Roller coaster brakes NEVER fail

[@coasterbot]

If you enjoyed this video it would mean a lot to subscribe to my channel! We're slowly making our way to 100k 😍

[@melvinschrab505]

You really deserve it, man!

[@Beanie1984]

Fancy doing a video about roller coaster safety during power cuts?

[@pumkinmr8368]

Already have subcribed

[@coasterbot]

​@@Beanie1984great suggestion, I'll make a note of it for future consideration!

[@chichizekitty5694]

This was a geniunely interesting video, thank you for teaching me about brakes on roller coasters :) I love these kinds of videos

[@jerrylai96]

Tell that to the 23 guests that died on Roller Coaster 1 in my Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 save file

[@Hoshimaru57]

Yeah, Rollercoaster Tycoon treats all brakes like skid brakes and when they fail it’s the equivalent of someone forgetting to raise them or them being worn out.

[@stalincat2457]

Only 23 deaths? That's one hell of a safe park!

[@thewafflehouse841]

23 deaths in the words of Greystillplays " *those are rookie numbers* "

[@Noicer_wastaken]

Let's game it out: "Looks like they forgot my existence."

[@tiredcoder]

Lol

[@robcoasters]

I noticed the smooth transition of the black bars at 5:13 to accommodate for the smaller aspect ratio of the upcoming older clip, and I can just say this is such a nice quality of viewing feature that I really appreciated. Great video by the way

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

Ain't he a wizard with editing!

[@coasterbot]

I'm glad you noticed, I've always been annoyed at these kinds of transitions in the past and wanted to make them smoother. Thanks for the kind words :)

[@delorean_5982]

@@coasterbot that editing almost made me cry with joy,, thank you coaster bot

[@tannertasman]

@@coasterbot the colour/b&w transitions happen so fast it's nearly subconscious, but they're super effective at blending between what would otherwise be jarring clips. very nice

[@erikhjortsater5461]

It’s literally one key frame required but it’s tastefully done

[@Iwaslemon87]

As informative as this video is. It will never eradicate the fear of seeing a station break failure in the original rollercoaster tycoon

[@Iknowtoomuchable]

If the coaster has multiple trains, it means there's about to be a crash. If there's only one train, it means those guests are getting a free ride. Either way, it's terrifying.

[@alaeriia01]

Only if you didn't have trim brakes. Station brakes failures would cascade to any brakes immediately before the station, but if there is a gap of at least one tile, the before-station brakes will still work.

[@CarlosAM1]

bro got traumatized by rollercoaster tycoon 💀

[@alaeriia01]

@@CarlosAM1 Failing a difficult scenario because the RNG decides to fuck you over is definitely fear-inducing.

[@RadioactiveSherbet]

Which is why I *always* use block brakes. Period. This fear of brake failure even permeates into playing Planet Coaster. If it has multiple trains (sometimes even if not,) that coaster gets block brakes! *cue Oprah Winfrey meme*

[@brodybishop7647]

The water brake used by Sheikra is actually pretty problematic all things considered. A year ago I got to travel down to Tampa to replace the two sections of track directly after the water brake due to corrosion.

[@Aaron-cs3xl]

I'm guessing you're a roller coaster mechanic? That sounds like an exciting job as far as being a mechanic is concerned.

[@coasterbot]

Interesting to hear!

[@Razticz]

@@Aaron-cs3xl nah he was just bored and owns a welder

[@CarlRencer]

why do you think that is problematic? The engineers know it will corrode. Replacing those sections is maintenance, not an unexpected repair.

[@dibble1331]

@@CarlRencer probably because due to corrosion it has to be replaced fairly often compared to the rest of the ride. especially considering sheikra is a steel coaster which can normally go around 30 years without their track having to be replaced.

[@yutahkotomi1195]

I'm not _really_ interested in rollercoasters, but I have to thank you very much for using km/h alongside mi/h. It's great not having to apply x1.6 every time speed comes up. :D

[@coasterbot]

No worries! People from a range of countries watch my videos so I thought it'd be nice to make them friendly for everyone :)

[@rmac3217]

Or you could go back like Billy Madison and actually complete you required elementary school education, either/or. 3mph is average walking speed, similar to 12inches can be divided easily in many ways. That's why it's called scientific metrics... mm, cm and 0s are only useful in a lab setting, why don't we just change minutes to 100 per hour? Because that's stupidity...

[@lcorsaletti]

​@@rmac3217 This is called the INTERNATIONAL system of units. Because every country had their own unit system we all got together and defined an common unit system. Miles, inches and yards were not even taught on the majority of schools around the world... I mean, why they would? They're used on what, 2 or 3 countries only? Everybody else uses the standard.

