Birket Engineering Provides Ride Control System for Comet Restoration
Reprinted from Birket Engineering News, May/June 1994 Issue

Designed and installed by Birket Engineering, a new ride system will control the restored Comet roller coaster. The new controls will provide for maximum ride safety, capacity, and thrill per running foot of track on the 67-year-old wooden roller coaster.

The new controls provide for train presence sensing, redundant braking systems, station and maintenance functions, system diagnostics and error checking, maintenance and operator interfaces, and system emergency stop.

The roller coaster is divided into four fixed zones, including the station area and lift. The lift is controlled by a 200 HP variable-speed DC drive. The unique variable-speed lift drive was praised by American Coaster Enthusiasts’ members, and may be the only such lift drive on a roller coaster.

The two-train system provides for eleven normal service brakes and two manual maintenance brakes. The service brakes include seven slow-down brakes to decelerate returning trains, two exterior or hold brakes located just before entering the station area, and two station brakes. The Comet uses redundant pneumatic caliper brakes by Costasur.

The operator’s console provides for control of the station area load gates and lap bars, exterior and slow- down brakes, and dispatch and emergency stop functions. The maintenance console houses the maintenance and lift controls, the fault and emergency stop reset functions, the status and error displays, and the keypad for changing system parameters.

Redundant trackside sensors provide train position information to the controller. Seventeen infrared beams, mostly positioned in an X configuration, find the trains on the lift and brakes. Nine proximity sensors locate the trains in other critical areas.

Six high pressure sensors verify normal pneumatic braking pressure is applied and six low pressure sensors monitor the emergency pneumatic braking system.

The system is controlled by an Allen-Bradley SLC 5/03 with a thirteen-slot rack for a total of 144 I/O.