The cable lift is a type of lift mechanism that was first used on Millennium Force at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. This type of lift has also been used for Kings Dominion's Intimidator 305, Holiday Park's Expedition GeForce, Walibi Holland's Goliath, La Qua's Thunder Dolphin, Hersheypark's Skyrush (being the fastest cable lift to date at 17 mph), and is used on the wooden roller coaster El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure.
The cable lift utilizes a cable loop in place of the traditional chain, which is attached to a short section of chain that engages the train's chain hook. Because a cable is much lighter than a chain, cable lifts are much faster than chain lifts and can be used on much steeper hills - even vertical.
A cable also requires far less maintenance than a chain. Another advantage to park guests is that a cable lift is very quiet, partly because the main drive winch is located directly beneath the top of the lift, a location which will normally be relatively far from guest-accessible areas. The main disadvantage of a cable lift system is that it must return to the bottom of the lift hill after lifting each train, which does not apply to a continuously moving chain lift. This limits the usefulness of the cable lift in applications where the cable must travel a long distance and the interval between train departures is short.
Read more about this topic: Lift Hill
Famous quotes containing the words cable and/or lift:
“To be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars.”
—Douglass Cross (b. 1920)
“The axioms of physics translate the laws of ethics. Thus, “the whole is greater than its part;” “reaction is equal to action;” “the smallest weight may be made to lift the greatest, the difference of weight being compensated by time;” and many the like propositions, which have an ethical as well as physical sense. These propositions have a much more extensive and universal sense when applied to human life, than when confined to technical use.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)