[@polygontower]

@@rmac3217 Never learn Imperial! Metric > Imperial Appendix: There are only 3 countries which use imperial because metric is superior in terms of conversion. It is just easier. There is no reason to use imperial. Appendix: Which do you prefer? 100 billion or 10000000000 tens? Which do you prefer? 0.5*7*4 C or 14 C?

[@polygontower]

@@rmac3217 How is metric only useful in a lab setting? Most of the world only uses metric. Instead of your 12s, use 10s; we're already using base 10; 1,2,3,4,5 etc. Look how easy it is. 100cm -----> 1m . I would say imperial just sucks. In fact, it isn't even useful; not useful in a lab setting, not in a casual setting and certainly not for anyone at anytime.

[@CZsWorld]

"We've already made a whole video about block sections" Ok but ElToroRyan made a whole CHANNEL about them.

[@coasterbot]

True, I'm not as dedicated to the block section god as Mr ElToroRyan!

[@Cover01]

@@coasterbot I was gonna comment, you should have had Ryan speak in when u talked about block sections haha

[@overcast1725]

What are the FUCKING odds I run into the one and only CZsWorld!!! Bruh I love ur saw breakdowns and other shit lol.

[@WhiteSuburbanite]

12:00 For those of you who are unfamiliar, a block zone is a section of ride that only one train may occupy. At the end of a block zone is a method to stop the train in case the block zone ahead is still occupied.

[@CoolioJoe100]

This is the safety system that prevents roller coaster trains from colliding with one another.

[@JoeJohnson-mk4qd]

hahahahaha

[@kkatellyn]

Ryan is that you?!?!!

[@yippymishy]

ElToroRyan has been spotted

[@cinnamonsugar2011]

OK THAT IS ENOUGH wanna be problematic roller coaster

[@bass-tones]

I drove buses briefly in college and found the concept of failsafe brakes really fascinating there as I was learning about air brake systems. In a bus with air brakes, unlike a normal car, but similar to these coaster brakes, pressure is required to keep the brakes _disengaged_. If the air brake system somehow fails and pressure is lost, the brakes become fully engaged and the bus comes to a stop. Pretty clever stuff.

[@-Burb]

@@tbird-z1rBrakes overheating and becoming ineffective is the most common cause in mountains

[@ari638]

We have the same thing in nuclear reactors. If we lose power the control rods are released and stop the nuclear reaction so it doesn't go supercritical while the power is out

[@renevdberg]

Trains have the same

[@GetSwifty]

Elevators are the same!

[@TimothyChapman]

One thing that this video didn't mention is the fact that permanent magnets lose strength over time. So you still need to either (a) replace the magnets on the train or (b) re-strengthen the magnets on the train periodically.

[@coasterbot]

That's a great point! I'm a and b would be covered during maintenance of roller coaster trains :)

[@zerokun2655]

Oh yeah i didn't think about it, still better than electromagnets that would stop working without power

[@iankrasnow5383]

That's the first thing I thought. Also, when eddy currents slow a train down, it produces a lot of heat. The magnets probably need very good heat sinks. Magnets are less effective at high temperatures, and if it hits the Curie temperature, about 700C, even for a second, it destroys the magnet completely.

[@GummieI]

still pretty sure that happens a LOT slower than the wear of the friction brakes (and by having said magnetics in right before the friction brakes to do the final stopping, it further reduces the wear on the friction brake, since the train is moving very slowly already into them)

[@reaganharder1480]

​@@iankrasnow5383 looking at those coaster cars, it doesn't look like a whole lot of effort has been put into heatsinks, but realistically I don't think it's necessary. The brakes only really get used for a small percentage of the ride time, the fins and magnets have a fairly large surface area to disperse heat from, and they should have quite a lot of thermal mass to dump heat into if the air cooling isn't fast enough.

[@bearrett50kal17]

While they may never fail because of failsafes, when I was a kid my family were the last call for the Mean Streak at Cedar Point, and due to shutdown procedures, they disengaged all but the last set of brakes. They had a strict lowered age limit and warned us this last ride is gonna be fast and painful. They weren't lying, I grew up doing annual trips to Cedar Point and that was the fastest the Mean Streak ever was, the final steep banked sharp turn that ended the track was brutal. Everyone had headaches afterward from our heads bouncing off the sides of the head supports in the fast turns. It hurt that day and everyone regretted it in the moments after but I'm glad I got to ride the "brakeless" Mean Streak before it got torn down.

