Stupid Guest Tricks

DisneyMom wrote:Wow, could we have used MAPO in Chatsworth to avoid that horrible crash?
How does it work?

Works really good, thanks for asking!

But in case you're serious, it's a Positive Train Control system that uses coded signals on the propulsion rails to limit train speed (sometimes to zero) to prevent overspeeds and collisions.

And yes, that is *exactly* the sort of system some have been calling for on passenger rail lines like the one in Chatsworth. Resistance to the program comes from the fact that it requires not only installation on every mile of track, but on each and every locomotive in the country that could ever operate over a passenger line. Not cheap, but some think it cheaper than the wrecks it would certainly prevent.

Shorty82 wrote:A similar system is used on the WDWRR to prevent the trains from getting to close there too. The track is divided into zones and when a train is in a zone a signal at the beginning of the zone is red.

The signals can also be set red by a variety of other actions, such as a broken rail, an E-Stop switch, the swing bridge at Big Thunder, or the (track) switch being reversed.

If a train runs a red signal the brakes lock and the fireman has to get out of the train to reset the brakes.

A big difference between the system used on the WDWRR and the Monorails is that the system used to activate the brakes on the trains is something physically hitting a switch on the underside of the train....

Sorry, but no. The ATS (Automatic Train Stop) system on the WDW RR uses magnetic induction. Look at the track near each signal for a bread-box sized box between the rails. The top (when clean enough to see) has the same pattern as the linear motors on the TTA/PeopleMover (may even be the same part).

You are correct in that many railroad ATS systems do use a physical contact to break a glass tube on the locomotive. Much less fun to test though.

IIRC the system in place on the WDWRR is also called MAPO.

It may have been designed or built by MAPO, but I never heard it called that by anyone on the railroad. To us it's just the ATS.

It occurs to me that some may be confused by my use of two different terms in my previous two messages. Permit me to offer additional bafflegab:

ATS = Automatic Train Stop
This is a system that will apply emergency brakes to stop a train under specific conditions, usually applied only at selected locations.

PTC = Positive Train Control
This is a system that will either slow or stop a train (depending on design) under specific conditions. It is normally possible to apply at any point along the track.

Both systems will stop a train when it's not safe to continue, but ATS only works at the locations it's installed, often with physical or magnetic contacts. PTC usually operates by applying coded signals to the rails (traveling or power, depending on the system) that are read by a controller in the train.

Both systems can stop a train, and do so at any speed; some PTC systems can also slow a train without stopping, and a few can even release the train to resume speed if the danger is cleared.

For more information, please sign up for my class, Railroad Signaling and Control 102 in the Spring Semester catalog.

Thanks, Zazu, for clarifying a few things. I had a feeling I didn't have all the details correct but knew you would correct me on anything I got wrong on the railroad. I made a few guesses (such as what tells the train to hit the brakes) on what I didn't know or couldn't remember from my train tour last year.

Zazu,

Does the MK trains use the same system? I took a ride with my sister on her birthday and they did use the red/green light systems. We also heard a chime that rang 5 times like a short school bell. I did see the color light system at the monorail system for the resort loop.

turkeyham wrote:Zazu,

Does the MK trains use the same system? I took a ride with my sister on her birthday and they did use the red/green light systems. We also heard a chime that rang 5 times like a short school bell. I did see the color light system at the monorail system for the resort loop.

The exact same system since when someone talks about the Walt Disney World Railroad they are talking about the MK trains. That is the name of that railroad. Zazu will have to answer about the chimes, I don't know what they are.

felinefan wrote:The Vermont Country Store sells Maypo.

I know!!

We usually have an order about once a month from them!!

I like the old fashon hard candy, lemon drops and clove!!
goes good with RUM!!! hehehehehehehe)
Mmmmmm!!!!

(DW likes the kitchen stuff!!)

Shorty, you got it to about 98% accurate, now just simplify. Basically, the MAPO devices send a signal down the bus bar, and the train picks up that signal as long as there is nothing blocking it, perhaps a train. As long as the Monorail can "see" three points ahead, you have a green. If it "sees" two, you have an amber, and just one causes a red MAPO and an Emergency Stop activation, because if you have two trains very close to that one device, then they can be very close to each other as well.

As Zazu said, there are other reaons you can get the red MAPO, like if power is dropped out from under you on the beam. Because the MAPO signal is sent through the bus bars, if you drop out power beyond the next hold point (or in the block you're currently occupying), you have the red because the train cannot see the next device.

That happened to me my third day driving alone... someone at Polynesian dropped their handheld kill pack when I was at a place where I would have received a Red had I screwed up. However, I watched it turn from green directly to red, so I knew it wasn't me causing it. Still, I had to perform CPR to get myself going again.

Big Wallaby wrote:That happened to me my third day driving alone... someone at Polynesian dropped their handheld kill pack when I was at a place where I would have received a Red had I screwed up. However, I watched it turn from green directly to red, so I knew it wasn't me causing it. Still, I had to perform CPR to get myself going again.

When are the kill packs supposed to be used?

kurtisnelson wrote:When are the kill packs supposed to be used?

Only when sanction by the director of the CIA???

hehehehehehe