Annual monorail emergency drill tomorrow

[Rob562]

Even where the monorail beam goes through the woods, there's usually enough space underneath for a ladder truck to reach the beam. There's probably only a few spots on the beams where a ground rescue would be impossible, such as over the water bridge by the Contemporary. They would bring out the tugs and tow the monorail to the closest station.

There *are* escape hatches on either end of every car. In case of fire, I could conceivably see them evacuating Guests from a burning car (and cars adjacent to it) onto the roof and then possibly back down into another car. There's most likely a lot of fireproofing at the ends of the cars to keep a fire contained to one car. They would move Guests away from the fire and await rescue. I don't see any scenario that would have Guests walking the beam. (Well, apart from perhaps major, major regional catastrophe like earthquake or terrorist attack and rescue personnel are busy elsewhere)

-Rob

 

[tooltime]

wow...we just departed. we're home now and probably would have been asleep in our resort had we been there, but thanks for the info

 

[WDWRLD]

Even where the monorail beam goes through the woods, there's usually enough space underneath for a ladder truck to reach the beam. There's probably only a few spots on the beams where a ground rescue would be impossible, such as over the water bridge by the Contemporary. They would bring out the tugs and tow the monorail to the closest station.


-Rob

As someone who drives a ladder often I can say that for the most part getting a vehicle that weighs 50,000 pounds off the hard surface(road) and not getting it stuck and even getting it set up an a manner that will allow the out riggers to be set and not sink would be a feat in itself. Our standard operating procedgures dont even all us to leave the road. Add the use of water for fire extinguishment and that in itself will make the ground unstable enough for the outriggers to sink. Think about it like this, on a warm...not hot, warm day the outriggers on a tower/ladder truck can and do sink into the asplalt roadway. Granted this is usually less than one inch but is enough to trigger the safety systems of the vehicle to stop its motion to keep it from tipping. We carry 3/8 allumium plates that we put under the outriggers to spread the load and if we think we need it and we carry 4 and 6 ft long 4X4 solid oak boards to spread the load also.

 

[Foolish Mortal]

So how long do you think it will be until we will see the "Was there an accident on the monorail?????" thread.

Shall we put the over/under at 9:00 AM tomorrow?

:lol:

Put me in for $50 on the under as well :lol:

 

[WDW Monorail]

The Monorail is by far the safest transportation metod in WDW other than the Hydrolators.

The M VI has several fire suppression and containment features.
Unlike the M IV, one of which caught fire, the M VI has nitrogen filled tires which will suppress a fire in the wheel wells.

 

[Fun2BFree]

The Monorail is by far the safest transportation metod in WDW other than the Hydrolators.

The M VI has several fire suppression and containment features.
Unlike the M IV, one of which caught fire, the M VI has nitrogen filled tires which will suppress a fire in the wheel wells.

That's pretty much saying that they're the safest other than not moving and theming it as an elevator. :lookaroun

 

[gsimpson]

I didn't think the monorails had gears. "but they don't have a gear for 40 so she alternates between the gears for 35 and 45. " I thought the control stick simply changed the power going to the traction motors.

 

[Bluewaves]

Reedy Creek has a special vehichle specifically outfitted for off road monorail rescue, When we were up front the drivers didn't seem to need to regulate the speed, he had the throttle full open and it seemed like the beam was regulating the actual speed, except when he was bringing it into the station.

 

[brkgnews]

Reedy Creek has a special vehichle specifically outfitted for off road monorail rescue, When we were up front the drivers didn't seem to need to regulate the speed, he had the throttle full open and it seemed like the beam was regulating the actual speed, except when he was bringing it into the station.

Just like any other highway, there's a speed limit of sorts on the beam. That's why you always slow down just before entering the contemporary, etc. Overspeed = bad day for Mr. Mono Pilot, because Mary Poppins (MaPo monitoring system) has no qualms about ratting you out (for safety's sake).

EDIT: I should clarify that it is up to the mono pilot to control the speed -- it's not automatic on the beam (unless MaPo forces a shutdown due to overspeed, deadman switch, or zone fault).

 

[WDWRLD]

Reedy Creek has a special vehichle specifically outfitted for off road monorail rescue, When we were up front the drivers didn't seem to need to regulate the speed, he had the throttle full open and it seemed like the beam was regulating the actual speed, except when he was bringing it into the station.

I sure would like to see a picture of that vehicle.

 

[TomorrowlandTyler]

The local Orlando news station are already reporting an alleged "accident" on Epcot Center Drive this morning in their traffic reports...I'm sure its this monorail drill...

 

[donaldduck1967]

I sure would like to see a picture of that vehicle.

I believe it is Tower 31

http://www.reedycreek.org/apparatus.html

 

[goofntink]

The truck used for the Monorail is Tower 31.It was ordered specifically for that purpose. Its all wheel drive and if I remember right they got it in 91 from E-one.

 

[brkgnews]

The local Orlando news station are already reporting an alleged "accident" on Epcot Center Drive this morning in their traffic reports...I'm sure its this monorail drill...

Reminds me of the time that an Atlanta radio station didn't get the memo that a "helicopter crashing on top of Grady Hospital" was a drill and went BTTW with coverage.

 

[Since1976]

I would love to participate in this drill. I could play a Gene Hackman-esque bad guy. POSEIDON ADVENTURE, anyone? :drevil:

 

[PKD]

The only thing I would think she would "lie" about is if they've ever had a real emergency problem like a fire on a monorail...which I could understand if she lied to prevent bad publicity!

Yes, there was a fire back in 1985 (ish) where they had to evac the guest out of Monorail Blue I think it was.... or was it Monorail Blue that had the tire explode under the rear driver seat 3-5 years ago?

 

[bgraham34]

Thansk for the link to the vehicles my buddy got a kick out of them.

 

[TheSuperTom]

I am still interested as to how people would be evacuated on a part of the track that is not parallel to another, say as it cuts through the woods on the way from MK to EPCOT, especially in the part where it is not directly next to a road.

If the spot is where I'm thinking, it's a wooded spot about halfway between TTC & EPCOT. The spot has a clump of trees around it, and it is just before the MK toll plaza. If you look carefully, you can see an emergency staircase that allows for two monorails. Though it could be just about anywhere on the line, but I'd bet that's where they'd do it.

 

[WDW Monorail]

Yes, there was a fire back in 1985 (ish) where they had to evac the guest out of Monorail Blue I think it was.... or was it Monorail Blue that had the tire explode under the rear driver seat 3-5 years ago?

The first two cars of Monorail Silver caught fire in 1986 when a tire went down. The friction from the tire and metal rubbing the beam generated heat which set the tire on fire and ultimately the two cars. All guests were evacuated safely.
I believe that this incident occured in the same section of beam that this practice drill is benig conducted.

Photos taken from "1986 monorail fire".

 

[disney9752]

ok so who will post the follow up articles about the fire since we saw the ugly one already? i know its in another thread but i dont know how 2 copy from another thread to here.:brick: