page_title: Launch track
section_title: LIM/LSM
hierarchical_section_title: Launch track / Types of launch tracks / LIM/LSM
caption_attribution_description: English: Wicked Twister, a LIM (magnetic) launched shuttle roller coaster, launching.
context_page_description: The launch track is the section of a launched roller coaster in which the train is accelerated to its full speed in a matter of seconds. A launch track is always straight and is usually banked upwards slightly, so that a train would roll backwards to the station in the event of a loss of power.
  A launch track serves the same basic purpose as a lift hill - providing power to the train - but accomplishes it in an entirely different manner. A lift hill gives the train potential energy by raising it to the highest point in the track. A launch track gives the train kinetic energy by accelerating it to the maximum designed speed.
  A launch track normally includes some form of brakes. Depending on the type of coaster, these brakes may be used in every run of the coaster or they may only come into play when a rollback occurs, normally on a complete-circuit coaster such as Red Force, Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka. In either case, the brakes are retracted to allow trains to launch, and are engaged at all other times.
context_section_description: LIM/LSM launch tracks have many (often more than 200) linear motors on both sides of the launch track. The train on this type of coaster has metal fins mounted to its sides to facilitate launching. A magnetic field is created by the LIMs on the track, which attract the car and send it forward. The next LIM on the track is magnetized, and the previous one loses its field. This continually attracts the car forward until it reaches the end of the launch track at full speed.
caption: Wicked Twister (LIM) launching
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