[@HalonPoisoning]

So they turned off all the trims?

[@wade7488]

yeah but what if they are sleepy or the sun makes it difficult to see when the train is coming? checkmate

[@acowwithlegs]

brakes deserve better work conditions

[@HaroldKuilman]

@@acowwithlegs they deserve a break 👌🏻

[@GreenIcing1]

@@HaroldKuilman they get it half the year

[@HaroldKuilman]

@@GreenIcing1 depends on the park, some European parks are open all year 😉

[@DevioussJohnson]

@@HaroldKuilman please tell me which parks in europe are open all year because I wanted to go to one but all parks are closed or way too far away

[@pqfamilyadventures]

The fins at the top of Velocicoaster I believe were actually added to keep the train moving and prevent it from getting stuck up there. On a very rare event it actually got stuck at the top, which led to a very tricky evacuation. Learned during the paddock tour.

[@coasterbot]

That's very true!

[@TheCarpenterUnion]

Couldn't the passengers just simultaneously shift their body weight back and forth? Surely there's not that much friction

[@justwhatido6058]

i always thought they were more LSM launches just in case the train was going too slow

[@Thestuffnope]

​@TheCarpenterUnion i dont think the restraints give you enough freedom of movement to do that.

[@pqfamilyadventures]

@@Thestuffnope Also those trains are very heavy.

[@Jsach3]

Some skid brakes are still manually controlled! Twister and Phoenix at Knoebels for example are completely manually controlled. If a ride operator wanted, they could simply slide the train right through the station allowing riders to go on a second lap. Maintenance and the supervisors generally frown upon that though. I've been lucky enough that once or twice on the last ride of the night towards the end of the season the Twister ops will stop it in the station before parking it all the way, quickly ask if anyone wants to get off, and then slide it the rest of the way through the station for a round two! Seeing the clips from Twister in this video made me smile, not just because of how great the ride is, but because of how great the ops are too!

[@coasterbot]

That's interesting to hear! Some rides at Blackpool Pleasure Beach are still manually operated too. Thanks for sharing this really interesting information :)

[@Captainnoodle1]

I remember one night probably about 10 years ago being sent through at least 3 times in a row on the Phoenix that is one of my favorite memories at Knoebels

[@DJdopaminCZ]

Skid brake it's the worst name ever

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

8:38 the unforgivable pun.

[@speedylloyd]

Thank you for bringing up the fact that fins can only be installed on straight track. There are way too many people that feel Dragster is going to get boosters on the vertical twist, not understanding it's not possible.

[@coasternerd6883]

Well they can also be installed on slopes too, as you can see with Kingda Ka. But that just depends on the ride tbh.

[@KingdaToro]

Mostly, but not quite. Fins can be used on track with a gentle vertical curve, but horizontal curves or twists are out. Likewise, skid brakes can be used on track that curves horizontally, but not vertically at all.

[@K-o-R]

In RCT a water splash just before the station on a wooden coaster is a great way to prevent Station Brakes Failure from causing an accident.

[@dasy2k1]

I normally have a couple of independent brake runs before the station plus a final block brake just before the station to improve ride throughput

[@basedeltazero714]

MGLN avatar salute o7

[@billclinton984]

Imma show this to my friend who’s deathly afraid of rollercoasters because she thinks the brakes won’t work and we will fly off the track

[@coasterbot]

Hopefully it helps!

[@billclinton984]

@@coasterbot i hope so too im taking her to thorpe park this year

[@KingdaToro]

Brakes are what keep you from crashing into another train, which is actually one of the two most common kinds of coaster accidents (the other is someone being struck by a train). Guide and upstop wheels are what keep you from flying off the track, brakes really have nothing to do with that.

[@billclinton984]

@@KingdaToro I know but when I explain that to her she just doesn’t want to know

[@janmcguire5268]

You might want to explain up-stop wheels to her also. 😊

[@madbirds]

Got to see the braking by default in action when I worked at expedition everest at disney. Our brakes zone 3 would open half second or less before the train came through and close just barley after it went passed. Was crazy how close it was.

[@coasterbot]

That's pretty awesome!

[@TemporalWolf]

That's good to hear. I would assume they are designed such that even if two trains are touching entering the brake zone the 2nd train will stop.

[@madbirds]

@@TemporalWolf yep little late but now seeing this. Brake zone 3 isn't used to much only when we fall behind unload or loading. Brake zone 3 was brakes u didn't want to get stuck at it brakes hard.

[@TemporalWolf]

@@madbirds I'd assume it's the same situation as airbags: It's not pleasant to get hit with an airbag, but it's miles better than the alternative.

