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Mer
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Everything posted by Mer
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In case anyone hasn't seen electricBill's latest edit: "There's a lot of work involved in that, and Merlin can't be arsed."
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Actually just did this celebratory dance in my chair:
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Haha! Super Spin? Can't wait for this, it's always such a lovely meet and a good chance to catch up with members I don't see often I wonder if the Eye will be as eventful as last time... I'm also tempted to go Wetherspooning instead of Tussauds this time, as I've already had my taxi ride fix this year and been reunited with Boris We shall see though!
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Yes I will be attending!
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The procession and celebration show for Face It Alone: Meant to say this sooner, but as always, thanks everyone for a great meet! Even though the park was ridiculously busy, it was still a good laugh
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Yep - some of the ones in my area have been seen with knives too and tried to attack people! And many have actually been chasing after people. There was one recently who kept standing in the middle of a roundabout in quite a dark area (only becoming visible when the headlights shone on them), trying to distract/freak drivers out. Total idiots. How long before someone reacts out of self-defence and hits them, or they cause a car accident? There's harmless, Halloween pranks, and then there's just stupidity. This is what scare attractions are for - to be scared! Not your own neighbourhood! Luckily the police are now getting involved and urging people who see anyone to report it.
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Just to confirm that I'm definitely attending this Still not really fussed about Face It Alone though so probably won't be doing that
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The nearest station is Three Bridges (which is also more of a mainline station/more services than Crawley station), a quote from here: https://www.roadrunnersonline.co.uk/ (who I normally use when I get a taxi), says £8, Uber says between £6-£9 I really need to get back here...it's literally down the road from me yet I've only been twice in my life EDIT: Posted that at the same time as Amarghh, apologies if I may have given something away with that question, have removed it incase
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Aah sorry, genuinely didn't even see that!
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*Cries and laughs at the same time*
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- fright nights
- scarefest
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Donald Trump's House of Horror. You must escape from Donald Trump's house, but clones of him are hidden in every room. One room will contain the real thing! Can you escape in enough time and stop his secret plan to win the election?
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- fright nights
- scarefest
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This is possibly the most British topic on this forum! Love it 2 sugars, only a little bit of milk, and it needs to be strong. People who drink weak tea, or make it too milky are awful people I mean, no offence but a cup of tea should taste of...tea! Coffee - 2 brown sugars - I used to have 3(!) white sugars, then heard on QI that you're meant to have brown sugar with coffee, (which makes sense as coffee is more bitter and brown sugar is sweeter), tried it and it's definitely better Oh and Coffee Mate > milk. Hot chocolate - Aero hot chocolate is
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In all seriousness, now we can start moving on from the crash, I hope they bring back all the audio containing the words "Corrected" and that the Lord of Darkness' "Welcome to eternal darkness" line returns on Blivvy too. I imagine they probably won't bother to do it until next season but either way, I hope they bring them back! I mean, outside the shop there's that board/sign thingy about the marmaliser which mentions how you "Hurtle under the leg"...
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When you're browsing and come across this topic...
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Embarrassing moments? There's an app a thread for that. http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/8438-embarrassing-moments/
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Having just read the report - yes it clearly states the bonuses thing I've print screened the main parts, although it's still worth having a look at the whole thing. The part about one of the engineers actually going out to the second lift hlll but still not seeing the stalled train...just wow.
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The full expert report is available to download on the HSE website, in the zip file link at the bottom of the page: http://press.hse.gov.uk/2016/alton-towers-owners-fined-over-smiler-crash/ After reading in some news articles that this report found engineers felt pressured to reduce downtime as it related to bonuses(!), I googled just to see if the report was available (as I know with air crashes, you can view the AAIB reports online) and found it. Obviously due to freedom of information, names and quotes from staff have been fully blacked out, and the report is only on the first 33 pages. The rest contains: Fairground and Amusement Parks - Guidance On Safe Practice Amusement Devices Safety Council - Safety of Amusement Devices: Design (Which still could be interesting!) As for the downtime affecting bonuses - the news articles that mentioned this referred to Stephen Flannagan, who compiled the report, so presumably is correct (haven't read the report yet so don't know if it's mentioned in there or will be a blacked out quote). Makes the whole incident even more messed up to be honest.
