By James

Cable lift hills are pretty much a god-send on Gigas. They can increase a coaster's through-put dramatically. It's no surprise, either...the lift pulls the train up the hill at about 15mph, nearly twice as fast as the quickest chain lift.

Here's how to build one:

Once you've built your station (or stations), start the ride with a hill. Do not select the chain lift box. If you do, the cable lift will not function properly. Note in the picture above that the chain lift box is not selected.

The really nice thing about cable lifts is that they will operate perfectly on a steep incline as well, so your lift hills can now take up less space by using the 60 degree slope.

At the top of the hill, though, you need to decrease the angle of ascent back to 45 degrees...the milder slope. Place one section of this track at the top of your hill.

Now, in the special track section, select Cable Lift Hill. When you place the track, it creates the first down-bound section of track for you. The reason for this is becaue the cable will basically throw the train over the crest of the hill. The cable itself travels the first 5 or 10 feet of downward track with the train.

When you start the coaster on a test run, you should see the cable begin its descent back into the station. The white cable is visible at the crest of the hill.

Switch the view in the coaster's window to Train 1, and you should see the words "Waiting for cable lift" there. The cable will descend into the station, slide under the first car of your train, and begin to pull the coaster up the hill.

As you can see, the speed of the lift is a whopping 14-15mph, much faster than a chain.

Once the train is away, the cable will once again start its descent back into the station to pick up the next train. The cable in the picture above has already climbed the 10 feet of the downward section of the track, and has crested the hill on its way back to the station.

My tracks for your downloading (and rating) pleasure.

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