[@BoyRoy18]

I know that vekoma had stange friction brakes. They use air to close, and springs to open. They all have a sepred buffer tank that can stop a train 1 time if the air suppley is lost. Its stanges but still used on the older vekoma's. Python at Efteling uses brakes like this.

[@Robbedem]

Aren't those brakes replaced with newer versions with the revision of Python?

[@BoyRoy18]

@@Robbedem no.

[@JellyProductions333]

Most underrated IRL Rollercoaster KZbinr :) Most older Rollercoasters have gotten failsafe brakes. There's nothing to be worried about when riding Leap-The-Dips :)

[@staceywarner4910]

It was interesting to rewatch this video as yesterday we were at Alton Towers when the storm caused a park wide power outage. Super surreal watching Wickerman just turn off. Anyway, as the resident enthusiast among friends folks were asking me how it worked with rides being held with the power off. I couldn’t remember in detail but said that basically if the ride either knows there is an obstacle ahead or cannot say either way it will hold the train by default (which i think was essentially correct). Was very cool to see it happen in real time.

[@coasterbot]

It sounds like you put their minds at ease!

[@Lazy2332]

I never thought about roller coasters not having standby generators/UPSes(batteries) as all of them in Orlando & Busch Gardens do have them. Power outages at these parks are incredibly rare that you can count on your fingers the number of times they’ve lost power lol. So the generators/UPS systems aren’t really ever used apart from testing. I’m just glad they’re there so I don’t get stuck!

[@staceywarner4910]

@Lazy2332 I guess in the UK we get far less storms

[@BobOrKlaus]

man, its nice to know the answer to the title of a video and STILL get educated on the topic, great job

[@coasterbot]

Thanks for this very kind comment ☺️

[@amazingperson9604]

I've never ever even thought about them just not working, like even on the first time I went on a rollercoaster myself, I was scared because I didn't know how it felt like, I really didn't think about anything that keeps it together breaking.

[@SupermarketSweep777]

Video: Roller coaster brakes NEVER fail RollerCoaster Tycoon: *Train blows up.*

[@hyperconjugation]

I never knew I wanted to know about roller coaster breaks for 12 mins straight. But i am happy

[@coasterbot]

Ah yes, one satisfied customer

[@juusovalkonen5876]

knowing about the copper tube magnet trick I got excited at 00:50 bc I figured immediately modern rollercoasters use magnets to slow them down :) was not disappointed when I got to 6:43!

[@coasterbot]

Hell yeah!

[@bengoodwin465]

2:39 Twister!! One of my favorite coasters. Surprised to see it anywhere online considering its location, but I suppose Knobel's is fairly well known to anyone actually into wooden coasters. And Phoenix at 3:02. I know it's won so many top prizes for wooden coasters but no one I talk to knows what I'm talking about. Super cool to see these amazing coasters get recognition even though they're buried up in Amish country.

[@coasterbot]

Both of those wooden coasters look great! As you said, there's a lot of history surrounding them

[@internetname6210]

Phoenix was the first roller coaster I ever rode, and to this day I still haven’t rode anything like it, it gives you that fluttering stomach feeling on blast the whole time as you go up and down like you’re really flying somehow

[@KingdaToro]

Knoebels is legendary, don't sell it short.

[@matthewkolar7560]

Well, the entire concept of "fail-safe" means that the real reality is that the brakes ALWAYS fail, but their failure state is that they stop the train, and do not let it go.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

We should be calling them goers. If the goer doesn't work, it doesn't go.

[@purplepenguin43]

If roller coasters are fail safe, then aircraft are fail-danger

[@marcusfelten8823]

I wish I could've been a brakeman when I was a ride operator at worlds of fun. Test rides were the highlight of any shift of course (as well as running the panel aka sitting down most often in ac) I suppose I was a brakeman when making the ferris wheel but that was not fun as I wasn't on it and it took a lot of concentration and finesse!

[@shawn576]

You should see the system of emergency brakes used by trains. The brakes are still friction brakes, but they can be activated by permanent magnets on the track. Wire is wrapped around the permanent magnets on the track, and energizing the wire creates a field in the opposite direction of the permanent magnet, thus creating no net magnetic field, and this allows a train to pass over that track. If the wire is not energized because something has failed or because the train does not have authorization to enter that section of track, the permanent magnets on the track will pull the emergency brake on the train and bring the train to a screeching halt. I just wanted to mention that because I think it's interesting that magnets can be used for multiple things. We don't just use them for induction braking. They can be used to activate regular friction brakes too.

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

Can you imagine getting a job as a brakeman?

