Amusement transportation by wire rope

Abstract

There are significant parallels and commonalities between the ski and amusement industries and passenger transportation by wire rope goes back at least as far in amusement settings as it does in skiing. Every major amusement park has a "Sky Ride" made by one of the same suppliers that supply the ski industry, but the amusement industry uses wire rope to solve passenger transportation problems in some unique and interesting ways. The original way that the amusement industry used to turn large passenger carrying structures at slow speeds from high speed output shafts was with wire ropes. The obvious example is the Ferris Wheel but early drive mechanisms for many common amusement rides used wire ropes. "Pinch wheel" drives, like the drives used to propel detachable carriers in terminal conveyors, have replaced the old wire rope drives in the amusement industry, but new rides use wire ropes to do new and remarkable things. The tension resulting from the mass per length of roller lift chains limits conventional roller coaster heights to approximately two hundred feet. Using wire ropes however, roller coaster manufacturers have been able to build coasters more than 450 feet tall and to launch their trains at over 125 mph. One solution uses an approach similar to a jig-back tram where what would be the tram car latches to a roller coaster train and hauls it up the 300 feet lift hill at detachable lift speeds using 800 hp. Another approach accumulates energy in a bank of hydraulic accumulators and releases it to accelerate a 15,000 pound train to 125 mph in two seconds - enough energy for the train to summit a 450 foot hill. This approach uses rotation resistant rope and water cooling.