Have you ever rode the train backwards?

[HollyAnn]

Have you ever rode the train backwards?  I have, this past Saturday in fact.  My family and I were at the city to celebrate my cousin's birthday and had a great day.  The cool rainy weather made it hardly crowed and we walked on to pretty much every ride.  Around 5:30 we decided to ride the train.  The majority of the ride was pretty normal.  We yelled "fire in the hole" the women put their feet down, we were robbed, same old thing.  It wasn't until we were comming up under the flume ride and ready to cross the street that we started to slow down and finally came to a stop.  We thought we might need to build up a little steam to make it back into the station but we started to roll backwards all the way back to splash harbor.  We tried to  make it back in again but we ended up stopping and rolled backwards, again, back to past splash harbor and we still didn't make it back into the station.  We started to think something is not right.  In all my years of going to SDC I have never heard or had problems while riding the train.  This last time we back all the way up to where they store the trains.  We waited and ended up having to evacuate the train.  They brought ladders and helped us out one at a time then we walked back into the park by the Opera House.  I know it was definately a very rare thing and I was very impressed with how well the staff handled it.  We definately experienced something different on this trip!

[shavethewhales]

Wow, this actually happened to my parents during our visit on the 18th and I forgot to mention it. On that occasion, the gatekeeper was not at his/her post, so the train had to grind to a halt underneath the waterboggin. Their train, however, was able to make it back to the station eventually without a huge roll-back. I guess the Czech train is more powerful than the Ford's.

The real question is, what's going on with the gatekeepers? Are the crowds just getting backed up more than normal in that area these days? Methinks a new system is on the way.

[Firstvisit1967]

I hope they get this fixed.  Where is the gate keeper.

[SteamFreak]

Yep, there was an incident with the gate keeper, happens every once in a while. NO 43.is an O & K it weighs 8 Tons where the others weigh 12, it's tractive power is quite a bit lower so it sometimes gets stuck going up the hill. The Ford engine is not currently in use, just 2 O & K's and a DAK.

[History Buff]

We didn't go backwards, but did have to wait at the hold-up area while an ambulance removed someone with heart problems from around the pottery/theater area.  I'd have thought the actors could have done a better job of adlibbing, but all we go was the conductor reading an old SDC advertising brochure.