Monorail accident

[chicita713]

It's a terrible situation all around. I feel for the elderly or those with children who don't have the patience to sit in a small enclosed area for hours! Glad everyone is ok. Let's hope this opens someone's eyes to make better decisions on how to fix these monorails.

 

[Polydweller]

Glad to hear it wasn't an accident, but 3 hours yeesh. Why does it take THAT long? Doesn't WDW have it's own Reedy Creek fire crew? You'd think breakdowns are regular enough they'd have quicker procedures down for getting people out.

I'm all for an expanded system per the link, but don't see it ever happening. And as much as a 3 hour wait blows, WDW wouldn't be the same without the iconic monorails.

This also happened in rather unusual weather conditions that the media hasn't made any mention of. We were sitting on our balcony at the Poly at the time, around 3:30pm. A weather front with lots of rain had gone through and the sky's were looking rather benign. Al of a sudden, there was a tremendous bang and flash of lightening near the monorail near GF. About 5 minutes later there was another tremendous bang and flash near where monorail yellow stopped. Both were bangs not rolling thunder and both associated with lightening. All traffic on Seven Seas lagoon including ferries and launches stopped immediately and were down for 1.5 hours.

The question is did that lightening affect the monorail. My guess from the evidence is yes. They were working on electricals and signalling in that area today and only running test trains until the afternoon. They were ensuring the signals and safety systems operated correctly. Monorail is up now. I wonder if the signal systems going down causes an emergency braking system which might have caused brake lock. This may have been more a weather related event than a maintenance issue.

As far as rescue, they had to use cherry pickers to get to some people. They would have delayed that until the lightening cleared the area.

 

[rteetz]

This also happened in rather unusual weather conditions that the media hasn't made any mention of. We were sitting on our balcony at the Poly at the time, around 3:30pm. A weather front with lots of rain had gone through and the sky's were looking rather benign. Al of a sudden, there was a tremendous bang and flash of lightening near the monorail near GF. About 5 minutes later there was another tremendous bang and flash near where monorail yellow stopped. Both were bangs not rolling thunder and both associated with lightening. All traffic on Seven Seas lagoon including ferries and launches stopped immediately and were down for 1.5 hours.

The question is did that lightening affect the monorail. My guess from the evidence is yes. They were working on electricals and signalling in that area today and only running test trains until the afternoon. They were ensuring the signals and safety systems operated correctly. Monorail is up now. I wonder if the signal systems going down causes an emergency braking system which might have caused brake lock. This may have been more a weather related event than a maintenance issue.

As far as rescue, they had to use cherry pickers to get to some people. They would have delayed that until the lightening cleared the area.

Lightning striking the monorail is not uncommon. However I've heard the monorail stalled and brakes were locked rather than weather related issues.

 

[Whatsthegoodword]

Y'all are nuts. I'll eat my hat the day they take out the monorail.

Gripe gripe gripe...

 

[Dannek]

I think that when it comes to the monorail, Disney needs to think outside of the box and make the monorail a win-win for themselves and the guests.

How?? Here's what I'd love to see...

With the monorail originally being designed as a futuristic method of transportation that has now become dated, lets revive the original concept of a futuristic people mover and give the monorail a visual and mechanical update by changing the whole monorail platform to a "Maglev" based system. Maglev trains are the monorails of the future, literally. They look like monorail trains, the tracks are indeed monorail's, and they bring that futuristic component that exemplifies the original intent of the monorail itself. A Maglev train as a monorail would run very smoothly, very quietly, and have very low operating and maintenance costs compared to the old technology that is being used today by the current monorail. It would be a great marketing vehicle for Disney, as many people would likely want to experience the "new" monorail due to it's new and exciting technology. Maglev trains are the future, and as of now, unless you live in or visit a few select countries, you can't experience one yet. But in the future they will most likely replace trains all over the world. Disney should take advantage of this opportunity by expanding the monorail line to the Animal Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Disney Springs and by revamping the whole system as a Maglev based monorail system.

By being ahead of the curve, Disney can fulfill the original intent of the monorail system and enjoy an exclusive marketing opportunity that will bring more guests to the parks.
That exclusive opportunity will pay for the cost of construction and implementation, and the amount of excitement and elation that comes from the guests who experience this new futuristic feature will increase the good will towards the parks and the Disney brand by leaps and bounds... Disney corporate executives should take a hard look at this, as I really believe that it has the potential to provide great shareholder value and abundant good will toward the Disney brand.

That's my sales pitch.. I'm so taken by it that I'm going to write several letters to Disney's top executives in the rare hope that someone who is somebody glances at it, and it light's a spark.
That being said, I'm not holding my breath.... But such is the stuff that dreams are made of..

 

[Josh Hendy]

Glad to hear it wasn't an accident, but 3 hours yeesh. Why does it take THAT long? Doesn't WDW have it's own Reedy Creek fire crew? You'd think breakdowns are regular enough they'd have quicker procedures down for getting people out.

I'm all for an expanded system per the link, but don't see it ever happening. And as much as a 3 hour wait blows, WDW wouldn't be the same without the iconic monorails.

This is a huge weakness in the monorail design ... emergency evacuation is impossible without massive help from the ground in the form of ladders, hydraulic lifts, etc. Where do you go when you're stuck in an immobile monorail, if it's on fire, or you just plain have to go to the bathroom. Nowhere, except maybe up on the roof or else jump 25 feet straight down. That's on top of the weaknesses shared by all railed transportation, that any failure in any part of the system such as vehicle, track, signals, power, etc. makes the entire rail line blocked and therefore useless.

If they insist on keeping the monorails, they should build a gasoline "donkey engine" into each train which is capable of limping forward or backward to the nearest station in case of loss of power or signaling.

 

[7series]

Y'all are nuts. I'll eat my hat the day they take out the monorail.

Gripe gripe gripe...

Yes. Complaining seems to be a favorite activity here. From the one post, it seems likely that this was another lightning-related stoppage, but people just immediately jump to the "the monorails are ancient junk" narrative. I agree, there is no way that WDW will ever do away with such an iconic part of the Parks.

 

[rteetz]

Yes. Complaining seems to be a favorite activity here. From the one post, it seems likely that this was another lightning-related stoppage, but people just immediately jump to the "the monorails are ancient junk" narrative. I agree, there is no way that WDW will ever do away with such an iconic part of the Parks.

They may not get rid of them but they at least need to maintain them. The monorails have had routine breakdowns over the last couple years. They are spending millions trying to automate the systems which was supposed to be done already. Only one monorail is close to being ready for automation. It's time to update them.

 

[Whatsthegoodword]

They may not get rid of them but they at least need to maintain them. The monorails have had routine breakdowns over the last couple years. They are spending millions trying to automate the systems which was supposed to be done already. Only one monorail is close to being ready for automation. It's time to update them.

...and when they do decide to spend the tens of millions of dollars it will take to replace the WDW monorail fleet, folks on here will be griping about Disney spending money on infrastructure instead of attractions. They can't win with you people.

 

[rteetz]

...and when they do decide to spend the tens of millions of dollars it will take to replace the WDW monorail fleet, folks on here will be griping about Disney spending money on infrastructure instead of attractions. They can't win with you people.

They are currently spending millions on the automation system which was supposed to be completed already but isn't even close to being ready. Disney is going to try and run these monorails until they can't anymore.

Tens of millions is chump change for Disney compared to what they typically spend in the parks. Look at the budget for DCA, or now DHS. Disney needs the infrastructure in order for the parks to work efficiently, hence why a lot of the DHS budget is for infrastructure.

 

[adam.adbe]

I think that when it comes to the monorail, Disney needs to think outside of the box and make the monorail a win-win for themselves and the guests.

How?? Here's what I'd love to see...

