Post
by NormalVisual » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:23 pm
Oh, and my answers :-)
1) How long is each Monorail at Walt Disney World?
203'6"
2a) How many cars did the Mark IV Monorails originally have?
Either 5 or 6. The first batch of Mark IVs (prior to the expansion of the monorail shop) all had 5.
2b) How many cars did the Mark IV Monorails have when they were decommissioned?
Either 5 or 6.
2c) Which Monorail did not have that extra car?
Gold.
3) How many wheels are on the Mark VI Monorail?
12 load tires, 52 side tires (there are two extras on the steering bogies on cars 1 and 6), and 60 nylon wheels to protect the train/beam in the event of a flat. 124 total.
4) What is the term that we Monorail pilots use to describe regular operation?
"Normal visual" :-)
5) On the Epcot beam, when you are travelling from TTC to Epcot, you pass a runway and a lake on the left side of the Monorail's forward motion. What are their names, respectively? What is the importance of that runway?
STOLport and Lake Bambi/Bambi Lake (depending on who you ask). STOLport was originally intended to support light aircraft traffic in/out of the park, and actually did support commuter service to the area in the early/mid 70's.
6) How many ways are there to exit a Monorail car?
Lots. There's the socially acceptable means via the doors, roof hatches, emergency zipper windows on the sides of the cars, and with sufficient motivation, the cab windshield could be kicked out if needed.
7) What part of the Monorail is a Disney Trademark?
Logo immediately adjacent to the door panel behind the cab doors
8a) What is the top speed of a Disney Monorail?
It's electronically limited to 40 mph during normal operation. I've not actually driven one as fast as they'll go, but as I understand, the trains were run up to about 55-60 mph during test & adjust, and I suppose the ultimate limit is however fast the tires will let it go before they get too hot. I'm sure the system can give the trains more juice than they need to burn the tires off. :-)
8b) What is the top speed of a Monorail according to Bombardier?
Never looked at their sales literature.
9) What are the colors of the stripes that identify the Monorails?
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Black, Pink, Silver, Gold, Coral, Lime
10) At what resorts might you have to sign paperwork stating that Disney has the right to use part of the land to build a Monorail line at their option?
The Swolphin, since the hotel is not owned by Disney.
11) At most, how many people can be operating a Monorail at one time in the United States?
Well, there's 12 for the Mark VIs at Disney, 2 for the Mark VIIs at Disneyland, and 2 for the trains in Seattle. All the rest of the monorail systems in the US are automated to my knowledge, although Las Vegas was running the old Mark IV Coral and Lime before they got the new Bombardier trains.
12a) How high is the highest point on the Monorail?
About 65 feet around pylon 95 on the original beamway. At least that's what I've heard. I never actually brought a plumb with me when taking a train back to shop. :-)
12b) How low is the lowest?
Dunno what the actual elevation is, but it'd be the beamway just outside the TTC and MK stations. I'm guessing it's about 8-9 feet there from the ground to the bottom of the beam.
13a) How many power settings are there on the console?
Five, P1 through P5. I guess you could count Neutral as one as well.
13b) How many brake settings are there on the console?
Four, B1 through B4.
14) How many miles of track are there on the entire Walt Disney World Monorail System, including switches and spurlines?
13.7 miles
15) Monorails Coral and Lime, as PapaMouse stated earlier, have deltas to differentiate them from some other Monorails. What is the original color of the deltas on Lime?
Dark blue. This was in homage to the original monorail cast member costume colors. We're guessing that the deltas got changed to white because Disney cheaped out on the paint job. Look at the left side of car 1 of Coral sometime, and how un-straight the stripe is and you'll see what I mean. That white delta makes it a *pain* to distinguish Lime from Yellow when you're looking at the train stopped at 66 waiting to enter the MK from across the lagoon.
16a) Where are the Monorails stored at night?
Up to 10 can be at Monorail Shop. In practice, wherever Central tells them to. Usually 10 go to the shop, and two are parked in a station, although it's not unusual to have more trains parked in stations overnight.
16b) How many Monorails can be stored at this facility at one time?
Ten.