PHOTO - A 'pre-paint' look at Monorail Peach in the maintenance area

[s8film40]

I believe if I remember right it the for the MAPO system to work it has to be a closed circuit but when your on the spur track it's an open circuit. It's mentioned in the NTSB report interviews how it works. The technology is really dated.

It is possible for the MAPO/MBS system to work on a spur line, in fact Disney has done this and had it working for a period of time in the past. The big misunderstanding is that the system is not intended to alert drivers of proximity to another train but rather to alert them of a certain distance of safe beamway. It is a "fail safe" system so it is not looking for other trains but rather clear unblocked signals from the immediate track ahead. In lieu of these clear unblocked signals it will put the train into a safer state requiring the driver to use overrides to move the train as well as placing restrictions on speed. This mode of driving requires the driver to ask permission so that clearance can be double checked and requires the driver to drive with greater caution as there is an audible alarm as well as having to continuously hold a button. A spurn line is not part of normal operation and so really shouldn't have these transmitters on it as you want these restrictions placed on the train when it is moving from line to line.

 

[Admiral01]

Yes the actual passenger areas are the exact same that were on Pink/Purple that night on Cars 6/1 respectively. The only brand new construction was the cabs where the pilot is on both ends.

The damaged cabs were chopped off each train up to just before the passenger compartment on July 5th and new ones were built in their place after the trains were released back to Disney.

Excellent. Thanks for the info Peachy, you rock.

 

[nace888]

Let me know if you guys see them testing Peach!!

 

[mp2bill]

It might just be my monitor...but are we sure it'll be a stripe? The entire cab looks like it has a peach hue. Maybe the cab and train will be peach with a different color stripe

Exactly what I was thinking

 

[Communicore]

When did they switch the direction of the monorail? I see 70's footage of the resort monorail entering the contemporary the other way, from the MK and stopping at the platform, instead of today's opposite direction.

 

[steve2wdw]

As far as passengers up front, I thought I read that the Fed Transport Dept considers the WDW Monorail System to be a transportation system now. DL's is still considered an attraction since you need to buy a theme park ticket to use it (at WDW you don't need one, and the system gets you from point A to B, etc....). Therefore, passengers won't be allowed in the cabs....just like you don't see passengers up front with a subway driver, or the pilots in a jet. This sounds correct to me...someone correct me if they know otherwise. As I said, I can't remember where I read this and don't know if it's the official scoop....

 

[peter11435]

When did they switch the direction of the monorail? I see 70's footage of the resort monorail entering the contemporary the other way, from the MK and stopping at the platform, instead of today's opposite direction.

The resort monorail currently enters the contemporary from the mk.

 

[Communicore]

The resort monorail currently enters the contemporary from the mk.

I meant the express monorail my fault, the express is the one that is currently on the right side coming from TTC to MK - the 70's footage I have seen has the monorail coming from MK on the right side.

 

[peachykeen]

Good thing you are on these boards Peachy, you are a wealth of Monorail knowledge!

Excellent. Thanks for the info Peachy, you rock.

Thank you both :wave:

I try to answer the questions that pop up that I know the definite answer to. With that said, I've never really gotten a straight answer on why MAPO isn't/cant be installed on the spur lines.

 

[JoeZer]

I meant the express monorail my fault, the express is the one that is currently on the right side coming from TTC to MK - the 70's footage I have seen has the monorail coming from MK on the right side.

As a kid I rode the Express Monorail plenty of times from the MK to the TTC at night when my family left the park to head home...and the monorail would leave the MK station heading around Seven Seas Lagoon towards the Poly then TTC.

How I remember this? I would watch the Electrical Water Pageant through the windows of the monorail on the left hand side (if you were facing forward for the direction you were traveling).

 

[s8film40]

As far as passengers up front, I thought I read that the Fed Transport Dept considers the WDW Monorail System to be a transportation system now. DL's is still considered an attraction since you need to buy a theme park ticket to use it (at WDW you don't need one, and the system gets you from point A to B, etc....). Therefore, passengers won't be allowed in the cabs....just like you don't see passengers up front with a subway driver, or the pilots in a jet. This sounds correct to me...someone correct me if they know otherwise. As I said, I can't remember where I read this and don't know if it's the official scoop....

