Electric lift

Spiral electric lift on Whizzer at Six Flags Great America

An electric lift is a type of lift hill where the trains are pulled to the top by an on-board electric motor.

Technology

A power rail attached to the track passes current to an electric motor in the car, powering it. This is similar to a powered coaster, however following the lift the trains coast under their own momentum.

Variations

Spiral electric lift

Spiral electric lifts are shaped as an upwards spiral, similarly to spiral lifts, and were used on some Schwarzkopf roller coasters.

They can be found on the Jet Star II, Jet Star III, City Jet / Jet 400 and Speed Racer / Extended Jumbo Jet models.

Vertical electric lift

Vertical electric lifts are used as the propulsion method of Ride Engineers Switzerland's Roller Ball model.

Note

While Roller Coaster uses an on-board electric motor to reach its highest point before finishing its layout coasting under its own momentum, it is debatable whether or not its powered section does qualify as a lift hill.

References

Roller coaster descriptions

Basic elements

Brake runStation

Advanced elements

HillHeadchopperInversionsPre-DropTunnel

Propulsion

Lift hill(CableCatch carChainElectricElevatorFerris wheelFriction wheelSpiral)Powered launch( CounterweightFriction wheelFlywheelCompressed air launchElectric winch launchHydraulicLIMLSM)

Technology

Block brakesOn-ride cameraOn-ride soundtrackTest seat TrainTrackTransfer trackWheel assembly

Other

Chicken exitExclusive ride timePOVQueue lineRollbackTheming