Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

[snappy]

On Friday we were riding Autopia when we noticed some kids smashing into each other next to the off road area. (bouncy part) Well the car in the middle was bumped fairly hard and was derailed. CM said this happens a lot and the guest had to walk back to the exit. When the cars derail can you still drive them? Just curious..

[sorceress1986]

Re: Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

Did you ever read the story in E-Ticket magazine with the interview with Ron Dominguez? He at one point worked on the Autopia and once accidentally derailed a whole batch of riders. It was a funny little story.

[Bruce Bergman]

Re: Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

On Friday we were riding Autopia when we noticed some kids smashing into each other next to the off road area. (bouncy part) Well the car in the middle was bumped fairly hard and was derailed. CM said this happens a lot and the guest had to walk back to the exit. When the cars derail can you still drive them? Just curious..

You can - but the DL Autopia CM's won't let you, they evacuate everyone for safety concerns...

It would be simple enough to handle this in a "Git 'Er Done!" style WITHOUT shutting down the entire ride. Send three or four CM's out to respond to the derailed car - two CM's safety off the cars to the front and rear of the incident and keep the Guests away from the trouble. One or two CM's get a simple lever jack and lever the car back on the track, and if the car is still operable one CM drives that car back to the Load area to be pulled off track for a full inspection. A second CM escorts or drives the car immediately behind, so nobody gets bumped if the problem car stalls.

But the Lawyers wouldn't like that... :rules: If anything unusual is happening they want the guests kept well clear of the fun. (Spoil sports.)

--<< Bruce >>--

[Dan - Tasmic!]

Re: Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

When the cars derail can you still drive them? Just curious..

I don't think so. I believe they have a tool to bring the car back on track.

[Koutesu]

Re: Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

It seems like the "off road" section is a place where cars are more likely to derail.

Does anyone know if derailment used to occur just often on the old Fantasyland/Tomorrowland Autopias?

[bmac4212]

Re: Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

I used to work on Autopia and Fantasyland Autopia. It really didnt happen that much then. I believe the worst spot was coming down the final hill on Fantasyland Autopia and a car would smash into another car and sometimes derail, but again, this wasnt very often.

[Koutesu]

Re: Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

I used to work on Autopia and Fantasyland Autopia. It really didnt happen that much then. I believe the worst spot was coming down the final hill on Fantasyland Autopia and a car would smash into another car and sometimes derail, but again, this wasnt very often.

I didn't think so. The old Tomorrowland/Fantasyland Autopia was meant to look like a freeway instead of now where you go off road and into a car park with the road having a different texture to it.

I remember the Autopia used to have a traffic light the CMs would operate for the 2 lanes of traffic coming into the loading area. Of course, no one ever payed respect to those traffic lights!

[FormerDiz]

Re: Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

I used to work on Autopia and Fantasyland Autopia. It really didnt happen that much then. I believe the worst spot was coming down the final hill on Fantasyland Autopia and a car would smash into another car and sometimes derail, but again, this wasnt very often.

The final hill on FA was terrible. It was too steep to be coming into the stop. I remember sitting in the tiny office under that bridge and listening to *smash* *smash* *smash* over and over again.

[BoygunaSurf]

Re: Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

To me, this is an unbelievable story. I am an awful Autopia driver and have never derailed. Acutally no, I am not an awful driver. Actually, I am one of the better ones out there.

[Autopia]

Re: Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

Hehehe, the cars are so fun to drive when not on a rail. The steering SUCKS as most of the springs that control it are really worn out.

Oh, and they are many places to derail the car. The red track right before the off road section is the easiest though.

[vroomichael]

Re: Autopia Derailed on Oct 26th and 27th

LOL funny, I was actually working there when it happened. About 15 minutes to closing, we had to do an evac. The girl who actually derailed kept apologizing and one of the boys behind her kept talking about how he didn't want to go to jail and the people that were all stuck in their cars responded well.