Just a random thought, if Disney was to use either of these designs for transport from say Disney Studios to a resort, which design would be more cost effective? I know they used different propulsion in each but which would be cheaper to recreate?
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Peoplemover or TTA
- Thread starter Just A Big Kid
- Start date
Figment632
New Member
What's the difference between the two?
klineski96
Active Member
Figment632
New Member
I know at one time it was known as The Wedway People Mover but is that the only difference?
klineski96
Active Member
That's the only difference I know of.
Kids of today.... :lol:
The Goodyear Peoplemover in Disneyland was propelled by vertical wheels set in the track bed, each wheel powered by a motor. The wheels span, and pushed on the underside of the car to propell it. This was the system developed for the 1964 NYWF and Disneys Ford Magic Skyway.
The Orlando version was called the WEDway Peoplemover. The cars were, and still are, propelled by linear induction motors set in the track bed. They use magnetism to pull the cars (or rather the steel plates fixed under each car) towards them, and then reverse polarity to push them away. No moving parts.
The Goodyear Peoplemover in Disneyland was propelled by vertical wheels set in the track bed, each wheel powered by a motor. The wheels span, and pushed on the underside of the car to propell it. This was the system developed for the 1964 NYWF and Disneys Ford Magic Skyway.
The Orlando version was called the WEDway Peoplemover. The cars were, and still are, propelled by linear induction motors set in the track bed. They use magnetism to pull the cars (or rather the steel plates fixed under each car) towards them, and then reverse polarity to push them away. No moving parts.
Figment632
New Member
Thanks your WDW knowledge never ceases to amaze me!
WDWRLD
Active Member
I think the LIM system would be the hands down winner. For one it has less "moving" parts which means less maintience. If you look at thansportation systems in general the magnetic systems are the in thing right now. Trains use them such as the MagLev and rollercoasters use them for quick starts and even stopping them as with the rare earth magnets.
The only downside is that LIMs have a little more difficulty with uphill tracks. So that limits them a little. They've probably made a lot of improvements in the years since TTA was first developed though, so perhaps it's no longer the issue that it once was.
Rob562
Well-Known Member
You're correct. The original Peoplemover at Disneyland had many elevation changes throughout its course. It could easily handle the changes (well, I heard there were a few issues sometimes when it rained and the tires lost traction...).
Florida's LIM system requires the trains to stay on a level course.
Theoretically you COULD introduce new systems of anti-rollbacks for uphill sections and speed governors for downhill sections, but those would add complexity and moving parts to the system, increasing the possibility of something breaking down, which was the benefit of the WEDWay system to begin with.
Though at least for downhill sections, you could come up with a braking system like they use on some of the newer Intamin coasters (which WDWRLD alluded to earlier). Magnetic brakes have been used for a number of years to slow down coasters and drop tower rides, but they only work to slow something from a high speed down to about 4-5MPH. (There's a long physics lesson that would be required to explain why). To get the cars to fully stop requires a physical brake. On drop towers they use pistons at the bottom, on most roller coasters they let the rubber tires on the advancing wheels do the stopping. But the overall stop is usually very hard and fast because there's no additional forward-momentum causing force. The train just zooms to a halt (like on Superman: Ride of Steel here at Six Flags New England).
Well, on a coaster like Stormrunner at Hersheypark, they use this physics fact to make for a gentler stop. The main brake run is on a downhill slope. The train enters the brake run and is quickly slowed down to about 5-6 MPH, but because it's on a downhill, the train continues to roll slowly down the hill and around a curve to where it eventually is brought to a complete stop.
A WEDWay train could do something similar. There wouldn't even need to be powered LIMs on the downhills because gravity would do the work. Fins on the trains could run between permanent rare-earth magnets on the downhill runs (or conversely the magnets are on the trains and the fins are on the track). Gravity would keep the train rolling down the hill, but the magnetic braking would keep the train from rolling too quickly, no matter how heavy the train load was. The only issue is that there would be no way to stop a train *on* the downhill section.
For the uphill sections, they could have an anti-rollback similar to the one used on the EE lifthills, where as long as the train keeps moving at a constant speed, the anti-rollback "dog" stays up (and you don't hear the clanking). But if the train were to slow or stop, the dog would drop down and keep the train from rolling backward. The LIM system could then get the train moving again (perhaps they'd be heavy-duty LIMs along there that could "burst" with some extra power during a re-start).
Ahhh... It's fun to play "what if..."
-Rob
WDWRLD
Active Member
Stormrunner also uses the magnetics for the emergency stop system incase the coaster train dosent make it up and over the first hill. They dropdown out of the way as the train comes out of the station. Then as soon as the train clears the launch block they come back up. I guess there is also something else there in addition to completely stop the reverse motion of the coaster.
Actually, linear motors have less difficulty with hills. Since they don't rely on friction to keep the car from sliding backwards, they can handle steeper hills than adhesion.
Linear motor driven trains are in existence in many places - in the US Vancouver, Toronto, and New York City have them. The difference here is that they are full length trains instead of individual cars. And that is the real issue - can small individual cars deal with the large volume of riders effectively?