[@The_Pariah]

@11:30 - To be clear, what's described here is actually something roller coast junkies pray for. They would PAY for it. It's called a "rollback" and the OG Top Thrill Dragster is (was) known it. If the weight was right and the wind was right, the car would stall out before cresting the top of the arc, allowing it to free fall backward to where it started. It's one of those super rare events that people prayed for b/c it was such a unique and thrilling moment. Cedar Point listened to them and when they made Top Thrill 2, they designed it to purposely incorporate a rollback as part of the ride. For those who don't know Top Thrill 2, it's a mag launch coaster. You get launched forward with enough speed to get 1/2 way up the main tower. You then free fall backward to where you started and while going backward they activate the mag launch *in reverse*, increasing your negative velocity to 100 mph. This shoots you up another tower behind the coaster that goes straight up so you're facing the ground. Gravity stops you and you free fall forward back to where you started, where they mag launch you a THIRD time, this time shooting the cart 120 MPH down the rail, sending you over a 420 foot crest with a bunch of twists. You go shooting straight down the other side and eventually end up back where you started. It...looks...amazing!!!

[@sparechainge]

People in the late 1800s would have an immediate heart attack just walking up to a modern amusement park

[@rizen3467]

Incredible video! You can really feel the difference between magnetic brakes and older rides with friction brakes only, way softer and comfortable.

[@beautiful-crouton]

great video! always love your high-quality and informative content. i noticed the neat transition in and out of the old black-and-white coaster footage, thought that was really smooth. the infomercial bit was also great ;) keep up the awesome work

[@coasterbot]

Thanks for the kind words, and for noticing the transition! :)

[@logandihel]

2:40 Twister at Knoebels in Elysburg, PA

[@Spamhard]

Hey, I see Great Yarmouths old coaster in the bit about brake men! As a local, it's one of me faves. Nothing quite like a coaster that has to be pushed by hand to start, and requries a brakeman sitting on the cars to slow it.

[@rhettorical]

Semi trucks use a similar failsafe, where the brakes default to engaged. It's so simple and elegant when you think about it, but never even occurs to most people since we're so used to brakes in our cars only engaging when you choose to engage them.

[@thebobkap]

On rollercoasters a block zone is a section of ride that only one train may occupy at a time. At the end of a block zone there is a method to stop the train, in case the block zone ahead is still occupied. This is the safety system that prevents rollercoaster trains from colliding with one another.

[@Frommerman]

Hmm. I'm still not sure what block zones do. Could you explain?

[@pumkinmr8368]

I've been interested in coasters after my first one last summer and I'm going to get on more later I just wanna say you're videos helped me get into coasters and keep up there's amazing vids

[@coasterbot]

That's awesome to hear, I hope you get to ride more this year too! Have fun ☺️

[@rogorix4991]

The braking by the magnetic fiel is very good and some new lorries have them as standard braking they are good if you're going 30mph> (because stopping 40tons with disk brakes is harsh (they dont last long) ) but for braking at slow speed they don't work. Also the magnets cant always by active because the lorries couldnt move so lorries can still have braking fails.

[@n1co2017]

Something i found really cool was the waiting line for the second track of the wooden coaster "Le Monstre" at Six Flags, La Ronde in Montreal. The line goes along side the holding track and you have a full view of how every part of the brake mechanism works.

[@coasterbot]

That's awesome!

[@agentkosticka17]

missed opportunity: brakes that brake but don't break

[@timothylego5675]

Back in like 1990, there was a brake failure in thunderbolt at kennywood where 2 trains collided with each other

[@sqoomsh]

Velocicoaster actually doesn’t have a trim, that is I believe a couple LSM fins, and they are used to aid the train out of a stall at the apex of the top hat.

[@coasterbot]

You're 100% right!

[@Dan-uy2ld]

Would LSM fins not have a breaking effect anyway when they are turned off?

[@sqoomsh]

@@Dan-uy2ld they could if universal chose to use them like such

[@Dan-uy2ld]

@@sqoomsh Do you know how they would do this? Just not run any current through the fins? I'm not really sure how LSMs work but they fascinate me 😂

[@sqoomsh]

@@Dan-uy2ld LSMs are completely inactive, no current, powered off

[@Atmatan]

Brakes may not fail, but seatbelts sure do 😊 It's pretty crazy how much trust is leveraged on many of the older rides still in operation.

