14 replies to this topic

[keystoneaddict]

Hi everyone...

Last weekend I rode up the BreckConnect gondola at Breckenridge just for a fun summer ride. I'm curious about its mid-stations though (or all mid-stations in general)..... between each mid-station, is there a separate haul rope and bullwheel set, or is the haul rope fed through each mid-station and continuous for the whole length of the lift? My best guess would be that there's a different haul rope for each leg, but I could be wrong... and that's why I'm asking!

[Kicking Horse]

keystoneaddict, on 03 August 2010 - 09:37 PM, said:

Hi everyone...

Last weekend I rode up the BreckConnect gondola at Breckenridge just for a fun summer ride. I'm curious about its mid-stations though (or all mid-stations in general)..... between each mid-station, is there a separate haul rope and bullwheel set, or is the haul rope fed through each mid-station and continuous for the whole length of the lift? My best guess would be that there's a different haul rope for each leg, but I could be wrong... and that's why I'm asking!

That's a Good Question.

It can be either 1 hual rope or more then one.

Most of the time it's 1 haul rope.

II think BreckConnect might have 2 haul ropes? Not 100% sure since i have not seen a installation on this lift.

[Peter]

It is done both ways but BreckConnect is one continuous loop. So is the Peak 8 SuperConnect. Others such as Collins at Alta and the Whistler Village Gondola are 2 separate loops. There is a lengthy thread about detachables with midstations here: http://www.skilifts....?showtopic=5413

[SkiLiftsRock]

Here is another mid-load station. It is on a fixed triple chair.

http://www.skilifts....dden/madden.htm

[Skier123]

Speaking of Collins, the site says that the drive and tension are both located in the bottom station, however, from what i can see in the pictures, it looks like the mid-station houses the drives for both stages.

[Peter]

Skier123, on 04 August 2010 - 01:22 PM, said:

Speaking of Collins, the site says that the drive and tension are both located in the bottom station, however, from what i can see in the pictures, it looks like the mid-station houses the drives for both stages.

You are correct, the midstation houses both drives.

[SkiLiftsRock]

Skier, on 04 August 2010 - 04:30 PM, said:

You are correct, the midstation houses both drives.

Is there any pictures of this mid-load station? I've never herd of this before. Two drives in one terminal. Does skilifts.org have a page on this lift?

This post has been edited by SkiLiftsRock: 04 August 2010 - 06:14 PM

[keystoneaddict]

Kicking Horse, on 03 August 2010 - 10:13 PM, said:

That's a Good Question.

Good forums deserve good questions, don't you think?

Skier, on 03 August 2010 - 10:23 PM, said:

It is done both ways but BreckConnect is one continuous loop. So is the Peak 8 SuperConnect. Others such as Collins at Alta and the Whistler Village Gondola are 2 separate loops. There is a lengthy thread about detachables with midstations here: http://www.skilifts....?showtopic=5413

Okay, that makes sense. If that's the case, though, then where is the drive? (or are there multiple?)

[Skier123]

SkiLiftsRock, on 04 August 2010 - 05:20 PM, said:

Is there any pictures of this mid-load station? I've never herd of this before. Two drives in one terminal. Does skilifts.org have a page on this lift?

Yep. Here's the link: http://www.skilifts....sx/collinsx.htm

[Peter]

SkiLiftsRock, on 04 August 2010 - 05:20 PM, said:

Is there any pictures of this mid-load station? I've never herd of this before. Two drives in one terminal. Does skilifts.org have a page on this lift?

It's really 2 drives in 2 terminals. It was even designed so that the 2 lifts can be separated in the future if Alta decides to do so.

Attached File(s)

•  Worldbook.JPG (129.31K)
  Number of downloads: 55

[SkiLiftsRock]

Skier, on 04 August 2010 - 09:21 PM, said:

It's really 2 drives in 2 terminals. It was even designed so that the 2 lifts can be separated in the future if Alta decides to do so.

How, where, or why would they separate the lift? Relocate it?

[liftmech]

keystoneaddict, on 04 August 2010 - 05:56 PM, said:

Good forums deserve good questions, don't you think?




Okay, that makes sense. If that's the case, though, then where is the drive? (or are there multiple?)

Assuming you're still referring to the BreckConnect, the drive is at the top (peak 8) station.

[ccslider]

Another example is the Telluride/Mountain Village Mainline gondola which is comprised of two separate machines (two ropes, two drives, etc) that have an interconnect at the angle station so that cabins operate in a larger loop on both lines. These machines are configured such that they can operate in tandem or in descrete modes. Tandem operation is the norm where controls and drives are interlinked (one machine acts as a slave to the other).

[Skier123]

keystoneaddict, on 04 August 2010 - 05:56 PM, said:

Okay, that makes sense. If that's the case, though, then where is the drive? (or are there multiple?)

In lift systems with two seperate loops, there are usually (if not always) two seperate drives, one per loop. However, both drives are usually housed in the mid-station, because it's more convinient (and I would imagine less expensive) to have both drives in one terminal. Some examples of lifts that have both drives in the mid-station terminal are Collins Express at Alta in Utah and Panorama Gondola at Mammoth Mountain in California. Skyeship Gondola at Killington in Vermont is an example of a two stage lift with the drives in seperate terminals. The drive for the first loop is in the mid-station terminal and the drive for the second loop is in the top terminal. All of these lifts can be found on this site.

This post has been edited by Skier123: 05 August 2010 - 07:36 AM

[Allan]

I would imagine the two drives have to be somehow synchronized to match speeds and respond to lift control commands simultaneously - so the closer the drives are to each other the better! Would the two electric motors be run off one drive unit? What happens in the case of an auxiliary or even evac drive situation? I wonder if the gondola at Killington has fibre connectivity between the stations...