Fourth of July Monorail Incident

Sarah Magdalene · Post by **Sarah Magdalene** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:30 pm

BW, I am so so so glad that you were not involved. But it's always horrid to lose a fellow CM.

February · Post by **February** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:36 pm

kurtisnelson wrote:Bru, one of the first things I thought of was how Austin could have probably bailed out of his train since he was in the station when the other one came in, but that he instead was likely doing everything in his power to get his train and his guests out of there.

Kurt all day I have been thinking about what must have been going through his mind. I was betting that his thoughts were about trying to keep his guests safe.

If that had been a family of four instead of six...or that they didn't decide to split up with some going in the cab...it's always the kids that want to ride in the cab most...

I think of all the times we've ridden in the cab, never once thinking about risk factors involved. I wonder if they'll stop guests from riding up front now. They really should if it's built to take the impact of any crash.

You know, it occurs to me too that a train should never be going in reverse without a second pilot. I know they'd hate to do it for obvious reasons of paying someone to ride backwards most of the day but there really should be a pilot in each cab at any given time, IMO.

I hope that this prompts a review of the entire monorail system and the way it's run. it's just heartbreaking that this had to happen before that happened.

This is such a tragedy I just can't believe it.

Bru

Zazu · Post by **Zazu** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:54 pm

February wrote:I hope that this prompts a review of the entire monorail system and the way it's run. it's just heartbreaking that this had to happen before that happened.

This is such a tragedy I just can't believe it.

The biggest tragedy is that I *can* believe it happened. During my seven years on the Railroad, every revision of the Operating Guidelines made less and less sense. It's like moron lawyers who had never seen a train were writing them. It really burned me up, because railroad safety rules have been under constant development for over 175 years, and while the improvements may have been written in blood, the lessons *were* learned.

Disney seems to think they operate in a different sphere, one where the laws of physics work differently. The last revision of the OG was so bad I couldn't, in good conscience, sign off on it claiming I understood and would comply. Lost me a great job and wonderful source of fun, but when the rules make no sense and we're dealing with hundreds of tons and thousands of people, I just couldn't.

I've not seen the Monorail OG, but it's starting to look like either their procedures were also messed up, or that multiple simultaneous human and system failures occurred. Sadly, it's beginning to look like the key failure was human.

Maybe this will be the wake-up call Disney needs to start taking transportation safety seriously. "SCSE" means Safety first, Efficiency last, but I can no longer believe that the whole company believes that. Perhaps now more will.

Or it could be that they blame and fire a few CMs, reiterate the existing (demonstrably inadequate) OG, and resume business as usual, figuring that one death per 38 years is an acceptable loss.

That said, let me add a bit of perspective: Even with all the things said above, Disney is safer that most places on the planet, and significantly more so than the other theme parks I've studied. I'm not about to stop visiting and riding, though my enthusiasm for monorail cab rides will be much reduced, if only for the bad memories now attached.

And Disney, if you want some help fixing the safety rules, I'd be proud to offer my services as a railroad safety expert at no charge.

anynamewilldo · Post by **anynamewilldo** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:56 pm

My brother told me this morning and my first thought was of this site and our beloved CM's here. Unfortunately I was at MIL's and she only has dial-up so it was so frustrating trying to get any piece of news. I did ascertain that BW was safe so that at least gave me some peace of mind.

My heart is broken. Looking at Austin's photo, I can totally see him joking around with other CM's and guests. I am so very sorry for all of our CM's, especially the fellow drivers here, and my prayers will be for all of you during these next few days as the show must go on.

If any of you hear of a legitimate site for donations for his family, please post it for us - I know that for a lot of us, this would be something we could do to help show our support for Austin's family.

May God show His favor and blessings upon our CM's on here and I hope you will gain some comfort knowing that so many of us - even those of us you'll never meet - are sharing in your sorrow.

lady ulrike · Post by **lady ulrike** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:07 pm

Zazu wrote: That said, let me add a bit of perspective: Even with all the things said above, Disney is safer that most places on the planet, and significantly more so than the other theme parks I've studied. I'm not about to stop visiting and riding, though my enthusiasm for monorail cab rides will be much reduced, if only for the bad memories now attached.

I want to re-iterate this Zazu....even during this tragedy, while I was looking at news stories on it, the AOL one had a list of 15 or 20 theme park accidents. Four were Disney (counting this one) two of them were pre-existing conditions and one was likely pre-existing conditions. These were accidents that happened since '06 or '07, so 2 or 3 years with only 1 accident that could possibly not be because of a pre-existing condition I think is pretty amazing.

Personally though, I still owe Randy a front cab ride in rememberance (if I ever make it to WDW again) so I will take a front cab ride and remember both of them. And, I'm sure that they are greatly enjoying each other's company right now.

Zazu · Post by **Zazu** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:12 pm

lady ulrike wrote:Personally though, I still owe Randy a front cab ride in rememberance (if I ever make it to WDW again) so I will take a front cab ride and remember both of them. And, I'm sure that they are greatly enjoying each other's company right now.

If you really want to honor Randy's love of monorails, invite me over to your room. I'll set up several monorail loops to keep you awake and trip over for the duration of your stay!

You just buy the batteries.

lady ulrike · Post by **lady ulrike** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:13 pm

Zazu wrote:If you really want to honor Randy's love of monorails, invite me over to your room. I'll set up several monorail loops to keep you awake and trip over for the duration of your stay!

You just buy the batteries.

I may just do that.......of course, I have a two year old so that could mean there will be some damage to said monorail loops.....

kurtisnelson · Post by **kurtisnelson** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:53 pm

This is the best summary of what happened that I have found. Zazu: I think SCSE has become ESCS, with show at the bottom. I have been in the hiring pool for monorails for a month now, but even with the CMs stretched thin, they still did not hire me. I know some recent changes in safety have been made in rails, such as requiring the platform CM to signal before the doors are allowed to be closed, but I think this is more butt-covering than actual care of safety. So many things went wrong for this accident to happen...
I think the immediate fix that is needed is to make it a policy of anytime the monorail goes backwards, someone must be in the rear cab at least in constant contact with the driver. Also, whenever MAPO override is pushed, all other trains on the effected beams need to acknowledge and be vigilant.

turkeyham · Post by **turkeyham** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:19 pm

BW-
I did tell a few friends about the crash. They were shocked. I had a off day at work.

A few years ago while at the park with my sisters, we did see a tire blow on the monorail system. Sparks coming from the shreaded wheel. Soon the monorail stopped and guests were taken off at the TL station.

I did read all the stories. Guys, you have me sad and yes, my klexex box helped me. This is so sad.

I hope they do find the source. Could have the beams not been switched correctly? My friend is a conductor for Union Pacific RR. He said there has been errors where the switches have been off and there were crashes on the tracks that they use. :(

floundering · Post by **floundering** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:20 pm

I just read the news. I saw the thread title on another board, and half-laughed because I thought it must be a joke - someone doing an April Fools prank on 4th of July. How I wish that were true!

I only lurk here, but I lurk here regularly enough to have a soft spot for Big Wallaby and headed right here for news. Huge sigh of relief that it was no one I recognize from this board. But tears and prayers for Austin and family, as well as the other driver - regardless of how much at fault he was/wasn't, he will always carry this with him.

Blessings of peace to everyone tonight.

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