Monorail travel direction

[rickdrat]

For whatever reason, this actually kept me up last night...

Is there a practical reason the MK monorails run in opposite directions? I'd read on another thread that once upon a time both Resort and Express went in the same direction, but this was changed to discourage "racing" the trains around the circuit. Is it tied to direction of the switches onto the main loop or is it just an aesthetic decision?

On a related note, at startup, are the trains "pulled" or "backed" out of the barn? I know the shop spur feeds in counterclockwise so driving straight onto the express beam makes sense. But for trains headed to resorts you have to reverse at some point. Does the pilot back out onto the resort beam, or does he get out at some point and switch cabs?

 

[marni1971]

They did both run clockwise when opened.

 

[JohnD]

For whatever reason, this actually kept me up last night...

Is there a practical reason the MK monorails run in opposite directions? I'd read on another thread that once upon a time both Resort and Express went in the same direction, but this was changed to discourage "racing" the trains around the circuit. Is it tied to direction of the switches onto the main loop or is it just an aesthetic decision?

On a related note, at startup, are the trains "pulled" or "backed" out of the barn? I know the shop spur feeds in counterclockwise so driving straight onto the express beam makes sense. But for trains headed to resorts you have to reverse at some point. Does the pilot back out onto the resort beam, or does he get out at some point and switch cabs?

For Express, it makes sense that it would go counter-clockwise from the TTC directly to MK (shortest distance to get there). Then MK back to the TTC.

For the resort beam, I guess it doesn't really matter which direction it goes in, so why not clockwise stopping at all locations?

The monorails don't really "back out". They have a driving car at both ends. To go to the maintenance shop, the driver probably gets out at MK, walks to the opposite driving car, and, when the track is switched, drives it "forward" directly onto the auxiliary beam.

 

[Retroman40]

The term for changing the operating cab is "switching ends". All trains come out of the shop onto the express beam through switch beam two. To get on the Resort Beam they have to pass through switch beam one (there are nine switch beams total (three through seven are on the shop beam and eight and nine go from the express to the Epcot beam)). Resort trains come out first and get switched to resorts as quickly as possible so express and Epcot trains can come out. While the driver can switch ends at the MK, sometimes they do so at other stations if the circumstances dictate it.

 

[raven]

It's also possible for drivers NOT to switch sides and drive backwards when switching beams. I've seen it done several times and this was also the case in the monorail crash years ago.

 

[Retroman40]

It's also possible for drivers NOT to switch sides and drive backwards when switching beams. I've seen it done several times and this was also the case in the monorail crash years ago.

Sorry for any confusion. You certainly can drive in reverse through switch beams 1-7 (or anywhere for that matter - assuming the Rear Camera is working or there is an observer in the non-operating cab or a spotter on the ground) but that's not the "preferred" method and is generally only done when time is a factor in moving a train between beams. Driving in reverse through 8 and 9 is forbidden.

 

[blueboxdoctor]

I did not know people knew so much about the operation of the monorails, definitely made for some interesting reading finding this thread.

 

[rickdrat]

The term for changing the operating cab is "switching ends". All trains come out of the shop onto the express beam through switch beam two. To get on the Resort Beam they have to pass through switch beam one (there are nine switch beams total (three through seven are on the shop beam and eight and nine go from the express to the Epcot beam)). Resort trains come out first and get switched to resorts as quickly as possible so express and Epcot trains can come out. While the driver can switch ends at the MK, sometimes they do so at other stations if the circumstances dictate it.

So SOP for Resort would be to drive forward onto Express, then at some point change cabs and drive "forward" in the opposite direction to switch onto the Resort beam? And given what Martin confirmed, is there a reason why Express only was changed to counterclockwise travel? Again, I'm just curious if the direction is/was an arbitrary decision or if there was some purpose behind it.

 

[Retroman40]

So SOP for Resort would be to drive forward onto Express, then at some point change cabs and drive "forward" in the opposite direction to switch onto the Resort beam? And given what Martin confirmed, is there a reason why Express only was changed to counterclockwise travel? Again, I'm just curious if the direction is/was an arbitrary decision or if there was some purpose behind it.

