The things you Yanks do to the English language!
We do for the English language what you all do for bacon......just make it better.
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PHOTOS - New monorail track spur nears completion
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
We do for the English language what you all do for bacon......just make it better.
eddy21
Active Member
It depends on what the encounter while driving in the pylons. Big $ if they hit a sinkhole. I have heard it was like a millon a mile in for the track. Don't know if thats in 70's or 80's money.
trr1
Well-Known Member
trr1
Well-Known Member
The things you Yanks do to the English language!
why is your 1 am in the afternoon?
We noticed the spur as we drove back toward EPCOT following dinner at California Grill on Wednesday night. We actually turned around at Wilderness Lodge so we could drive by a few more times, just so I could see it what I thought was the spur was in fact the spur. For some reason, I was really excited at the idea of 62 new feet. 1971, 1982, and 2011... I would LOVE to add more years to that list.
The new work tractor spur is indeed at the existing switch. The track itself has no electrical lines for monorail power (at least, it didn't look like it did)...so it isn't exactly what you would need to perform a for-real expansion of the system, but I would be very interested in finding out how difficult and expensive it was to add the new 62 feet. Who did the beam construction? Does it have the same foam core as the EPCOT/Las Vegas beams? Heck, is it the same exact construction as the Las Vegas beams? Not that monorail track is cheap, but if cared for properly, it can last for a long, long time.
But, then you have to have the conversation about acquiring more monorails. The existing 11 would be spread way too thin. Even when #12 comes back online, it would be spread too thin with an expansion. It took forever to get from EPCOT to the TTC on Thursday. They need that 12th train back in service.
The new work tractor spur is indeed at the existing switch. The track itself has no electrical lines for monorail power (at least, it didn't look like it did)...so it isn't exactly what you would need to perform a for-real expansion of the system, but I would be very interested in finding out how difficult and expensive it was to add the new 62 feet. Who did the beam construction? Does it have the same foam core as the EPCOT/Las Vegas beams? Heck, is it the same exact construction as the Las Vegas beams? Not that monorail track is cheap, but if cared for properly, it can last for a long, long time.
But, then you have to have the conversation about acquiring more monorails. The existing 11 would be spread way too thin. Even when #12 comes back online, it would be spread too thin with an expansion. It took forever to get from EPCOT to the TTC on Thursday. They need that 12th train back in service.
flavious27
Well-Known Member
Win ! :sohappy:
flavious27
Well-Known Member
If I remember the figures right, it was a million per mile when dl was built. I thought I heard it was $10 million per mile when wdw opened in 71, but can't verify that number.
flavious27
Well-Known Member
It looks like this spur is not powered, which would make sense with the tractor being diesel powered.
Don't we know it, my dear chap...
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Bulldog1653
Active Member
Hello all,
The cost per mile was $1 millon in 1970's dollars. That was shown on a behind the scenes Disney special on the History Channel. You can also confirm that number on YouTube because clips of the show are posted there.
I like the idea of a tow tractor being based on this new line in the event of a monorail failure.
If Disney was to expand their monorail system, then I do agree that there would need to be more trains than the existing 12 they already have. The question then becomes whether or not they get more of the same type already in service or do they go with the Mark VII model already in use at Disneyland? The other question that arises is where would the new trains be housed?
Those of you who have read my posts know that I am all for expansion of the monorail system and phase out the buses. The major problem holding this back is the money to take on a project of that magnitude.
The cost per mile was $1 millon in 1970's dollars. That was shown on a behind the scenes Disney special on the History Channel. You can also confirm that number on YouTube because clips of the show are posted there.
I like the idea of a tow tractor being based on this new line in the event of a monorail failure.
If Disney was to expand their monorail system, then I do agree that there would need to be more trains than the existing 12 they already have. The question then becomes whether or not they get more of the same type already in service or do they go with the Mark VII model already in use at Disneyland? The other question that arises is where would the new trains be housed?
Those of you who have read my posts know that I am all for expansion of the monorail system and phase out the buses. The major problem holding this back is the money to take on a project of that magnitude.
WDW Monorail
Well-Known Member
They can't do that. Beam dimensions are totally different.
Whenever the time comes, the new trains will be Mark VIIIs regardless of whether they are of a new design or not.
PhilharMagician
Well-Known Member
Monorails could not take over for the busses and I personally hope they do not. Monorails could require multiple line changes and resort stops to get to your final destination. People comlain now that it has taken 45 minutes to get from their resort to one of the parks. It would be far worse if we were limited to transportation that was not flexable.
Last year I had one of my worst monorail waits. We were leaving the Contemporary going to Epcot. It was about 5:00 PM and we got to the monorail station and the line was quite long. We ended up not getting on the first train through. The next train did not come for about 20 minutes. They must have added another train to the resort loop. So finally we get to the TTC. We see an Epcot train in the station and run to get to it. Unfortunately the doors close as we arrive at the gate and the train pulls away. As we are waiting we see that they are now taking a train from the express loop and transferring to the Epcot loop. Now that took another 20 + minutes for that transfer and the trains to again start moving. It ended up taking us nearly 1 1/2 hours to go from the CR to Epcot. This process happens multiple times a day and I just happened to hit it at the wrong time. Busses can be changed and dispatched in seconds. They do not need track switching and if they break down, they pull to the side of the road and busses can go by. That does not work for monorails. The longest I have waited for a bus is about 1/2 hour and you can go from on end of the property to the other in 10 minutes.
You beat me to it. Yeah the Mark VII's are much smaller and would not work on WDW beams.
Anyone who has ever bumped their head getting on a Mark VII at Disneyland would understand that the design is much smaller :animwink:
flavious27
Well-Known Member
I love the monorail and wish for an expansion, but I doubt it will happen due to the cost of reaching every park and hotel. They could use PRTs instead as a way to efficiently transport guests around the parks.
I have made a map of proposed routes that could be used:
This is a mockup I made for a disney one, though the vehicles can look different and be larger.
The only problems that will arise will be when the paths of a prt need to cross over a road. It will be cheaper to have the paths a prt uses to be mostly at ground level. So an elevated track would need to be built when a prt pathway needs to cross a road.
Rob562
Well-Known Member
Nice diagram, but for PRT to work most efficiently, many of those loops need to be eliminated/changed. A vehicle needs to be able to get to where it's going in as close to a straight line as possible.
In your example, a vehicle going from Epcot to French Quarter would have to traverse the entire loop through Old Key West, TL, Downtown Disney, SSR and way up around to Riverside before finally making it to French Quarter.
Although I haven't done extensive research into it, my understanding of PRT systems are that it works best when there are many routes and loops built into the system. That way each car (and the overall system) can choose the most-efficient route from Point A to Point B.
Plus, when there there's more than one way to get between points, it allows the system flexibility to re-route traffic around a broken-down vehicle. Sure, it won't be as fast for some riders, but it keeps the system from grinding to a halt.
The system you designed is closer to a Peoplemover system than a PRT system.
One of these days I'll sit down and draw out how I envision the two most-feasible transportation options to be... One is PRT based, the other is based off of Walt's original Monorail/Peoplemover combo vision.
-Rob
In your example, a vehicle going from Epcot to French Quarter would have to traverse the entire loop through Old Key West, TL, Downtown Disney, SSR and way up around to Riverside before finally making it to French Quarter.
Although I haven't done extensive research into it, my understanding of PRT systems are that it works best when there are many routes and loops built into the system. That way each car (and the overall system) can choose the most-efficient route from Point A to Point B.
Plus, when there there's more than one way to get between points, it allows the system flexibility to re-route traffic around a broken-down vehicle. Sure, it won't be as fast for some riders, but it keeps the system from grinding to a halt.
The system you designed is closer to a Peoplemover system than a PRT system.
One of these days I'll sit down and draw out how I envision the two most-feasible transportation options to be... One is PRT based, the other is based off of Walt's original Monorail/Peoplemover combo vision.
-Rob
Bulldog1653
Active Member
Since we're on the subject of the expansion, here are a few of my thoughts.
If the monorail was to be expanded, the TTC could also be expanded as a central hub. The current EPCOT beam could be expanded to include stops at the EPCOT resort area and Hollywood Studios. The Magic Kingdom beams would be left alone. A fourth beam could service Animal Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The fifth beam could handle the water parks, the value resorts and Downtown Disney.
If the monorail was to be expanded, the TTC could also be expanded as a central hub. The current EPCOT beam could be expanded to include stops at the EPCOT resort area and Hollywood Studios. The Magic Kingdom beams would be left alone. A fourth beam could service Animal Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The fifth beam could handle the water parks, the value resorts and Downtown Disney.
PhilharMagician
Well-Known Member
I love the monorail and wish for an expansion, but I doubt it will happen due to the cost of reaching every park and hotel. They could use PRTs instead as a way to efficiently transport guests around the parks.
I have made a map of proposed routes that could be used:
This is a mockup I made for a disney one, though the vehicles can look different and be larger.
The only problems that will arise will be when the paths of a prt need to cross over a road. It will be cheaper to have the paths a prt uses to be mostly at ground level. So an elevated track would need to be built when a prt pathway needs to cross a road.
A trip from CSR to MK with all of those stops and transfers would take forever. (assuming travel is counter clockwise) I love riding on the monorail, but rail style systems are extremely inefficient in transporting people to spread out locations like all the resorts and parks at WDW, however they are very efficient at moving people between 2 differant locations like TTC and MK (until something breaksdown). Busses are smelly and mostly themeless but are very good at being able to change routes and quantity of them at a moments notice. I cannot even imagine what would happen with an entirely rail style system at WDW around the holiday's at park closing.