CoasterCrazy.com

So... Do coasters hydroplane? Could it cause coasters to derail and fly off the track if it was at a high enough speed?

Also, could you theoretically have on a ride like dragster, hydroplane on the top wheels, the bottom wheels, the left side wheels, and the right side wheels, and then technically, have the train "float" and then it could possibly derail then?

This just occurred to me and wondered if anyone knew the answer!

Thanks!

The answer is no.

^ I want a reason as to why...

its kinda like asking if a REAL train can hydro-plate, wouldn't be enough to derail, the train is to heavy. and coasters have wheels on all sides. There are some coasters where the top wheels aren't touching the track during moments of airtime.
Short answer, nope....

Leap the Dips can. Leap the Dips does. Every day. With a dry track.

^ Lol

I forgot about the weight, which will definitely keep it down.

Also since most coaster track is curved the water wouldn't really collect, or make a puddle like on the highway.
So the track would just be really wet at best.

yes a coaster can hydroplane (wooden coasters, I-beam tracked steel coasters), no it won't affect how the coaster operates. The forces from water would not be greater than forces already applied to the roller coaster during normal operation.

EDIT: Hydroplaning wouldn't affect modern coasters in anyway because acceleration and deceleration is not dictated by the wheels on the track.

Old wooden roller coasters were affected by this while using skid brakes as the water would stick to the specks of oil and dust and create a slick layer that made it harder for them to stop. Raging Wolf Bobs at Geauga Lake used to have this problem and would close for some time after heavy rains. I was on it once as a kid when they couldn't stop it, it went through the station twice before they stopped it on the lift and we walked down

How could a coaster derail if it has side wheels and upstop wheels?

picto-answer




but due to the small width of the wheels and type of track and length of train water would slow them down rather than send them out of control

It would be cool to see them drift!

Some process controls engineers are stupid, so good luck finding a big roller coaster that can run in the rain with out ghost trains and trouble lights due to fogged up photo eyes.

Trains don't hydroplane, but the wheels do shed water much like a car tire does in rain. The weight over each axle and the angle of the track means that conditions for hydroplaning really aren't there. Once the first wheel hits, all the water that is beaded up on the track is shed, the second and subsequent wheels just continue on as normal. You might end up with a rooster tail at the back of the train, but that is mostly from the water shedding off the fiber glass.

Wooden coasters, the wheels are so thin, they just tend to cut through the water. They don't have much contact surface in which to Hydroplane on.

Even if the train was hydroplaning, it still wouldn't derail, but it might valley if it knocks the friction values to high. Frankly if you train valleys because of rain, it's likely because you dispatch a train into a tunnel filled with water.

Those rides don't have upstop wheels - hydroplaning (putting the possibility of it happening aside) will not directly cause a coaster with side wheels and upstop wheels to derail.

I swear it feels like The Voyage does in the rain. If you ever get the chance to ride it in the rain, do it.

I assumed we were talking about the general populous of roller coasters and not a very niche specific set of coasters such as bobsleds.

No. They usually just kind of spray rust everywhere and/or mess up the brakes in the rain.

^ That I knew

Ride one of em in the snow. Feeling them slightly drift is cool, it's minimum but noticeable.

^ :O the legendary Dirk posts again!
Praise the world!

In few days i'll be riding an intamin coaster with high chance of rain and i will tell you if i notice any difference! Las year I did ride a spinning coaster under heavy rain but it's hard to tell if it was different than usual.

I've noticed Intamins seem to go faster in rain, like MF.

It didn't rain today at djurs sommerland so I can't really tell....but I asked my nephew and he said that under the rain Piraten rode slightly smoother!

not only intamins do that. NTG seems to go faster in the rain, as well as Titan at SFOT

^
Really? I've heard they go slower because there is more friction, but i could be wrong.

^Wouldn't water act as a lubricant in a sense, meaning less friction? As stated above I could be wrong too.