40 replies to this topic

[liftmech]

The BC Ministry of Transportation report on the Quicksilver accident calls it a Type 11. Who's correct, do you suppose?
The differences among the detachable grips were not obvious- bigger jaws for larger rope diameters, inserts in the Type 11 (perhaps to make up the differences in rope diameters), perhaps larger rollers, it's hard to tell in the photos. All in all, I think it's like looking at a Type 1 and trying to see differences from the Type 2. In other words, no real visible differences.

[SkiBachelor]

Yea I screwed up, I guess I must have read something in SAM that talked about the Type 12 and figured that it was used for the yan HSQs with bubbles.

Some of you might remember these pictures from a while back, but now they are in color. After 3 months of waiting, my back issues of SAM from 1991 to 1994 arrived today. Anyway, the pictures below are of the Quicksilver Express at Whistler the year it opened.

 quick.jpg (137.84K)
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[poloxskier]

Did Yan ever use the newer style detachable carriers on their fixed quads?

[SkiBachelor]

I doubt it. Yan seemed to have two different types of carriers for its high-speed and fixed grip lifts.

[floridaskier]

I think all the Yan FG quads had the same style chair as their triples, just wider

[barnstormer]

floridaskier, on Jan 22 2005, 11:19 AM, said:

I think all the Yan FG quads had the same style chair as their triples, just wider
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know that there were at least 2 styles of Yan detachable chairs. All of the western chairs that I have seen were the tear drop shape like the bubble chairs shown in the pictures above. Mount Snow, Killington and Sunday River all had chair bails that were shaped more like a pentagon. Killington and Mount Snow are still running those chairs with Poma hangers and grips. To use those grips Poma also extensively modified the terminals. At Mount Snow, the sheave trains were changed as well.

I wasn't able to download the spread sheet as a PDF for some reason. Could some one email it to me in another format (EXCEL?)?

Thanks

[SkiBachelor]

You have to right click on the file name link, then save as a PDF, then open it with Excel.

I believe there were three different carrier models for the HSQs. The one used on the Quicksilver was the last model produced and you can find them at June, Mammoth and Sun Valley. They are really comfy.

[floridaskier]

There's a Yan ad for them over on coskibum's website

[ODDfreakPERSON]

I thought the snowshed express at killington was also a yan HSQ modded by poma. It has the yan chairs and towers.

The superstar express had its yan chairs replaced by poma, i think it was tword the end of last season, possibly the season before.

heres a pic of the new chairs...

sorry i have no pics of the snowshed

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•  killton.jpg (29.48K)
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[floridaskier]

Those chairs look really close together

[KZ]

They probably are for high capicity. They run between 4.5 and 4.8 m/s so closer spacing isnt as big a deal

[liftmech]

The article mentions the primary drive on both the Quicksilver and Redline lifts was 'traction motors'. Most of us have seen those in action in other places- namely railroads. Kunczinski figured since locomotive motors could pull large loads, they'd be great for chairlifts. No word on whether they worked better than a traditional electric motor.

[Emax]

liftmech, on Jan 24 2005, 12:05 PM, said:

The article mentions the primary drive on both the Quicksilver and Redline lifts was 'traction motors'. Most of us have seen those in action in other places- namely railroads. Kunczinski figured since locomotive motors could pull large loads, they'd be great for chairlifts. No word on whether they worked better than a traditional electric motor.

Actually, they were converted traction motors. Gulf Electroquip (Houston, TX), and other companies involved in the drill rig industry, buy up the G.E. 752 traction motors that the railroads remove from their locomotives after a prescribed period of use. They then remove the original series field windings and replace them with shunt windings that operate at 100 volts / 50 Amps - creating a clone for the 752 R1A drill rig motor. The armatures are nearly indestructable. Usually, the axle housing (part of the original motor casting) is burned off.

These motors are conservatively rated 1000 HP @ 1100 RPM. They (at the time) cost less than a new GE 250 HP motor built on a 500 frame. Through the use of an adjustable constant-current field supply, they could be made to run at a wide variety of RPMs and torques. A beast of a motor, they're still a very good buy. http://www.gulfelectroquip.com/

Downside: the need for massive cooling. Standard blower from Gulf Electroquip was 10 HP - really LOUD. Attempts were made (by Yan) to alter this blower system and reduce the shrieking sound - all resulted in motor burn-out.

This post has been edited by Emax: 06 June 2007 - 07:14 AM

[P01itiC4lR3B31]

So why have Yan's been replaced just out of curiosity? I have noticed that alot of there HSQ's got converted to doppelmayr or poma, what was up with that?

[SkiBachelor]

With a company that's no longer in business, it's kind of hard to get parts. Plus, since most of LE's accidents involved its detachables, people wanted them out.

Currently, Ken Pearson is the supplier for all of the LE fixed grips today.

[Emax]

SkiBachelor, on Jun 6 2007, 06:02 PM, said:

With a company that's no longer in business, it's kind of hard to get parts. Plus, since most of LE's accidents involved its detachables, people wanted them out.

Currently, Ken Pearson is the supplier for all of the LE fixed grips today.

Spoken like a true veteran. Of just what, I'm not sure.

[Peter]

Wasn't that guy the president of Lift Engineering at the time of the bankruptcy?

[EagleAce]

what vintage is considered the money pits? Our's were built in '81 (Bruin, base 10) and '86 (Eagle, series 3)

[Emax]

EagleAce, on Jun 7 2007, 10:07 PM, said:

what vintage is considered the money pits? Our's were built in '81 (Bruin, base 10) and '86 (Eagle, series 3)

I believe that he meant that the detachables were the money pits. Bruin and Eagle are both fixed grip lifts.

[EagleAce]

Yup, I know they're FG's . Eagle though has an appetite for sheaves (I've been told) so it's supposedly getting a Dopp retrofit in a few years. IMHO Yan shoulda stuck with what he built the best--fixed grips. Bruin's 26 years old and has a lot of service left.