Lift hill

The cable lift tensioning mechanism on Millennium Force at Cedar Point

The Intamin cable lift is a type of lift mechanism that was first used on Millennium Force at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.[1] This type of lift has also been used for Kings Dominion's Intimidator 305, Holiday Park's Expedition GeForce, Walibi Holland's Goliath, Djurs Sommerland's Piraten (Europe's only "Mega-Lite"-model coaster by Intamin), Tokyo Dome City's Thunder Dolphin, Hersheypark's Skyrush, Flying Aces at Ferrari World and Altair at Cinecittà World. Currently, there are only two wooden roller coasters that utilize a cable lift hill: El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure and T Express at Everland.

The cable lift utilizes a cable that is attached to a catch car that moves up and down the lift hill in a separate channel between the track rails. On several coasters the catch car rolls into the station and latches to the front cars of the train to carry it up the lift hill.[2] This requires the lift hill to be positioned directly in front of the station. El Toro was the first coaster to incorporate a turn between the station and the cable lift hill and was the first (and so far only) of this type to engage the catch car while the train is moving. Once the train engages the catch car, the speed is increased and the train is quickly pulled to top of the lift. Because a cable is much lighter than a chain, cable lifts are much faster than chain lifts. 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 Ferris wheel lift is a type of lift based on the rotating circular design of a ferris wheel. Created by Premier Rides, it existed on 'Round About' (formerly Maximum RPM) which operated at Freestyle Music Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina prior to being dismantled and moved to a park in Vietnam only to never operate and was later dismantled again.[3] It uses a Ferris Wheel like motion to lift the cars to the top, as on a Ferris Wheel. The cars are then released onto the track.

The elevator lift is typically used on a single car or a short, double-car train. The vehicle moves into position on a piece of track that is then lifted vertically, along with the vehicle, operating very similar to a passenger elevator. Several of these systems use a single shaft and a second piece of track in the opposite position serves as the counterweight. With the single shaft the rail may curve to the left or right as the two tracks pass each other at the halfway point. The first coaster to use an elevator system with a counterweight was Batflyer at Lightwater Valley.[4] It is believed that those same designers then founded Caripro, which then constructed nine vertical lift suspended coasters between 1997 and 2001.[5] The Mack Rides-built Matterhorn Blitz at Europa Park was the first to use a two-track system with a single shaft.[6]

A friction wheel lift is a type of lift mechanism in which two wheels are placed in either a horizontal or a vertical position. These are commonly used for brake runs, lifts, storage and more. The train has a small vertical lip, where the two friction wheels meet at each side. The wheels pull the train up slowly, while making a jet-like noise. An anti-rollback system is not needed, as the wheels are tight against the lip.

A tilt lift is a new way to elevate coasters. The tilt lift is essentially an elevator lift, but the elevator lift rotates 90 degrees so that the train is now vertical, with the nose of the train facing the ground. This design has not been made yet; the only places where this occurs are in the video games RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Thrillville Off the Rails and Coaster Crazy. However, there are coaster designs that use the tilting aspect of this lift already. The first operating tilt coaster in the world is Gravity Max at Lihpao Land in Taiwan. The coaster was built by Vekoma. In this coaster, after going up a chain hill, the train is held on a horizontal section of track, which then tilts forwards, to become a vertical section, which then leads into a vertical drop accelerated by gravity. The Chinese company Golden Horse has made several unofficial recreations, each featuring a less than vertical drop and significantly different track elements.[7]

Diagram depicting the anti-rollback safety feature

The familiar "click-clack" sound that occurs as a roller coaster train ascends the lift hill is not caused by the chain itself. The cause for this noise is actually a safety device used on lift hills—the anti-rollback device. The anti-rollback device is a standard safety feature, typically consisting of a continuous, saw-toothed, section of metal, forming a linear ratchet.

Roller coaster trains are fitted with anti-rollback "dogs," essentially heavy-duty pieces of metal that fall and rest in each groove of the anti-rollback device on the track as the trains ascend the lift-hill. This makes the "clicking" sound and allows the train to go upwards only, effectively preventing the train from rolling back down the hill should it ever encounter a power failure or broken chain.

This feature was derived from the similar feature originally used on the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway in Pennsylvania, starting in 1846. The two uphill planes that cars were drawn up under the power of a stationary steam engine had two slightly different early forms of this anti-rollback device. The entire concept of the modern roller coaster was also initially inspired by this railroad.