I found the same thing a while back, I'll just post it up here:
From: halcyon!monorail@seattleu.edu
Date: 20 Sep 91 13:44:00 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: The Monorail FAQ List *LONG*
Hello Everyone. The response to monorails was so overwhelming that I
decided just to compile all the stuff and post it as a FAQ list.
The technical and operations data is for the Mark VI trains at WDW.
I much preferred the Mark IVs, but it's unlikely you'll see one of
those again. Theye were a LOT more fun to drive. They were
clunky, but they had personality!
Thanks to everyone who sent me mail or posted questions. If I
didn't respond to you, please forgive me, as I only get 40 minutes
a day on line. If you have anything else or if one of these
questions raises another pleas feel free to ask...
OK. I'm gonna try to cover this stuff from ground zero,
hopefully I'll catch myself before saying something too
technical or specific. The Mark VI trains are really big on
acrynyms for simple stuff.
The Basics:
>How do you make it go?
On the control console in the cab at each end of the train is
a M.C.U. or Master Control Unit (the stick). Also on this
console, next to the stick are two rocker switches. One is a
forward/reverse selector, the other is a run mode/stop mode
selector.
The train won't go anywhere without the selector in "run".
The forward/reverse switch controls not only the direction of
the train's movement, but the direction in which the MAPO system
receiver (I know you don't know about that - It' coming) is
pointed. The train can travel equally well in either direction
driven from either end - It can't tell the difference.
>How do you make it stop?
The MCU has 10 selections, 5 forward, 1 center, and 4 back.
The 5 forward positions are propulsion selections labelled P-1
through P-5. They correspond to speed travelled as follows:
P-1 15 mph
P-2 20 mph
P-3 25 mph
P-4 30 mph
P-5 40 mph
35 zones are a real pain in the posterior.
The center position is Neutral. In this setting the train
will do whatever it was doing. If youre cruising along and put
it in neutral, the train will coast. If you're sitting still
with brakes on, the train will leave on brakes until you give it
a power selection.
The four rear positions are labelled B-1 through B-4 (for
Braking). The higher the number the harder the brakes. How
much dynamic current or air pressure you get depebds on how fast
you're going. For those who don't know what dynamic braking is,
imagine that the wheel of the monorail is a windmill. When you
take the train out of propulsion, the wheel is still spinning
because youre still moving. Use that spin just like a windmill
blase to provide electricity. Use that electricity to slow the
motor down, using it's own energy against it. Its cheap, and
efficient. (NOTE to all Engineer types: This is how
maintenence always explained it to me. If I've grossly
oversimplified please forgive me. I'm a driver not a techie.)
>How do you keep from crashing into each other?
On the beamway at certain points there are transmitters.
These MAPO transmitters send an electrical signal through the
track. When a train is on the track, it blocks that signal.
These transmitters correspond to locations on the beam called
Holdpoints. The holdpoints are located at certain numbers,
which must all be committed to memory (your memory, not the
train's)
Each train has a receiver that can tell how many of these
signals it is receiveing. Say Monorail Red is driving behind
Monorail Blue. If there are four transmitters between the
trains, Red will only get four signals, because all the signalls
ahead of Blue are blocked by that train's presense.
If Red gets within two holdpoints of Blue, the train's MAPO
receiver will say "Hey, you're gettin' close buddy!" and turn on
an amber light on the console with a beeping alarm. At that
point the driver consults his super-keen monorail-intellect and
figures out where the next holdpoint is. He then stops there
and tells all the passesngers that the train is "waiting for
further traffic clearance."
If Red doesn't stop at that holdpoint? When he passes over
the transmitter at that holdpoint, and his MAPO is then only
receiving ONE signal, the train will automatically assume the
driver is insane: "Hey this idiot is tryin' ta dent my nose!"
The train puts on 85-90 psi air brakes and stops on a dime,
then you get canned. Well actually you're allowed three
"overruns" (the term for crossing the line). If however you do
something that is really dangerous, Good Bye. Three overruns is
the limit for your entire career. They never go away.
