Why This Hogwarts Express ISN'T a train!

[Music] when diacon alley opened at universal studios florida the creative team behind the new land opened harry potter and escape from green guts an extremely immersive and popular dark ride roller coaster however this new area that took over jaws also marked the opening of the high watch express a real-life ride aboard the iconic train that transported the boy who lived welcome to amusement lamps where today i'll show you the history engineering and technology behind the right system and effects aboard the hogwarts express this video is sponsored by generous patrons especially levi valentine at patreon.com amusement labs located at universal studios florida in orlando the hogwarts express is a sub upcharge ride located in the london section outside of diagon alley this four minute ride transported guests between king's cross station with the iconic platform nine and three quarters and hogsmeade guests are loaded into eight-person cabins and will see characters from the franchise along the way immediately after unloading from the hogwarts express guests may often have questions about what they just experienced such as is the change in venue when unloading a trick no the change is actually not an illusion and second is the hogwarts express a real train sort of let me explain when entering the ride's queue guests are required to present and scan a park to park pass universal's version of a park hopper ticket this is because guests are actually being transported between universal studios florida and universal's islands of adventure physically and exit through the neighboring park this just under a half mile trip is completely legitimate part of the fun comes from the immersive queue and universal knew that in order to sell the experience guests would absolutely enjoy getting to rush straight through the bricks to the platform nine and three quarters by using a disguised sheet of glass and a well-lit nearby wall guests would run into a black painted hallway making it appear they'd run through that reflective brick wall after winding through the queue guests arrive at the platform here they are met with a hogwarts express replica developed and with and manufactured by cwa constructions guests now board into one of seven cabins per coach seating eight people the first thing that guests may notice is that the windows facing out are actually not real instead each cabin is fitted with a curved projection screen that will be used to show your exaggerated journey between the two stations by using a short throw projector and warping the video the result is a close-up projection with a sense of dimension additionally the window furnishings sell the suspension of disbelief of the journey's storyline during the production of diagon alley many of the original actors were brought on to film media for the new rides and the windows animation were completed by double negative with musical accompaniment by the london symphony orchestra by inlaying the door and walls opposite the window with opaque acrylic panels they appear to be privacy panels where a person's silhouette can be seen with more detail visible the closer they get when the train does finally leave the station the heavily tinted windows help block out nearly all light which assists short throw projectors that shine out of the holes in the ceiling of the hallway and projecting the silhouettes of harry ron and hermione as they pass her cabin this rear projection effect can convey a convincing sense of dimension and that guests are witness to the action just outside their door the projected shadowy figures combined with the curved window projection come together to sell the adventurous journey between kings cross and hogsmeade all through a modernized funicular [Music] remember how earlier i said the hogwarts express was kind of a train all of these screens projectors cabins and computers wired together by fray ag sits inside of a hogwarts express shell on top of a funicular train what some guests see as large cables running down the center of the track are actually hall cables for a funicular roadway transit system originating in switzerland in the early 1800s the funicular is a cable driven and trained system that was often used as a way to travel up and down steep grades where traditional trains could not manufactured by doppelmeyer garavento group the hogwarts express is in reality a nearly half mile long one lane funicular train system when stopped each of the two 168 passenger trains sits at the opposite end of the railway both facing the hogwarts end of the path weighing in at 109 metric tons each these funicular system trains are not wholly independent or capable of moving individually this not only automates their motion but offloads away in potential mechanical issues from the trains themselves in order for the trains to move towards each other during each transit the system employs a passing loop at exactly the center of the layout in order to switch tracks without the reliance on a mechanical switch each wheel assembly on the bottom of the train is comprised of two different wheels while there are two rails visible in each station each train is actually only fixed to one through a double flanged wheel this wheel grips both sides of the train that's continuous all the way through the layout meanwhile the other much wider wheel simply rolls on top of the other rail and doesn't actually grip the rail when this wheel meets the static fork in the path it's forced over to one side of the passing loop because the double flange wheel is locked to its rail at this point you may feel a slight bump when riding as the wheels transfer on and off of the passing loop track regardless of which direction the terrain is headed it will always follow the path the double flange wheel is locked to each car features 16 total wheels eight pivoting on an assembly at each end of each coach these wheels are the ones that actually ride on the track of the funicular system this is why when leaving and entering king's cross the coaches move in a bit of a weird way additionally each train uses bus bar pickups to run the length of the track in order to power each train with all of its projectors effects air conditioning and physical moving wheels as you might notice the rotation of the wheels on the hardwood express don't always seem to line up 100 with the movement of the train as it enters and leaves each station this is because those wheels are in reality completely for aesthetic and theming and don't actually carry the weight of the train nor even touch the rails at certain points instead they are motor driven props that actually stop moving as soon as the train is out of view the actual wheels are much smaller and hidden well below the train out of view in order to move at the same time the 1.8 inch thick hall rope or cable is connected at the middle of the train heads all the way down the path with wheels guiding the cable around turns into the opposite station and around a tensioner located at the end of the hog's meat station it then loops around attaches to the middle of the other train that's back down the path into the king's cross station and then into the drive motor room here the cable passes over a large 300 horsepower cable winding motor that moves both of the 109 ton trains at the same time because the path from one end to the other is on a flat level plane the motor only needs to overcome the standing friction to get the trains up to its top speed of 7.6 miles per hour via an operation panel the trains let the ride's control computer know when both trains are ready and the journeys can begin this lets the motors start to slowly pull each train away from the station down towards each other splitting off at the passing loop and then back onto the one lane and into the station where guests can unload into a brand new magical world this well thought out and seamless experience cleverly hides as much as it can to provide fans of the franchise an entertaining way to journey from one park to another aboard the iconic hogwarts express the technology behind this ride is both convincing reliable modern and shows universal commitment technological immersion in a number of ways and that's how it works if you like this video please subscribe and if you like what we do please consider joining our patreon for early access to videos thanks for watching and i'll see you in the parks [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Amusement Labs

Views: 1,781,026

Keywords: Six Flags, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, cedar point, roller coaster, how does this ride work, RMC, theme park, jurassic world ride, Disneyland, Universal, coasters, Epic Universe, rise of the resistance, Disney, WDW, Star Wars, how it works, hogwarts, harry potter, florida, orlando, disney world, hogwarts express, spring break, skyliner, travel, marvel, wandavision

Id: w8-ys4FQ3nw

Length: 9min 8sec (548 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 22 2021