Several dozen hydraulic motors are used to quickly launch Rita's trains. Air pumps are used to compress nitrogen gas to about 250 bars, or 3,600 pounds per square inch of pressure, in preparation for each launch. When the compressed air is released, valves and hoses direct the accumulated air pressure to quickly expel hydraulic fluid into sixteen hydraulic motors. These motors are mechanically linked to a massive drum winch which has a large steel cable spooled around it. The cable, a little of which can be seen inside the track's structure on the left, pulls a small "catch car" mounted within the track. The "catch car" shuttles between the loading platform and the end of the launch track. It latches on to the trains before the launch and disengages as it reaches the end of this launch track so the train's momentum and inertia can let the train continue to speed through the remainder of the ride.
©2019 Joel A. Rogers.