Must have been a fluke as they weren't doing that first thing in the morning...

Quick question. Is Vampire's station and brake run on a slight slope, as the loud hissing of brakes proves that there's only brakes there, followed by the train slowly starting to move...

I'm guessing so... I don't see the point in it having to come to a complete sudden stop like 3 times before reaching the correct place in the station?

It is indeed on a slope...

The only reason it stops is because Vekoma... For some reason so many of their rides do the constant stopping into the station, even Space Mountain does it...

well I guess it was designed that way, as the breaks don't slowly stop but suddenly stop... so if it was left to roll and pick up speed into the last break in the correct place in the station, the sudden stop would be either impossible at that faster speed, and very painful - I think I've answered my own question haha!

well I guess it was designed that way, as the breaks don't slowly stop but suddenly stop... so if it was left to roll and pick up speed into the last break in the correct place in the station, the sudden stop would be either impossible at that faster speed, and very painful - I think I've answered my own question haha!

It's still a poor fix to an unnecessary problem though, as sudden and total brakes aren't the only option! It's like driving everywhere at 10mph only using your handbrake because your disks are gone, you don't do that - you but new brake disks! Quite why Vekoma go for this option I don't know.

it's vekoma... so what do you expect with questionable things (wasn't it arrow though, or did it change because of the modified trains by vekoma?)!

I certainly dont remember the old trains faffing about when entering the station. This is one of the reasons aside from poor operations from the staff that three train op wasn't always efficient as 20 - 30 odd seconds are wasted with the train pulling in to the station stopping and moving several times.

(wasn't it arrow though, or did it change because of the modified trains by vekoma?)!

I believe the Track is Arrow but the new trains are defiantly Vekoma. Unsure any track modification happened though.

Am I right in thinking that the brake system for the Vampire was changed due to the Vekoma trains, like there were brakes underneath the trains in the station when it was the Arrow trains hence why it never did this stop start nonsense we have now.

Correct me if I am wrong aha.

No there was never brakes underneath the trains, they've always been fixed to the track. The original vampire trains stopped the same as the new vekoma trains, the only difference is that there is an additional set of brakes in the station, as the vekoma trains are longer than the original arrow trains. There are 2 main problem why 3 trains cannot run. Firstly poor ride operating and training, and secondly chessington can not afford to run 3 trains.

secondly chessington can not afford to run 3 trains.

Rubbish. With the amount of money they charge for entry and other things they most certainly could afford to run 3 trains!

Well, to run three they'd have to buy one! So that is quite an expense, if that is what insider means?

Am I right in thinking that the brake system for the Vampire was changed due to the Vekoma trains, like there were brakes underneath the trains in the station when it was the Arrow trains hence why it never did this stop start nonsense we have now.

Correct me if I am wrong aha.

The Bat at King's Island had brakes under the car. Since then Arrow obviously realised that this was a terrible idea (along with several other design flaws that plagued the Bat) and changed to brakes on the track, a key advantage being that you don't have to align the trains before reaching the brakes and that a failed alignment won't cause a crash.

^ Ah thanks John. I knew Arrow did have brakes under the trains for one of their coasters, just couldn't remember which one. Isn't the 3 train thing also down to H&S as well what with the train sitting on the second lift hill for a short period of time?

Well, to run three they'd have to buy one! So that is quite an expense, if that is what insider means?

The third train is in the engineering workshop in pieces, they are having to use it to keep the other 2 trains running

In terms of the ride, 3 train op is complicated due to the following reasons,

1/ the excessive train braking when they arrive in the station

2/ lower quality staff operations

3/ guests who faff about or have no tendency to rush

4/ more complicated queuing with exit rider and fastrack

In terms of Chessington not affording to run 3 trains astounds me, considering they're part of the biggest uk themepark chain as well as being in the top 10 (maybe top 5) most visited uk parks and the rides popular is still the same (if not more) than it has been since its modifications in 2002 and the park should run it on three trains as much as possible.

The third train is in the engineering workshop in pieces, they are having to use it to keep the other 2 trains running

Exactly, in pieces but with many of its pieces on the other two trains. I think I'm right in saying it could not be brought into service without a significant order of replacement bits?

From a track and operations point of view there is no physical reason three trains can not be run now. The only thing standing in their way is effort, something they appear to be lacking.

Vampire can no longer run 3 trains due to h&s. They are not happy with how the staff check bars on 3 trains and it was major faff to keep it running smoothly on 3 trains without operational issues.

That'd be internal H&S - not external, just to point out.

External H&S won't give a crap, the ride system tells you if bars are open, and as they're hydraulic it'd be rather obvious if they failed. A simple tap to ensure it's not releasing is sufficient enough to please HSE if they ever were interested (never would be).

Everything the park does could be resolved, somethings will be more difficult than others, but ultimately this'll probably bubble down to money. Just because it makes money or brings in money doesn't mean it's diverted into a maintenance budget big enough to run properly.

There is no reason why they can not run on 3 trains, one area which slows down the dispatch of trains is they only have 2 people checking the restraints, so you waste 30-60 seconds waiting for members of staff to go up and down the train, added to the fact they have to assist guests who don't listen to announcements about pulling in their restraints if they do not realise.

If they added two members of staff so each member of staff had a quarter of the train to manage, they would have faster loading and unloading times. Fair enough only do this on busy times when it is required.

This is all down to cost of doing this vs doing nothing and cashing in on Fast Track sales.

What annoys me is people who say "Due to H&S..."

It has nothing at all to do with Health and Safety, it is more often down to their policies/procedures and they have performed risk assessments.

An example is that H&S doesn't say you can not take a camera on the ride. But their internal policy means they do not allow it unless you meet their criteria which have they in their risk assessment. It all comes down to risk, they don't care if you drop your camera and it breaks as this is down to you, but they do care if another guest gets hit by a falling camera as they will be sued.

At the end of the day H&S has not gone mad, the culture of taking up on 'No win, no fee' is very attractive as people just try it to see how much money they can get and more than often companies just pay out rather than go to court. As the person making the claim, they really have nothing to loose. This in turn has resulted in many companies not wanting to get sued or if they have been sued, trying to prevent it from happening again. Then add the public liability insurance, they get a lower rate if they meet certain criteria.

They used to run with 5 platform staff during the days of 3 train operation.

It could be relatively easily done to ensure smooth operation of 3 trains on that ride - it'd require investment - properly aligning airgates, a decent exit system which allows guests to be safe and get off the platform quickly, and perhaps a baggage operation or just decent staff.

Unfortunately, investment would never happen, so we're stuck with whatever pressures the management put on their staff to do their jobs efficiently, which judging by this thread is non-existant.

According to someone I know who worked at Chessington this year, train 3 is being stored in a different location from trains 1 & 2 (which I expect 2 goes on the transfer track and 1 waits in the station during open season).

They've also confirmed that parts from train 3 have already been used on 1&2, assuming this is true, it could be quite a bit of work getting it back with the new parts it would need.

A decent exit system like it used to have?

The excuses behind Vampire's loading/unloading policies are daft, since a few years back it never had such issues...

Vampire can no longer run 3 trains due to h&s. They are not happy with how the staff check bars on 3 trains and it was major faff to keep it running smoothly on 3 trains without operational issues.

It wasn't faff, at least if you were passionate about your role as a platformer, working on Vampire with three trains was The best experience you could have in the park. Managers and staff pulling together and working as fast and efficiently as possible to get trains in and out in 25 seconds.

Of course I'm talking about a time where hey gave a damn about to roughputs ad reducing queue lengths. When it comes to it, Vampire will never run three trains again because it is cheaper to maintain two trains rather then three.