Station (roller coaster)

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A roller coaster's station is where the passengers board and alight from the trains. The station houses the coaster's control panel, and has devices for moving the trains in and out of the station and holding them in position, as well as devices for locking and unlocking the restraints and devices for controlling guest access to the platform. Some stations have separate loading and unloading platforms.

[edit] Controlling the ride

The main control panel is normally located at the front of the station, on the unload side, and will typically have at least all of these controls:

• Dispatch, often two buttons that must both be pressed. When pressed and held down, the train in the station will move forwards out of the station. For safety reasons, the train will stop if the button is released before the train is clear of the station.
• Train Advance/Accept. When pressed and held down, the train behind the station moves forwards into the station. Like the Dispatch button, the train will stop if the button is released. The Dispatch button sometimes also serves as the Advance button, in which case the train in the station will dispatch, then the train behind the station will advance as soon as the station is clear.
• Emergency Stop. This engages all the brakes and stops the lift, stopping all the trains as soon as possible. Often, after an emergency stop has been performed, only a mechanic (not the operators) can re-enable the coaster.
• Unlock/lock restraints. This is used to lock all the restraints after the loading gates are closed. It is not necessary to manually unlock the restraints to unload a train in normal operation, as the restraints automatically unlock after the train stops in the station. There are often, as well, separate buttons to lock and unlock each row or car's restraints.
• Open/close entrance gates. The entrance gates must, of course, be closed before the train is dispatched.
• A "Control Power" key switch to activate the control panel. Modern coasters will typically have an additional key switch on the main computer that serves as the main power switch for the whole coaster.
• An "Auto/Manual Mode" key switch. Automatic mode is used for the normal operation of the coaster, while mechanics use manual mode for maintenance and testing purposes, and also to perform the pre-opening procedures each day. When starting complex roller coasters, it can take an hour or more before the first test run can be conducted.
• A microphone to allow the operator to talk to the guests and the attendants. It normally only transmits to the station, but there is typically a control to allow the operator to speak to guests in the queue, and even other parts of the ride.

The panel also has various lights indicating the status of various parts of the coaster:

• Lights indicating whether or not each block is occupied by a train.
• Lights indicating whether or not the restraints are down far enough to allow the train to be dispatched. This could be one light for the entire train, or a separate light for each row or car. They will normally be built into the lock/unlock restraint button(s).
• An "all clear" light, which indicates that the train can be dispatched. It is normally built into the Dispatch button.
• A "trouble" light, indicating that the coaster has experienced a malfunction, normally a very minor one. On a very complex coaster such as Kingda Ka, even something as minor as a lightbulb burning out will trigger the trouble light.

In addition to the main control panel, most modern coasters have an "enable panel" on the station's wall, normally in the corner farthest from the main panel. These are small panels that have two buttons: "Dispatch Enable" and "Emergency Stop". Many modern coasters also have a Open/close entrance gates button on this panel, as the attendant operating this panel can usually see the gate area better than the operator. The Dispatch Enable button must be pressed and held down by an attendant in order for the main panel's Dispatch and Advance buttons to function. The train will stop if the Dispatch Enable button is released before it is clear of the station. The purpose of this safety system is to ensure that the operator and all the attendants are clear of the moving train, and to allow any crew member to stop a dispatching or advancing train at a moment's notice. The Dispatch Enable button is bypassed when the coaster is in Manual mode, allowing trains to be dispatched and advanced solely from the main panel. This would be done during off-season testing and maintenance of rides, so that only one mechanic is needed to operate the ride. Many larger roller coasters now have "Remote Annunciators". A Remote Annunciator is basically a second control panel that performs all the functions of the master control panel from a service or garage area.

[edit] Moving and interfacing with the train

The station has a mechanism to move each train into the station, hold it in place while it is loaded, then move it out of the station. If the station is built on a slope, the train will move into and out of the station under gravity and all that's needed are brakes to hold it in place. If the station is built flat, drive tires or another form of propulsion must be used. On some coasters, the station has no brakes - instead, it has drive tires that lock in place to prevent the train from moving. This is normally used on coasters with magnetic brakes, as this type of brake cannot completely stop a train.

The station also has a mechanism to lock and unlock the restraints, which can be physical or electric. A physical interface uses spring-loaded rods in the train that are pushed by plates in the station to unlock the restraints. An electrical interface uses copper contacts mounted to the track and brushes mounted to the bottom of the train to allow the computer to interface directly with the train and control its restraints. One major advantage of a physical interface is that it allows the restraints to be easily unlocked with a simple wrench-like tool if a train has to be evacuated (unloaded anywhere other than the station). An electrical interface, on the other hand, may require a large, bulky battery pack to be plugged into the train in order to manually unlock the restraints. Some electically operated restraints allow manual operation with a wrench or T-bar device, in the event that electrical power is not available. An electrical interface also requires more maintenance, as the electrical contacts in the station must be cleaned regularly to maintain a good connection.

Most coasters also have an interface for giving the computer feedback on the position of the restraints. This is usually a simple electric interface. On some coasters this is not used, instead there is a fixed-length seatbelt that must be buckled to the restraint. If the restraint cannot be pushed down far enough for the belt to be buckled, the train cannot be dispatched.

The station, as well as other important parts on the coaster such as the lift and brake runs, has many hall effect sensors that give the computer feedback on the position of each train. These sensors sense the presence of any metal object, such as part of the train, in their immediate vicinity. Moving any other metal object in range of the sensor will also trigger it, creating what's known as a "ghost train" - the computer thinks there's a train where there isn't one, causing an emergency stop.

Some types of coasters have additional equipment in the station. Floorless roller coasters have individual floor sections between the rows that flip downwards and to the side to allow the train to move. Inverted roller coasters have a retractable floor that drops down about a foot before the train dispatches. Flying roller coasters have a mechanism to flip the seats into flying position, and some also have the same retractable floor of an inverted coaster.