck on it's metal chain lift around 4pm. No one was injured, but the ride's 75-horsepower motor was damaged by the lightning strike. Maintenance workers hoped to have a spare motor in place for Friday so the park's signature ride would be running.

For more, see: Centre Daily Times.

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Comments
cannonballer Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 1373 View Park/Ride Count	Why is all the small parks getting all teh bad luck as far as weather goes lately?
6/27/2006 1:14 AM
Vallean Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 39 View Park/Ride Count	The equipotential link for the chain shouldn't have lead through the motor. It was likely a design flaw as for parts possibly subjected to lightning strokes direct earthing paths must be present in order to avoid damages. The major part of the atmospheric discharge current is supposed to flow to (or from) the earth using a direct low-impedance path where it doesn't cause damages. Steel roller coasters are relatively insensitive (immune) to lightning strokes if their equipotentiality system is well designed. Typical errors may concern anemometers or FAA lights if not protected correctly (Faraday cage) as well as some electronic sensors like inductive proximity switches.
3/5/2007 10:01 AM

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