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That CCTV footage is ridiculous - aside from how long the train was stuck upside down, it was going back and forward for over 2 minutes! How the hell did nobody see that on the CCTV screens in the console?! "If engineers had checked the CCTV in the control room, they would have seen the stalled carriage, the court has been told." The "control room" presumably being the console where the operator is, where the CCTV screens are right next to the control panel (same with any ride with CCTV). I can't help but feel like we still have unanswered questions here. How can both the engineers AND the operator not have spotted the train? I'm surprised at how little focus there's been on that in the news reports (although I've only read BBC), I mean the engineers not being familiar with the ride/not having read the manual is one thing, but you don't need to be trained on something to look at a CCTV screen and see a train rolling back and forward.
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"The £5m fine given to Alton Towers is a record for the theme park industry, the Health and Safety Executive has said." Wow. Oh well, at least Merlin now have another record-breaker Also: "...and stressed the firm was not an emotionless corporate entity." LOL. I have so many words on that statement...
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Was just about to post that. Disturbing to watch...also if there's CCTV cameras clearly pointing to that area, then how on earth was the stalled car not visible to the operator? Regarding the quote about the brakes slowing the train down more than they should have; could it perhaps be because of the high wind speed? Not sure if that sounds silly, but it made me wonder if the brakes could be affected by wind speed, I.e via sensors etc to stop it over speeding?
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Another thing which I still can't get my head around is the fact that the ride was operating despite the wind speed being way over the maximum operating one, they know the ride can stall, the previous empty train had to be "pushed"... yet they didn't think to actually leave the station and have a look to see if the highly-likely-to-stall-considering-the-wind-speed, empty car had stalled? I guess this is where the use of the term "constant" when referring to the wind speed becomes critical; the park won't operate it if it's a constant 34mph+ wind, whereas Gerstlauer just say the wind speed, which presumably allows for sudden gusts of wind/change in wind speed reaching 34mph+. In other words, if there's 34mph+ winds at some point during the day, according to Gerst it shouldn't operate. So perhaps the constant wind speed was below 34mph, allowing the ride to open...but then surely around the time of testing, they would've been keeping an eye on the wind speed and must've had some idea of it going over 34mph? I'm no weather expert and I know you do get sudden gusts of wind, but it was apparently 46mph gusts, so it must've been pretty high at the time already! But then if the engineers in atendance weren't familiar with the ride...ugh I don't know. It's also got me wondering how/why it was changed to "constant" by Towers; was it a misunderstanding/misinterpretation, or was it intentional, and did they consult the manufacturer?
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As they're basically quoting what's being said in court, I think they are being correct. Plus it mentions four engineers at one point, and there wouldn't be four operators. It was also on the ITV news just now and they said pretty much the same as the BBC. They haven't referenced that claim yet, and I've not heard any more on that since it first appeared. I find it hard to believe that the staff would've said that to them, and they may well have thought the guest was referring to the train on the lift hill. I wonder if the guest misheard or misinterpreted what they said, or simply forgot word for word what it was. For example they might've actually said "Don't worry"/"It's nothing to worry about".
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So we now have more details into what happened on that day, this is what we have so far: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-37471624 There is also a link there to live updates which go into more detail. What I find quite concerning is how none of the engineers who attended had any understanding of the operation of the ride or "full understanding of what was going on." Having just done the Stealth BST yesterday and speaking to two engineers, I know that Thorpe have two engineers for a ride (can't remember if they used to the word assigned or not) and in a shutdown, one will receive the radio call and if they can't attend, the other will be called (although of course some shutdowns require more than one). I don't know how Towers works with theirs, but either it doesn't sound like they have the same system, or they do but for whatever reason those engineers weren't available. However I'm aware that we've only heard from the prosecution side so far, so I'm not wanting to make any assumptions yet, merely speculating. It's also interesting about the wind speed and it not being worded as "constant" in the manufacturers manual.
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TPM Happy 10th Anniversary Stealth Meet 25th September 2016!
Mer replied to Celia Mae's topic in TPM 2016 Meets
Thanks for arranging this awesome meet Celia! The behind-the-scenes was brilliant; really interesting and there was a lot that even I didn't know about Stealth, despite having worked there! The launch room is just Didn't take any photos/ask where we were allowed to as I was engrossed in it all, however we were challenged to take a Stealthie...first attempt had Stealth in, but cut the lower half of my face off, second attempt cut off Stealth and not my face, but I look rather concerned But trying to take a selfie with a badly cracked screen, holding an iPhone 6 in just one hand is a challenge in itself And as always it was good to see people again! Will probably see some of you at the MAP Fright Nights preview and I will of course be at the Fright Nights meet
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TPM Happy 10th Anniversary Stealth Meet 25th September 2016!
Mer replied to Celia Mae's topic in TPM 2016 Meets
Ok we'll definitely be there by then! Is this to book the tour or the actual tour itself (I thought they were after park closing)?
