The Outlaw at Adventureland - No Brakes!

[David Ellis]

Check out this footage I have added to YouTube...filmed in 1999, I was lucky to be on the Outlaw coaster when a disgruntled ride operator decided to try to get the sack by not braking the train, so it flew round the last bend at high speed, straight through the station, over the bunny hops, flying around the 180 degree right-hand turn, and shooting the train halfway up the lifthill before engaging the chain!

The ride op got his wish...he was sacked on the station...but not before myself, other coaster enthusiasts from the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain, and a few unsuspecting public, were given 45 minutes of sheer thrills / terror on this "runaway coaster". We heard afterwards that the unbraked runs caused about 5 years of wear and tear to the track between the station and lifthill, in less than an hour.

Check it out here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rasxGfwavi4

Enjoy the ride!

David.

[The Ghost]

Christ, I would have loved to do that.

I'm surprised the kid that did that was only saked and not sued or arrested though.

[RCT3 Ride Maker]

Christ, I would have loved to do that.

I'm surprised the kid that did that was only saked and not sued or arrested though.
I think he should have been arrested. Why would he want to get sacked in the first place?

[TPM INC]

First when Is aw this thread I thought it was some sort of yearly tradition. Looks very fun but dangerous. yeah I think he should have been arrested.

[6000000flags]

OMFG

This is my home park and first wooden coaster.

Incredible.

but also added about 5 years wear and tear to the coaster in under an hour
^from video description

Sounds likely...

[The Ghost]

We heard afterwards that the unbraked runs caused about 5 years of wear and tear to the track between the station and lifthill, in less than an hour.

Yep, that's a major case of vandalism, and a criminal offense. Plus if something were to wrong in the end, he was playing with lives here.

As I said, as much as I would have loved to ride it at that time, the cops should have come in at one point. Did security see any of this happen?

[BigLouie]

wow, thats my homepark!!!!
I have no idea what "get the sack" means but that is pretty awesome it happened at adventureland.

[CoasterJoe]

wow, thats my homepark!!!!
I have no idea what "get the sack" means but that is pretty awesome it happened at adventureland.

Get the sack mean Fired.

That would have been sooo much fun to be on... lucky.

~Joe

[Squid2]

I don't know if it would have been fun... more than likely painful. You would be going through turns with no banking at high speed and over hills that were not designed for such speeds.

Squid2

[-NGS-]

Maybe not fun, but certainly exciting. Thanks for sharing, David!

[BigLouie]

Get the sack mean Fired.

That would have been sooo much fun to be on... lucky.

~Joe
Oh, I'm sure there is a better way to term that then "get the sack" :P.

[Harpo]

Sacked, axed, given the ol' heave-ho, terminated, dispatched, shown the exit, tossed out on his butt, severed, given the boot, nixed, eighty-sixed...

Are any of these terms more appealing?

Perhaps you'd like, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

I am curious as to why he would want to be fired. If he hated the job so much, why didn't he just quit?

It bothers me that he was able to run the train like that so many times. I would like to think that, for safety purposes, such an override would be difficult, possibly reserved for people with maintenance access. If the ride is going through those areas at speeds that are significantly faster than it is supposed to, I would think that would be an invitation to a potentially catastrophic failure, which could result in people being seriously injured or killed. Fortunately, no such failure took place in this case.

[JonAAAthunder]

Wow, this happened to the Outlaw? Dude, I love this coaster! (my homepark too :p) I didn't realize there were some people on ataricommunity that have adventureland as their homepark.

[David Ellis]

I actually agree with most of the comments here...the operator was actually not a young "kid" but a middle-aged man. I believe he had an issue with the park, perhaps something along the lines of having another job but the park not allowing him to leave...I know that sounds kinda lame, but this was 10 years ago and my recollection of the full story is a little vague.

Dennis ran the ride like this for about 45 minutes if I recall correctly, and although for a large part of that the riders were dominated by RCCGB members who simply couldn't get enough of it, there were general public on the ride too.

The ride op was fired (to coin a more recognisable expression in the US) on the spot once word had got around to the senior staff...other action may have been taken against the guy, however I have no knowledge of that.

Fortunately there were no reported injuries, and we all lived to tell the tale, one that may well live for many years in coaster folklore. I thought it was only proper to share the experience, just to prove that I wasn't making it up.

This was one white-knuckle ride that nobody there that day will ever forget.
It WAS fun though...unforgettably fun. Hopefully that comes across in the video.

David.

[firelover2]

i should know how the operator felt... because i kinda did the same thing..i worked at a theme park with a mine train and it kept gettin stuck on the lift and i just sat up at the safty brake and laughed my ass off for a hour and i was textin (they put me up there all day and i hated my boss) and then the operator called and asked if i was ok and i told them the problem with the ride..

a couple of hours later..

the parked closed and i was called down to the operations office and was give a 2 hour talk on safty and a safty violation.. and so i know how that operator felt..
i wish i had gotten sacked
i just didn't show up for work the last days of the season...

[Cyberleader]

^ For some reason, I get the impression you needed that talk.

[firelover2]

^ For some reason, I get the impression you needed that talk.

it didn't help... i now hate them even more and would not mind doing it again...

i have been in the situation where i had to hit the e-stop cause the ride kinda broke on the way down...

[-Bolt-]

^And you could potentially have people's lives in your hands?

Selfish *****.

I mean, sure, you e-stopped a ride once. ONCE. Fine and dandy. Every ride op does that. Pretty much every other season or more. But come on, if you're now willing to ignore the well-being of hundreds of people over a management feud and text messaging, I suggest you seek a new occupation. Immediately.

Oh, and I'd love to know what park you're currently working at, so that I may never, ever visit it.

-Bolt-

[jackalope11]

thats hilarious!! haha
the video.

[tline]

[quote=David Ellis;11393398]Check out this footage I have added to YouTube...filmed in 1999, I was lucky to be on the Outlaw coaster when a disgruntled ride operator decided to try to get the sack by not braking the train, so it flew round the last bend at high speed, straight through the station, over the bunny hops, flying around the 180 degree right-hand turn, and shooting the train halfway up the lifthill before engaging the chain!

The ride op got his wish...he was sacked on the station...but not before myself, other coaster enthusiasts from the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain, and a few unsuspecting public, were given 45 minutes of sheer thrills / terror on this "runaway coaster". We heard afterwards that the unbraked runs caused about 5 years of wear and tear to the track between the station and lifthill, in less than an hour.

that should be ileagel it,s tooo dangouras

[David Ellis]

I know...it was dangerous...but it was a coaster memory that will always be in my top 5 ride experiences ever. The operator shouldn't have done it...but we loved it! Glad to have captured it all on camera, because otherwise I don't think anyone would have believed it.

[kylr23]

To one of the posts. Having a Cell phone at work is sorta against the law in some states dude. Im a ride op at Palace Playland and Im pritty much one of the good ops there. From helping others even spoting a protental safty hazard on a ride. *from a toy car getting lodged into the ride eletric system some how. To other stuff* A ride op has to make sure the ride and riders are safe. in this case the guy failed at both but at lest it was fun and at lest no one got hurt.