What do we do with overrun victims? Send 'em to Buses of
course!
>What does MAPO stand for?
MAPO is a subsidiary of WED (Walter Elias Disney)
Transportation. The name is short for Mary Poppins.
The MAPO system is also called the MBS (Moving Blocklight
System).
>How much track is there?
There are 13.6 miles of rail including all spurlines. The EPCOT
rail is 7.6 miles of that, the Lagoon (Hotel) beam and the Exterior
(Kingdom Express) beam are about 2.6 miles each.
>How do you move trains between beams?
We can and do move trains back and forth between beamways constantly,
depending on guest flow. With all beams in operation it looks like this.
The Lagoon and Exterior beams are set up with one inside the other. One
circle nested in another without touching it.
In the diagram below, the Lagoon beam is on the
left, Exterior on the right, and the spur to shop on the far right (coming
to an abrupt end). This is of corse a veiw from above. This is a drawing
of Switchbeam 1 and 2, between the Contemporary and the Kingdom, right on
the footpath from one to the other.
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| 0 |
| | \
| | \
| | \
| | \
| | \
| | \____________ to shop
| |
Connecting Exterior to Lagoon looks like this.
| |
| |
| |
| |
| /
| /
| 0 | \
/ | \
/ | \
| | \
| | \
| | \
| | \____________ to shop
| |
Connecting Exterior to spur looks like this.
| |
| |
| |
| |
| \
| \
| 0 | \
| | \
| | \
| | \
| | \
| | \
| | \____________ to shop
| |
>Is there any way to see switching in progress?
Yes. Just take the footpath from the Contemporary to the
Kingdom, it runs right under switch 2. Trains come out between
6:30 and 8:00 am during a regular openning. You might have trouble
getting past the Guard at the head of the footpath, but if you tell
him you only want to walk over to the switch and take some pictures
he should oblige you, (this IS WDW after all).
>* when were the new style trains at WDW introduced, the ones
>with the mediocre standing space and the quiet doors ? (missing
>the old !BANG! after a stop
) BTW, I apologize for 'mediocre'
>to people with strollers or wheelchairs, but for my height
>(1.89 m), standing in that train is strainful.
I'm 2m. tall. I agree.
The Mark VI Monorails came on line in the spring of 89, but
we didn't start loading them until X-Mas. The intervening time
was all test and adjust period. We had a third shift crew
(which I was on) that came in at 8pm and ran the trains around
in circles all night trying to get malfunctions (and boy we sure
did). It was endurance testing and de-bugging.
Even after the Mark VIs went on line, we had problems.
a. Before we got the trains we realized that the design
wasn't going to let them fit through the air door at the
Contemporary Hotel. We went down for several months in the fall
of 88 for widening of the openning at the Hotel and for extra
concrete to be poured on the platforms (the trains are taller
than the Mark IVs.
b. Once we had the first one on line (they came on about
one per two months at first) we found that the power draw was
too high. We couldn't operate two of them within a certain
distance of each other. Major changes were made to the power
grid to compensate.
c. The software had so many bugs I could've caught fish
with it. The trains were very prone to shutdown from software
glitches. The Mark IVs were built in 1969 and had squat for
electronics, so this was really new to us.
d. The doors were a mess at first. Jim Whitman's arm got
broken in a recycling test (the door DIDN'T recycle). Forever
after that we used special bat-like clubs (made by Disney
Central Shops - Disney doesn't send out for anything that it can
make) that were known as "Whitman Probes" to test the doors.
>* who actually builds the monorail trains ? I recall that the
>original design (Alweg ?) was of Swiss origin, but this could
>be related to the first DL monorail only.
Alweg built up to the Mark IIIs, all of which operated only at
Disneyland. I know this because the nose-cone door from Monorail
Gold Mk.III is displayed at Monorail Shop and is clearly labelled
"Alweg".