This is not true at all. The Disney monorail system is a private system and is not regulated by DOT. Disney has given no official resin for the policy change in allowing guests up front.

 

[s8film40]

Thank you both :wave:

I try to answer the questions that pop up that I know the definite answer to. With that said, I've never really gotten a straight answer on why MAPO isn't/cant be installed on the spur lines.

When it was operational on the shop spur the big issue with it was speed. If I remember correctly the speed zone that was set for the spur was high, I believe it was 30 or 35 on the curve and then 40 to Switch 3. Also they put three transmitters at the end of the beam in shop so the train would have a green all the way to the end of the beam. To the best of my knowledge I think the transmitters are still there they just started turning them off since drivers started taking advantage of them. I will say though there's nothing quite like leaving the shop on beam #3 at P5 and getting up to 40MPH by the time you get to switch 3.

 

[peachykeen]

When it was operational on the shop spur the big issue with it was speed. If I remember correctly the speed zone that was set for the spur was high, I believe it was 30 or 35 on the curve and then 40 to Switch 3. Also they put three transmitters at the end of the beam in shop so the train would have a green all the way to the end of the beam. To the best of my knowledge I think the transmitters are still there they just started turning them off since drivers started taking advantage of them. I will say though there's nothing quite like leaving the shop on beam #3 at P5 and getting up to 40MPH by the time you get to switch 3.

Interesting. But then that begs the questions couldn't they just have reprogrammed the max speed in that area to 15mph and then from Switch 3 to Shop at 3mph? We had a driver a couple years ago leave from Shop from something like Beam 5 and go through all the switches at a full 15 mph. Ripped up all the beam contacts.

I know that on the Spur to/from Epcot there is a "phantom" Green MBS as you enter Base but it always returns back to red.

I always loved backing Resort trains out of Shop from Cab 6.

 

[s8film40]

Interesting. But then that begs the questions couldn't they just have reprogrammed the max speed in that area to 15mph and then from Switch 3 to Shop at 3mph? We had a driver a couple years ago leave from Shop from something like Beam 5 and go through all the switches at a full 15 mph. Ripped up all the beam contacts.

I know that on the Spur to/from Epcot there is a "phantom" Green MBS as you enter Base but it always returns back to red.

I always loved backing Resort trains out of Shop from Cab 6.

The intended purpose of adding the transmitters to the spur was for spur testing. For this reason the speed zones were set high.

 

[Communicore]

As a kid I rode the Express Monorail plenty of times from the MK to the TTC at night when my family left the park to head home...and the monorail would leave the MK station heading around Seven Seas Lagoon towards the Poly then TTC.

How I remember this? I would watch the Electrical Water Pageant through the windows of the monorail on the left hand side (if you were facing forward for the direction you were traveling).

Right, see the 70's monorail was on that track, from MK heading towards Poly. The express is now on the other track, but still going to the same direction.

 

[peter11435]

Right, see the 70's monorail was on that track, from MK heading towards Poly. The express is now on the other track, but still going to the same direction.

I am fairly certain the express has all been the outer loop and the resort monorail has always been the inner loop. It really doesn't make sense any other way. I believe the express monorail traveled clockwise originally however they were switched sometime after the Grand Floridian opened so that the Magic Kingdom would be the first stop for Grand Floridian guests traveling on the resort monorail.

 

[s8film40]

I am fairly certain the express has all been the outer loop and the resort monorail has always been the inner loop. It really doesn't make sense any other way. I believe the express monorail traveled clockwise originally however they were switched sometime after the Grand Floridian opened so that the Magic Kingdom would be the first stop for Grand Floridian guests traveling on the resort monorail.

The resort monorail did not change for the Grand Floridian, the routes were well established by that point. The only time they operated differently was very early on in the early 70's

 

[nace888]

Has anyone heard or seen anything since the picture was taken??

 

[peachykeen]

Has anyone heard or seen anything since the picture was taken??

It's been towed around between the paint booth beam (Beam 10) and Beam 8 at Shop. Still not moving under its own power yet. No paint. Final tweaks, it appears, before they test and paint it.

 

[nace888]

It's been towed around between the paint booth beam (Beam 10) and Beam 8 at Shop. Still not moving under its own power yet. No paint. Final tweaks, it appears, before they test and paint it.

Darn, I was hoping it was able to move under it's own power... Making tweaks might be good though...