[@WillFuI]

Those inductive breaks are so smooth it feel like magic. It being inductive makes a lot of sense as I always wondered how they made it so smooth

[@vzs01]

12:04 for those of you who are unaware

[@T_Zilla]

Iykyk

[@leeowen4989]

The old L4 type friction brake introduced by Arrow, inherited by Vekoma and copied by various chinese companies doesn't meet the definition of fail-safe. If there is a loss of air pressure after the control valve, the brake will open. The retractable fins used by Intamin use air to move in both directions but there is also a spring inside the cylinder that will push the fin up if there is no air holding it down.

[@Margoth195]

1:26 as a Dane, I thank you for this small clip!

[@coasterbot]

Tivoli Gardens looks beautiful, I hope to visit someday! :)

[@Margoth195]

@@coasterbot Go for it! its even just a nice place to hang out (though id guess you'd be riding the rides lol). also if you are doing site seeing check out the Vor Frelsers Kirke. in my opinion, it has the best views of the city and it usually gets less traffic than some of the other towers in the city.

[@peterwille8239]

Same

[@wompastompa3692]

Used to go to Lakeside Amusement Park in northern Colorado with some extended family every summer. It's an older park with a wooden coaster called the Cyclone. One year it rained part way in the day and they had to close the Cyclone because it was going fast enough that they were having trouble stopping just the empty trains during testing and they were concerned about a potential derail on a few of the turns.

[@kylechristiancanoy2369]

imagine being the brake man and you have to ride the roller coaster every single day xD

[@eMorphized]

Then again, you could treat it like the Jungle Cruise at Disney

[@kratosbelmont]

I just binge watched your roller coaster video series . great stuff. I love rollercoasters in general

[@coasterbot]

Thanks for watching and enjoying our stuff 😊

[@thepenguin4043]

Him: starting to talk about blocks Me: having flashbacks to ElToroRyan

[@Vertraic]

I will say, Roller Coaster brakes will never fail to slow you down (as long as something does not lock them open, which is VERY unlikely to happen accidentally...) But they CAN fail ON, meaning they lock you in place where ever you are. That is how you get people stuck upside down at the top of a loop for 3+ hours in the middle of the summer until rescuers can get a ladder and harness properly set up to pull you out one by one. I have personally seen that happen twice...

[@andrewgiordano1817]

blud just jinxed it

[@IroAppe]

I already knew that, and I hoped to learn something additional that keeps the brakes failsafe. But I guess it works, since we don't hear of block brakes failing. But I can already think of many cases of failures during the video: What if the magnet brake fins don't come up, because there's a problem with the electric system, for example the specific cables that wire the motors? What if the springs fail? I already knew that springs are used to ensure a default state, it's the easiest way to do that. But it all depends on the springs not breaking. It is not an ideal failsafe system, but it seems to be the best so far, and as long as maintenance is fine, it will be fail-safe. Maybe that's the idea: If maintenance is neglected, the ride won't be safe anyway. In parks with good maintenance, the brakes are truly fail-safe, since they are always inspected and kept in their best form. In parks with neglected maintenance on the other hand, other problems come up that are severe to safety. So for all purposes, good maintenance is key to safety, and if it is neglected, it all falls apart anyway since it's a moving system that remains safe for some time, but eventually fails if it is not kept up well. So: Rollercoaster brakes are just fail-safe enough for all practical purposes, they are already more failsafe than other systems, and the whole system is only as safe as the weakest link in the chain.

[@Jason-b9t]

The biggest problem with magnet brakes is their inability to cope with derailment. If the carriage derails, the braking device may be misaligned and cause a collision, which often results in the carriage completely detaching, or the brakes being damaged and failing, causing collisions with other car. A roller coaster that uses magnetic brakes must ensure that derailment is an event that should never occur in the system.

[@willhamlink]

I got ElToroRyan flashbacks hearing an explanation of block zones lmao

[@RecklessFables]

On rollercoasters a block zone is a section of ride that only one train may occupy at a time. At the end of a block zone there is a method to stop the train, in case the block zone ahead is still occupied. This is the safety system that prevents rollercoaster trains from colliding with one another. Let’s look at the block sections on ...

[@CainTheRedFox]

HEYY YOU SHOWED THE COMET!! MY MOM AND I LOVE THAT ROLLERCOASTER!! I influenced her to get on with me because she hates wooden coasters to death and when she got on with me and road it with me the first time, yes she was scared however she also told me that she had the most fun riding that ride than she has had in ages. I will always cherish the memories I made with her and I hope to continue to be able to make more of those memories especially being a father myself now.

[@coastarider]

Bullet coaster has left the chat

[@tingstrap]

I really enjoyed this video. very clear, very informative. keep up the good work.

[@PugsLongs]

I love when my rollercoaster breaks!

