Eek
The Six Flags Great America Railroad has two trains (they're tank-engine-style trains) - the red train, and the blue train. The two have very distinct differences - while the red train practically stops on a dime, and is a bit jerky when starting, the blue train starts a bit more smoothly, and drifts for about 5-6 seconds before stopping.
Today, we found another difference. The red train is freaking possessed. That was the train we were given today, and I don't know if anyone is gonna want to drive it now. Here's why.
First incident: 2:30 p.m. James is the engineer, and I'm on the back of the train as it's moving out of Hometown station. But just as it starts moving, the train suddenly stops. No reason why, it just does. James gets it moving, but when it moves, it goes at a perpetual crawl for about 10 seconds before jerking to a stop again. Once again, no reason. Finally, James gets it to move smoothly out of the station and back to the County Fair station. When we get to the next stop, James tells me that there wasn't even anything wrong with the train - it just didn't want to move. (The brakes had been disengaged, no trouble lights, no nothing.)
Second incident: 2:45 p.m. I'm next up as engineer, so I take the train out of the station. Everything is going fine, up until we're moving over a trestle between two sections of the park. As we get halfway across the bridge, the train suddenly begins to slow down - for no reason at all. I check everything on the panel, every gauge, every button, every handle. Nothing's wrong, everything's just the way it should be...except now the train is moving at a crawling pace, and is a hop-skip-jump away from stopping right there on the damn bridge. I'm trying not to freak out, but I'm wondering what the hell I'm gonna do if the train does stop. Then, out of nowhere, the damn thing begins to pick up speed again, and within seconds it's back at full throttle. @_@ The rest of the ride is uneventful.
Third incident: 3:15 p.m. I'm hosting the Hometown Station, awaiting the train's arrival, and Robert calls to let me know it's left County Fair. Then he tells me that when he drove it, the engine suddenly jerked and tried to jump off the track. Now, maintenance (as full of shit as they can sometimes be) has told us in the past that the locomotives are too heavy to jump the track. But they sure as hell can try, if they don't decide to just slip instead. But then, after that sudden scare, the train went perfectly again.
The funny thing is, after that third scare, the train didn't act up again - at least, not during my last round on it. What's more, when one of the other guys drove it, he told us afterward that nothing had happened at all. -_-;; That train has a mind of its own, and it scares me.
Jamie got hurt again - last Friday. It wasn't anything he did to himself, but rather, a piece of ceiling equipment (some kind of door) hit him right on the top of the head. Fortunately, he didn't get a concussion, but he did wind up
with mild memory loss (a bit of Friday before the accident, and most of Thursday - yes, his birthday - is difficult for him to remember), as well as a bunch of staples on the top of his head (like, 8-10 if I'm right). Yes, that means that his hair is shaved down again, but hey, it'll grow back. :p And at last check, he still has that mustache, lol.
Tomorrow is the 4th of July. Wheeee! *shimmies* I'm workin til 4, but eh, at least it won't be all day. I REFUSE to work all day tomorrow. If one of my supers comes up and tells me I have to stay, I'm not going to. I already OC'd on Thursday, and I'm just a couple hours away from 40 as it is. I intend to enjoy this holiday, and go to a lil bonfire at evilelfee's house.
Oh! Cute stuff. Must include cute stuff.
My sister got a surprise bouquet of flowers in the mail two days ago. They're from a friend that she's going out to visit this weekend, and when she opened the box, she found a huge bouquet of yellow roses. (The card read "ILY" - "I Love You" ^^) My favorite flower, too, which had me jealous for a moment, I will admit. Mom told me that they symbolize true love, which had us giggling over Erica and her little friend. ^^
And now, since I have no other pointless diddies to tell, I ponder whether or not I want to go to bed. Wheee.
Today, we found another difference. The red train is freaking possessed. That was the train we were given today, and I don't know if anyone is gonna want to drive it now. Here's why.
First incident: 2:30 p.m. James is the engineer, and I'm on the back of the train as it's moving out of Hometown station. But just as it starts moving, the train suddenly stops. No reason why, it just does. James gets it moving, but when it moves, it goes at a perpetual crawl for about 10 seconds before jerking to a stop again. Once again, no reason. Finally, James gets it to move smoothly out of the station and back to the County Fair station. When we get to the next stop, James tells me that there wasn't even anything wrong with the train - it just didn't want to move. (The brakes had been disengaged, no trouble lights, no nothing.)
Second incident: 2:45 p.m. I'm next up as engineer, so I take the train out of the station. Everything is going fine, up until we're moving over a trestle between two sections of the park. As we get halfway across the bridge, the train suddenly begins to slow down - for no reason at all. I check everything on the panel, every gauge, every button, every handle. Nothing's wrong, everything's just the way it should be...except now the train is moving at a crawling pace, and is a hop-skip-jump away from stopping right there on the damn bridge. I'm trying not to freak out, but I'm wondering what the hell I'm gonna do if the train does stop. Then, out of nowhere, the damn thing begins to pick up speed again, and within seconds it's back at full throttle. @_@ The rest of the ride is uneventful.
Third incident: 3:15 p.m. I'm hosting the Hometown Station, awaiting the train's arrival, and Robert calls to let me know it's left County Fair. Then he tells me that when he drove it, the engine suddenly jerked and tried to jump off the track. Now, maintenance (as full of shit as they can sometimes be) has told us in the past that the locomotives are too heavy to jump the track. But they sure as hell can try, if they don't decide to just slip instead. But then, after that sudden scare, the train went perfectly again.
The funny thing is, after that third scare, the train didn't act up again - at least, not during my last round on it. What's more, when one of the other guys drove it, he told us afterward that nothing had happened at all. -_-;; That train has a mind of its own, and it scares me.
Jamie got hurt again - last Friday. It wasn't anything he did to himself, but rather, a piece of ceiling equipment (some kind of door) hit him right on the top of the head. Fortunately, he didn't get a concussion, but he did wind up
with mild memory loss (a bit of Friday before the accident, and most of Thursday - yes, his birthday - is difficult for him to remember), as well as a bunch of staples on the top of his head (like, 8-10 if I'm right). Yes, that means that his hair is shaved down again, but hey, it'll grow back. :p And at last check, he still has that mustache, lol.
Tomorrow is the 4th of July. Wheeee! *shimmies* I'm workin til 4, but eh, at least it won't be all day. I REFUSE to work all day tomorrow. If one of my supers comes up and tells me I have to stay, I'm not going to. I already OC'd on Thursday, and I'm just a couple hours away from 40 as it is. I intend to enjoy this holiday, and go to a lil bonfire at evilelfee's house.
Oh! Cute stuff. Must include cute stuff.
My sister got a surprise bouquet of flowers in the mail two days ago. They're from a friend that she's going out to visit this weekend, and when she opened the box, she found a huge bouquet of yellow roses. (The card read "ILY" - "I Love You" ^^) My favorite flower, too, which had me jealous for a moment, I will admit. Mom told me that they symbolize true love, which had us giggling over Erica and her little friend. ^^
And now, since I have no other pointless diddies to tell, I ponder whether or not I want to go to bed. Wheee.