Pure speculation here but the main console at both the MK and TTC stations is at the end where the operating cab is for a train running in the counter clockwise direction. Another thought is that after the GF was built there would be less stops for guests going to the MK so it stayed clockwise. Again, no basis in fact here - just a possible reason.

I did not know people knew so much about the operation of the monorails, definitely made for some interesting reading finding this thread.

Just Google WDW Monorails. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are big time monorail fans. I joke that they'll tear down the monorails right before Cinderella's Castle.

 

[worldfanatic]

I like them going both directions.
Allows me to instantly identify each line from a distance.

 

[ABQ]

I like them going both directions.
Allows me to instantly identify each line from a distance.

That's a very good point.

 

[Monorail_Red]

I like them going both directions.
Allows me to instantly identify each line from a distance.

I believe's also part of why they travel in opposite directions. Back in the Mark IV days, they didn't have the MAPO system they have today. I believe at first there was nothing at all - then there was something called WABCO (which might be similar to MAPO with a different name).

Anyway, what I'm getting at is even with the MAPO system the primary method to driving a train around the beam was with visual clearances. In other words, the MAPO system was only supposed to be a supplemental or fail-safe system. So a big part of driving the trains was being able to find the train on the beamway ahead of you visually without the aid of MAPO.

I can imagine when both beamways were traveling in same direction, it may have been difficult to differentiate between the train ahead of you and the train adjacent to you. With the trains traveling in opposite directions, when you see a nose light coming at you you instantly know the train is on the other beam.

This may not be the only reason for the change in the direction of travel, but I'm sure it was a contributing factor.

Just as an aside, I heard they were at least considering reversing the direction of travel on all beams. Something about always facing forward when approaching a switchbeam. We shall see...

 

[s8film40]

Just as an aside, I heard they were at least considering reversing the direction of travel on all beams. Something about always facing forward when approaching a switchbeam. We shall see...

Wouldn't you always be facing an approaching switchbeam so long as your traveling in a forward direction regardless of which way your going around the loop?

Although this doesn't sound as ridiculous as certain things I've heard coming from the current monorail dept.

 

[Monorail_Red]

Wouldn't you always be facing an approaching switchbeam so long as your traveling in a forward direction regardless of which way your going around the loop?

I think the idea was that if a switch were open, you would go one way or the other instead of coming up on a dead end. With the current travel direction when approaching switchbeam 1 on resorts, if the switch were open you would drive off the beamway since it is a dead end. Same is true while approaching switchbeam 2 on express and switchbeam 9 on Epcot.

I'm not totally convinced the rumor of switching travel directions will actually happen because it is really not accomplishing anything. On resorts for example, even if switchbeam 1 were open its still a dead end unless switchbeam 2 were also in position. And reversing travel direction on express actually creates the issue this idea would avoid with switchbeam 8. Really is its a moot point IMHO.

 

[Rob562]

I think the idea was that if a switch were open, you would go one way or the other instead of coming up on a dead end. With the current travel direction when approaching switchbeam 1 on resorts, if the switch were open you would drive off the beamway since it is a dead end. Same is true while approaching switchbeam 2 on express and switchbeam 9 on Epcot.

I'm not totally convinced the rumor of switching travel directions will actually happen because it is really not accomplishing anything. On resorts for example, even if switchbeam 1 were open its still a dead end unless switchbeam 2 were also in position. And reversing travel direction on express actually creates the issue this idea would avoid with switchbeam 8. Really is its a moot point IMHO.

Doesn't an open switch cause a MAPO Red light which would e-stop the train if it approached? (Not that the red couldn't be overridden, but at that point you'd only slowly roll off the beam rather than plow off at full speed...)

-Rob

 

[Monorail_Red]

Doesn't an open switch cause a MAPO Red light which would e-stop the train if it approached? (Not that the red couldn't be overridden, but at that point you'd only slowly roll off the beam rather than plow off at full speed...)

-Rob

Pretty much. Power to the beamway is also cut quite a ways back, so even if you're overriding you can't go beyond where they turn off power. When a train loses power it also triggers an e-stop, and even if it didn't you won't have enough momentum to get anywhere near the switch. So again, reversing the travel of direction is pretty much a moot point.