[@froggary]

Really interesting and informative video. I also really like the range of little rollercoaster clips you use - e.g. from Speed to Kingda Ka.

[@coasterbot]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@camikelly2356]

Very informative, Harry. Hopefully this will help ease people’s fears of roller coasters.

[@coasterbot]

Thanks Cami!

[@andrewvirtue5048]

At 10:13 you really see the brakes taking effect.

[@joshuavincent7884]

5:39 never heard "clear" pronounced like this

[@coasterbot]

British

[@joshuavincent7884]

@@coasterbot kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2axXp6GeL6of6c&ab_channel=EnglishwithCollinsDictionary sounds nothing like this

[@jiaan100]

​@@coasterbotyuck

[@halfsourlizard9319]

Probably should get out more.

[@joshuavincent7884]

@@halfsourlizard9319 you're right, let me take a quick stroll across the ocean

[@bluustreak6578]

8:53 that steel beam on the right of the cart looks super dangerous if you have your arm out for some reason :P

[@happysword258]

dont worry its too far away to touch it

[@derekschommer1465]

Why would people be riding the rollercoasters in the rain lol

[@Cyrus_T_Laserpunch]

Glad to see everyone here remembers Roller Coaster Tycoon's infamous brakes failure ride breakdown.

[@Palmboom313]

Ive you play RollerCoaster tycoon, they will break.

[@coasterbot]

You got me there!

[@billkeithchannel]

Superman Ride Of Steel at Darien Lake was my first coaster experience with side fin magnetic braking. So smooth!

[@JohnRunyon]

They never fail for the same reason the brakes in your car never fail: maintenance. (And also because they required energy applied to them to *disengage* rather than engage)

[@coasterbot]

Exactly!

[@emmata98]

6:45 wrong name. It's Elecromagnetic brakes. The linkage between electric fields/currents and the magnetic fields are important (as stated a bit later). edit: Eddy Current brakes would be the technical term

[@coasterbot]

The brakes aren't electromagnetic though, they aren't powered at all. It's simply a metal fin sliding through a permanent magnet.

[@emmata98]

@@coasterbot elecromagnetic doesn't mean powered. What happens, is that a conductor travels through a static magnetic field (the other mechanic would be a (static) conductor and a changing magnetic field, witch is how LIM's work) . If you are looking at the maxwell equations you will see (changing area), that this implies an electrical current (called eddy current) inside the conductor. This current induces a magnetic field opposit of the magnetic field provided from the outside, therefore we have a force, "braking" the conductor. The english wiki-artical of the "eddy current brake" does a good job "imaging" those fields. That's why we have and need an electric field here, witch makes it an electromagnetic device. This shows furthermore how those fields are working and inducibg eachother.

[@BigBrotherMateyka]

0:02 That guy riding the kiddie coaster with a mask on with nobody sitting next to him has probably never done something fun or exciting in his entire life.

[@coasterbot]

Adults can't ride next to each other on that coaster

[@goldyax7056]

Someone looking after hygiene and no one can even sit next to each other “not fun” don’t judge people over one little thing now you just made yourself look like a jackass and makes you not do anything fun or exciting

[@Nauskills]

​@@coasterbot why would you like the jackass comment?

[@kamo7293]

you know, I wouldn't make up a story for a random person I have and will never meet, so that I can make fun of them. pretty stupid not gonna lie

[@jaycekkapp5]

i dont get people that think coasters are unsafe.

[@thecompanioncube4211]

Well it feels more unsafe than walking on the sidewalk. It's just a mental thing

[@Helawutz]

Excellent Video! Great work! Eventhough i knew most things already, i really enjoyed watching it.

[@coasterbot]

Thanks for the kind comment ☺️

[@FlashFoxBox]

The only fail remains is the human error

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

Humans, why did there have to be so many humans?

[@RemixedVoice]

Correct. Which is why I still get nervous every time I get on a coaster lol. Humans fail

[@eyebrowse]

roller coasters are designed around human error. it's extremely difficult to circumvent the numerous redundant systems in place.

[@TheRadioAteMyTV]

@@eyebrowse Yet, every year there are dozens of circumvention where coaster and theme park accidents occurs. Something as simple as letting a giant 15 year old sit in a chair that will thrust him 100s of feet in the air and let him fall to his death, as one easy example, where numerous redundant systems failed and he died a horrific death. Plenty of other examples where that came from too. Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed.

