raven
Well-Known Member
Yes they are. Due to all of the lightning that Central Florida receives, they are placed there to try and divert strikes away from guests.
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Large Piece Falls off Monorail - Being Evacuated
- Thread starter MCast
- Start date
Kamikaze
Well-Known Member
Correct. And gondola towers would have lightning rods as well.
RustySpork
Oscar Mayer Memer
They help provide a better path to ground to reduce fire and electrical circuit damage risk. Unless these new gondolas are also full faraday cages they won't offer any form of lightning protection and will have to be shut down whenever there's a storm in the area and also when it's very windy, just as the Sky Ride at Busch Gardens is.
WEDwaydatamover
Well-Known Member
Oh I understand fully. I was just reminded when I saw the clip from the castle and lightening how cleaver Disney is at hiding things in plain sight like a lightning rod.
RustySpork
Oscar Mayer Memer
Definitely one of their strengths.
raven
Well-Known Member
So it will kinda be like trying to manage a farm in Venice, huh?
RustySpork
Oscar Mayer Memer
ninjaprincesst
Well-Known Member
Nope, just put peoples safety over social media, I know weird right?You are obviously new to the internet.
Monorail_Red
Well-Known Member
Definitely not the first time this happened, and probably won't be the last time either. Nothing to see here.
Nubs70
Well-Known Member
If this is the case, WDW has a dramatically flawed maintenance transformation. The monorail system operates maybe 18 hours a day, leaving a net 6 hours per day for maintenance.
I work in an mechanically intricate process that operates 24 hours a day 360 days per year with 80 year old equipment. This facility operates above 93% OEE and is allotted 8-10 hours maintenance downtime per month.
ninjaprincesst
Well-Known Member
What everyone is missing we should just be thankful everyone is ok, from mister twitter guy, thank goodness it didn't hit him , and all those on the monorail. Things will happen, anything mechanical is going to break at some point. What matters is everyone is ok, no one was hurt.
s8film40
Well-Known Member
Just to give some perspective, these are some pretty old vehicles and it's a wonder they run as well as they do. These trains were designed in a style way ahead of its time and we often forget just how old they are. The ad below highlights what modern vehicles looked like at the time these things were manufactured. Also if these were street vehicles in FL in two years they would qualify for "antique" license plates.
EricsBiscuit
Well-Known Member
Hear me out, read my full post or don't quote it.
This week in FL we had a ton of huge thunderstorms. So, maybe lightning hit the track and didn't cause any noticeable damage, but did cause some damage. After that Monorail Blue went over it and the friction (a crack or metal jutting out from potential lightning strike) pulled off parts and started an electrical fire. That's my conjecture and I know absolutely nothing other than what has been given as fact. I base this off the fact that monorails are notorious for electrical fires. Over the years thank God there have been few. But when they pioneered the first daily operating monorail in the Western Hemisphere at Disneyland, poor Bob Gurr (an incredible Imagineer who has worked on many Disney and UNI projects) had encountered electrical fire after electrical fire. There is a great documentary on engineering the monorails on YouTube. As for maintenance, on my last trip a month and a half ago (I went to the Asia for a month since then) they said something like 2 monorails were being completely refurbed, one just got a new paint job, and another new bloomers (the bags between the coaches). So I guess they're maintaining them well. If they didn't these things would not have lasted almost 30 years. That is why I think this was caused by damage to the track, sustained from lightning from the many storms lately, that caused friction, igniting an electrical fire and tearing parts off. For those who say, "why didn't another monorail have this problem, they go on the same track?" That is a fair point; however, each monorail is unique and has many idiosyncrasies that make them so. Maybe a certain configuration of a system from the last refurbishment positioned a part in a way that it would trigger this event.
This week in FL we had a ton of huge thunderstorms. So, maybe lightning hit the track and didn't cause any noticeable damage, but did cause some damage. After that Monorail Blue went over it and the friction (a crack or metal jutting out from potential lightning strike) pulled off parts and started an electrical fire. That's my conjecture and I know absolutely nothing other than what has been given as fact. I base this off the fact that monorails are notorious for electrical fires. Over the years thank God there have been few. But when they pioneered the first daily operating monorail in the Western Hemisphere at Disneyland, poor Bob Gurr (an incredible Imagineer who has worked on many Disney and UNI projects) had encountered electrical fire after electrical fire. There is a great documentary on engineering the monorails on YouTube. As for maintenance, on my last trip a month and a half ago (I went to the Asia for a month since then) they said something like 2 monorails were being completely refurbed, one just got a new paint job, and another new bloomers (the bags between the coaches). So I guess they're maintaining them well. If they didn't these things would not have lasted almost 30 years. That is why I think this was caused by damage to the track, sustained from lightning from the many storms lately, that caused friction, igniting an electrical fire and tearing parts off. For those who say, "why didn't another monorail have this problem, they go on the same track?" That is a fair point; however, each monorail is unique and has many idiosyncrasies that make them so. Maybe a certain configuration of a system from the last refurbishment positioned a part in a way that it would trigger this event.
Goofyernmost
Well-Known Member
There is nothing about that statement that is obvious. The picture tells me that something happened and it almost positively wasn't because of lack of maintenance. I don't know what, you don't know what and the chances are very good that we will never know. However, it will be discussed into the ground because all of us are mechanical wizards, know everything there is to know about equipment maintenance and know exactly who to point a finger at. Not every single part is on a maintenance check list. Somethings are highly unlikely to ever be a problem. The part that fell (far from huge by the way) doesn't look like an item that requires a whole lot of regular attention.
Monorail_Red
Well-Known Member
I too am speculating at this point but some imperfection that may have developed in the buss bar running alongside the beamway is extremely possible. That too has happened before and IMO it's more likely to be the case vs. old trains.
ninjaprincesst
Well-Known Member
If I read the original new story correctly I think he finally got a security cast member to take it, of course that does not mean that person didn't go straight to ebay.
s8film40
Well-Known Member
I don't think it was from lighting strike. It could have been any number of things. One of the common issues with these collector shoes is they have carbon pads on them to allow them to glide smoothly over the bus bar. These pads wear down over time and have to be replaced. Any imperfection in the bus bar could have also been an issue. If it were indeed from a lightning strike, that strike would have shut down the whole system. I don't personally know of any lightning strikes recently, but who knows.
raven
Well-Known Member
That would make sense but witnesses on the ground and inside the train said the vehicle was making noises (cracks and pops) and it was even smoking. Also the other trains on the same track were uneffected and operated just fine when it reopened later. For this reason I still believe it was a piece of the train. And the piece looks very much like the pick-up bar that drags along the bottom of the train to get electricity. Just my observation.
raven
Well-Known Member
Well the same trains aren't used for the full 18-hour period. They switch them out throughout the day. But Disney has many trains and the ones not in immediate use are being maintained. Or, so we hope.
WEDwaydatamover
Well-Known Member
I think everyone gets that the monorails were incredibly well designed and don't owe Disney anything at this point.
They were designed in the 1980s and are unfortunately not going to hold up long enough for every last suit to receive a bonus for passing the buck.
Will Disney break before it bends?
They were designed in the 1980s and are unfortunately not going to hold up long enough for every last suit to receive a bonus for passing the buck.
Will Disney break before it bends?
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raven
Well-Known Member
This is what Inwas talking about as well. Didn't use the term "bus bar" but that's the piece I believe it may be from the photo.