The Mark IVs (used at WDW from opening until replaced by
Mk.VIs) were built by WED Enterprises and Martin Marrietta at a
cost of around six million per train.
The Mark Vs that replaced Disneyland's Mk.IIIs were designed
by Ride and Show inc. I think. I'm not completely sure about
that one, but Ride and Show's press packet claimed it.
The infamous (two years late and hideously overbudget) Mark
VI trains were designed and built by Bombardier of Quebec, (the
lowest bidder).
>* how are the tracks maintained ? The concrete did not look as
good as it once did, when I saw it last September.
Ummmmmm. weeeeeeeeeell. It's like this.
Me: "Hey, there's a chunk missing near pylon 24!"
Maintenence: "Keep your britches on."
Me: "Monorail red just plunged to it's doom!"
Maintenence: "Woah, good thing we bought new ones."
Just kidding. The beam is supposed to be inspected yearly
and drivers report anything that looks interesting.
The original tracks (MK loop) are lots better than the EC
tracks, which were manufactured in 1981. Strange how quality goes
down through the years...
>* ever had any safety problems with the exposed electric rails
at the track ?
Yes. People can be really stupid. I personally watched
several people jump into the trough with the live bar and trains
barrelling down on them. Twice to retrieve a lenscap, and once
was a teenager showing off. All should've been killed but got
lucky. Can ya believe it?
>* ever had a runaway train
?
Yes.
>Ever had any accidents?
Yes.
>Ever had a train get stuck and the people on it have to be
>rescued?
Nope. The procedure for stuck trains is to try everything
possible to make that sucker move. If it's too broke, we bring
out a diesel powered work tractor to tow it to a station where
the people can be unloaded. This HAS resulted in people getting
stuck for hours (worst case - two mark VIs on EPCOT died
simultaneously along with one on Exterior beam - suicide pact I
guess...). The guest relations folks were handing out free
passes like candy.
>Are the drivers allowed to "ad lib" their speeches or is there
>a "Disney Approved" script?
As long as you get all the pertinent info in there and don't
offend anyone, go for it. Sometimes we can cut loose, like Grad
Night or at the Cast Christmas Party. (Want to have the best
time of your life at the MK, get a job at WDW and go to the Cast
Party in the Magic Kingdom!)
>Are there any plans to extend the monorail to the MGM studios
>or to the EPCOT hotels / Marketplace?
Plans? Sure. There have been PLANS to do that since the
park was built. World Showcase is sitting on top of buried
pylon footers for track extension from there. The problem is
that it's expensive and impractical. The amount of constructin
would be disruptive, and the sites can be served fine with
buses. There are plans to construct a light rail trolley (San
Francisco style) to those areas. We don't have one of those
yet...
>When were each Mark model (I, II, etc) introduced?
The Monorail Mk.I at Disneyland started running in 1959. I
don't know when the II and III replaced it. The Mk. IV went on
at WDW in 1971, and the Mk.V replaced the Mk.III at Disneyland
sometime after that, Early-mid '80s I think.
>What are the differences between the models?
The I,II,and III had the "bubbletop" design that had the
driver sit up in a bubble on top of the train (similar to the
way the Submarine Pilots sit in 20,000 leagues - which is
incidentally a lot like monorails for ops purposes).
The biggest change for the Mk.V was the automatic door
system, and the VI is tall enough to stand in and carries a LOT
more people (244 in the IV vs 350+ in the VI).
>What is the energy effieciency of the monorails?
Don't have numbers but it's pretty good. Granted it would
have to be utilized by people in order to be efficent enough, so
planning would be a major factor in setting up a real monorail
system.
Interesting Factoid: Houston appropriated a billion dollars
to start a monorail project downtown. They'll be licensing the
tech from Disney and their trains will be commuter models of the
Mk.VI built by Bombardier.
>How much power do they consume?
They run on 600 volts DC, rectified from (don't quote me on
this) 13,000+ AC. We make our own power at the plant north of
the contmporary, across the street from monorail shop.
>What kind of brakes do they have and what is their stopping
>distance?
Dynamic braking slows the train down, but is ineffective
below 7-10 mph. Air brakes are used to stop. Distance depends on
how fast you're going. At 40 mph, roughly (very) a hundred feet
with regular braking. Emergency brakes are faster, but REAL rough
on the passengers. (see also "How do you make it stop?")
>I'd like to know, for example, about the markings on the pylons.
The pylons are all numbered for location reasons. If my
train has a problem and dies, I can't say to Central "Well I'm
sort of near that big tree..." The pylons are for traffic
control as well. Remember that there are three or four other
trains out there on 2.6 miles of loop. If somebody gets stuck I
want to know EXACTLY where they are before I find 'em the hard
way.
>Do you use the numbers to judge where to sit and wait before
>pulling into the station?
What I assume you mean is that the train sometimes stops in
mid-beam, for no reason that's apparent to you. The train isn't
required to stop before pulling into a station, but often has to
because there's still another train inside. The numbers on the
pylons dont tell us where to stop, but there are designated
holding points for each zone (which you have to memorize). When
you get an amber signal you have to stop at the designated
number (see also "How do you keep from crashing into each other?")
Stopping at weird points is frowned upon because it might
cause the train behind you to get an indication at an unexpected
time, overrun his holdpoint, and beat you up after work. This is
the preferred method for dumping undesireables out of the
department, as safety violations are not tolerated in rails.
> Is there one central command, or is there a separate "command
>center" at each station?
Each station has a Lead, who CAN give orders to trains if
necessary, but only as pertains to his station. For instance the
Kingdom Lead could call the train approaching his station and
tell him to hold for some reason (someone fell in the track or
something...) but if he calls down a train at EPCOT, he'd better
have a good reason.
Monorail Central is at the Transportation and Ticket Center
(TTC), on the "To EPCOT Center" side of the station building.
The enclosed glass tower (just like at an airport but smaller) is
the Central Console. Mind you though, Central doesn't actually
have any control over the trains outside of dealing with unusual
situations. Just driving around it's the driver's responsibility
not to bump into anyone. Central can only give orders, it's not
like he has a remote control...
General Layout:
This is the best I can manage with the computer.
("Dammit, Jim, I'm a monorail pilot not an artist!")
_______MK____*___
/ \
/ \
| CO
| | _______
GF | / \
| |#| |
| TTC |
\ | | |
\ / | |
\ / \_ |
\_______POLY_____/ \_ \______
\__________ \
^ \ \
| | |
The above section is actually | |
two tracks, one inside the other. | |
| |
A long way
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
/ \
/ \
/ \
EPCOT CENTER | SE |
\ /
\ /
\___/
TTC The Transportation and Ticket Center, (also called
the Ticket and Transportation Center by Tickets
people, but they don't count.)
MK The Magic Kingdom station
GF The Grand Floridian (oops, I mean "Disney's Grand
Floridian Beach Resort." - the Duty Manager can be
touchy about that!)
CO The Contemporary Resort
POLY The Polynesian Resort
SE Spaceship Earth (the big golf ball at Epcot)
* Switchbeam One and Two (see "switching") -
goes between Exterior, Lagoon, and Spurline.
# Switchbeam 8 & 9 - goes between Exterior, Epcot beam,
and Epcot spurline.
That's it (wheeew!) See ya round!
Monorail Green
aka B-Man
--
The 23:00 News and Mail Service - +1 206 292 9048 - Seattle, WA USA
PEP, V.32, V.42bis
+++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++
From: halcyon!monorail@seattleu.edu
Date: 20 Sep 91 13:45:16 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Monorails: In Training
This was written by my old roommate John, the hardest workin'
man in Monorails. He also no longer works in Rails.
-Monorail Green
aka B-Man
AN INTRODUCTION TO DRIVE TRAINING
BY
JOHN ROBERT KAPPELER
Welcome to the wonderful world of drive training. For
the next six days, I will be your sole Lord and Master,
otherwise referred to as your drive trainer. During this
time, we shall learn how to operate the Mark IV or Mark VI
Monorail Train, and how to use them on the Walt Disney World
Monorail System.