[@jappie.]

i've never heard this much about brakes ever before in a video (and it surprises me two every time i watch an episode of problematic rollercoasters)

[@coasterbot]

Brakes are cool

[@bmorr]

The amount of coasters from KI that this features makes my heart happy. I used to scrounge for any video of KI when I was little, and now it's commonplace. Also shoutout Busch Gardens Tampa cus it's one of the other parks I've been to, and I recognized a lot of coasters from there in the video as well.

[@coasterbot]

Kings Island look like a great amusement park! I recently went to Busch Gardens Tampa, it's a lot of fun :)

[@unrellated]

Block sections are such an effective way to manage multiple trains that modern trackless dark rides actually have virtual block sections programmed into them.

[@KingYakko01]

Man seeing the wooden coasters from Hersheypark and Knoebels just really made me smile

[@autoplusyes]

Can you do a video on carnival rides breaking systems. Cuase they seem to break alot

[@triple7marc]

They really don't lol

[@Sci_X1]

11:11 there’s a very similar ride at Busch gardens Williamsburg called Griffon ( I honestly think they may be copies) which uses that same system Busch gardens is my favorite amusement park in a very biased opinion

[@Its-Just-Zip]

I love the couple of coasters with hyrodynamic breaks. They look really cool and could be used to fully stop the coaster, but no-one ever does that since it would require a recovery mechanism and or the guests to swim,

[@coasterbot]

That would be cool but yeah as you've pointed out, very impractical!

[@13edan]

What is the name of the ride from 12:11-12:15? I looked through all the videos you had in the description and didn't see it. Cheers

[@Floofie_boi]

9:40 the stress-induced on all the bolts can make the bolts fail and magnets lose their magnetivity over time

[@Jeroen_a]

Magnetic breaking also has another drawback.... The fins on the track heat up during the day with each train passing... in some cases the fins have to be cooled during operation (Pulsar Walibi Belgium. Mack rides power splash.. Even though it's feature is a power splash with a lot of water... it's still needed to cool the breaks on the track during operation.)

[@itsgamingtime9578]

i had a sort of break fail while i was on a roler coaster. it was slowed down but not enought, we just drove throught the start (maybe 15kmh/9.3mph) and had a second round without waiting. glad that it was a soft one.

[@coasterbot]

Some smaller roller coasters do go through the station quickly to begin a second lap! Quite a few powered ones do that, for example

[@jamessever8936]

I think the best brake is the idea that the roller coaster can't be a perpetual motion machine, if you pull the car up to the first hill and it goes all the way around the track, it can't make it up to the same point again because it's not 100% efficient. In other words, the coaster will never do more than one loop on the track unless you add more energy in. The last hill will always stop it.

[@bestaround3323]

Instructions unclear, perpetual motion roller coaster is now constantly accelerating, and I am scared.

[@draculastraphouse7863]

I remember getting on a roller coaster and we got stuck as soon as we went past the loop, we got stuck facing towards the ground and we were there for about 1 hour, I'm just glad it didn't stop at the loop and we would've been upside down

[@JamesPero]

From personal experience working ops on coasters I can say for a fact that sometimes breaks do fail. I've seen cars/trains blow right through breaking sections that were supposed to be active.

[@OofThatsNice]

Superman The Ride @ SF New England has the most exciting brake run I've ever experienced. Slams to a stop from ~40 or ~50 mph about 10 yards from the train in the station. So awesome

[@coasterbot]

Sounds like a lot of force! Ha ha 😅

[@leesusca7339]

My sisters friend was on Superman when the brakes didn’t quite work, the train went behind the station. They offered a free ride as consolation and he accepted

[@Lazy2332]

3:43 VelociCoaster!! One of my all time favorites!! ❤️

[@LoadingScreenPro]

The Superman located at Darien Lake in NY is called The Ride Of Steel now for copyright reasons, it has been called The Superman since Six Flags dropped the park over 15 years ago. (Source: I live here and used to do Ride Ops for darien lake back in 2012)

[@volleyball_t-raining]

I could be wrong but at 7:43 should it not be Lenz’s Law as eddy currents are the result of lenz’s law

[@deltor5849]

"Roller coaster brakes never fail" Crime documentaries: "UNTIL THEY DO"

[@coasterbot]

🤣

[@LillithIO]

0:47 I wasn’t expecting a clip from Kings Island and immediately had a “OH MY GOD THATS THE PLACE I GO TO” moment 💀

[@Turtleforcevd]

While I was watching, I was trying to guess as many roller coasters as I could, but I was stumped as the roller coaster that showed up multiple times one of those times at 12:08 and I was wondering if anybody could help me with what it’s called because it looks very familiar and the Eiffel Tower in the background looks exactly like king minions, and the park is similar thanks