You're probably exited about drive training, and who
could blame you? After two or three months of repeating
"How many in your group?" or "Take this train to the next
stop and get on another." six or seven hundred thousand
times a day, you'd be excited about anything. Just keep in
mind that the time you spent on the platform was well worth
it. It built up your anticipation for driving. Think about
it. While you were on Exterior Load, busting your butt to
get five hundred Brazilians onto Monorail Gold, you saw all
the drivers at the water cooler, or in the console, or on
unload, not doing any work, and the same thought kept going
through your mind. . .
When will I be able to do that?
Soon now, very soon. Soon you'll be able to get out of
going to turnstiles, or taking hour lunches and not getting
docked, or getting back cab times where you're allowed to
turn your brain off. Soon, very soon.
But first, comes training.
I realize there's a great deal of resentment between
drivers and platform people. Drivers are always the
"snots", while the platforms are always the "slaves". I
remember when I was a platform-only. I used to hate drivers
just like you probably did. I worked like hell, and they
did nothing but ride around in trains all night, and
actually about it sometimes. I used to resent them.
In fact, I began to hate them. Especially whenever I'd put
people in their front cab and they'd look at me like I'd
just asked them to donate their liver. Drivers were stuck-
up jerks, and I swore I'd never be like them.
Then I became a driver.
I saw what makes them that way. I saw what makes them
stand around while the platform people do all the work. I
learned the truth.
I became enlightened.
Drive training is hard. Real hard. It looks like a
piece of cake from a platform person's point of view. After
all, all they do it push the stick to go, pull it back to
stop, and talk into a microphone. That's it. Pretty easy.
Well, as I learned, there's more to that.
Much more.
Driving a monorail is a lot like driving a bus filled
with drunk people on a crowded highway with your fuel gauge
hovering just above "E". There's a lot to do. A lot to
look out for, and a lot of bad things that could happen to
you. It can be fun, but it takes a lot of practice.
In comes me.
For the next week, I'm going to show you just what it's
like to drive that bus, with all those drunks vomiting all
over the place, and trying to find a gas station that will
accept your expired Radio Shack credit card.
Before we begin drive training, I will sit you down and
discuss something with you. Call it a sort of disclaimer.
I will look you in the eye and say something like: "Listen,
it's going to be rough out there, and I'm going to be rough
on you. The pressure will be on you like you've never felt
it before. I'll be asking you to do sixteen things at the
same time, and if you mess up, I'll be on your case about
it. But just keep one thing in mind--nothing personal."
This will probably make more sense after about three
days of training. Day Four of training is often referred to
as, "Hell Day". That's when it suddenly dawns on your that
driver's don't really have it that easy. That's when you
realize that you're operating a monorail carrying anywhere
from 244 to 364 people, and you have to get then to the next
destination, preferably alive.
A lot of trainees quit after Hell Day. We don't think
any less of them, they just couldn't take the pressure,
that's all. They just usually announce that "This isn't
worth $5.25 a @!&%!! hour!" and quit. The main reason they
quit is that they didn't realize the pressure involved.
That's why I wrote this. To let you know.
But I don't want to scare you. I don't want you to
think that I'm going to prod you with sticks and make you
accept Satan as your Supreme Being. All I'm doing is
attempting to bring out the best in you, and make you the
best damned monorail pilot you can be.
So don't hurt me, okay?
--
The 23:00 News and Mail Service - +1 206 292 9048 - Seattle, WA USA
PEP, V.32, V.42bis
+++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++
From: halcyon!monorail@seattleu.edu
Date: 20 Sep 91 13:46:52 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Monorails: Radio Ops *Funny!*
My roommate, John Kappeler, wrote up the following treatise
on monorail radio operations. I couldn't improve on it a bit...
-Monorail Green
aka B-Man