With the monorail originally being designed as a futuristic method of transportation that has now become dated, lets revive the original concept of a futuristic people mover and give the monorail a visual and mechanical update by changing the whole monorail platform to a "Maglev" based system. Maglev trains are the monorails of the future, literally. They look like monorail trains, the tracks are indeed monorail's, and they bring that futuristic component that exemplifies the original intent of the monorail itself.

That's not a swap in though. They'd need to redo all of the beams, *and* provision custom trains[1]. Platforms would like need to be reconfigured for height. Billions of dollars later, they'd have something that could just as easily have been accomplished by adding more boats to the SSL, and buses to MK and Epcot.

If you're going to drop that kind of coin, why not just go all out and build a Hyperloop style train (Elon would be happy to turn up for a photo-op and leave a few Teslas parked in FW for the afternoon[2]). Hyperloop could even be an attraction in itself as Disney could use fake screens in place of windows to show guests what they would be seeing (complete will Hogwarts like extras) if they were riding 1950's Train Of The Future.

Honestly, they'd do just as well to ensure that their buses were always near state of the art with respect to green tech, and improve the roads around the resorts and hotels.

[1] track/train width, and clearance in the Contemporary are just two of the obvious challenges for fit.

[2] which to be fair wouldn't do much to offset the huge ugly that hyperloop would do to FW, but that's the kind of problem the imagineers get paid to solve.

 

[eXo]

I always laugh when I see the old mention of how they determined an expansion of the monorail system was not cost effective.

The monorail ITSELF isn't cost effective, nor was it selected because of cost. Walt loved his trains and the monorail was the train of the future. Walt saw the monorail (rightfully so) as more than just transportation, it was an advertisement. It was a ride on your way to ride the rides.

Walt seemed to love alternative modes of transportation (from carriages to submarines). And I know he adored trains. The monorail was both of these.

I honestly don't believe the system will get torn out. It is as iconic as Cinderella's castle or Spaceship Earth. It essentially baked right into the the Disney World identity.

It may not serve as the giant advertisement or lure that it used to, but I know I was still excited to ride it for the first time in my 30's, and my little ones love the idea of it as well. Even decades after it was installed, it is still a very unique service. In an alternate future where monorails became common place as major transportation in US cities, then I could see WDW making a move to replace it with something more practical.

Roy was the fiscal yin to Walt's creative yang. A place like Disney needs both halves. It needs someone with crazy visionary ideas that are totally impractical along with a down to earth realist who has enough respect for person A to keep as much of the vision as possible, but to execute it in a practical manner. The short word here is risk. Disney, as a company, was founded on risk. The risk of a full length animated movie (no one will go see that!). The risk of an entire amusement park for both adults and children (no one will go to that!). The risks of installing monorails, building a giant castle in the swamp, or attempting to redefine the way in which people live by outlining prototypical communities.

These days Disney finds success in exactly the opposite method. They identify the things that are sure fire success and acquire them. There is zero risk in acquiring Marvel. Marvel had household names that speak towards a demographic that is KEY to what Disney was lacking AND they had a horrible presence in the box office. They could not go anywhere but up with that business. There was zero risk in acquiring Pixar, yet there was SO MUCH to loose if they didn't! No other studio has the track record that Pixar has. And clowns like Katzenberg & Eisner learned real fast that can't just go buy a render farm and crank out cheapo CGI flicks all day. For every Shrek or How to Train Your Dragon that dreamworks has released, there is a veritable pile of horrible failures. And Disney's film division without Pixar was... well... lets just say Voldemort is not the only name that shall not be spoken. There was absolutely zero risk in acquiring lucas films. Star Wars aside, there is a cult following of original IPs developed by their gaming division, and Disney was quick to start green lighting re-releases and remakes of some of the most beloved PC adventures of all time. On the Star Wars side, they couldn't have asked for a better setup than the prequels. Lucas pissed off so many people with those prequels, that Disney would have to go out of their way to screw up that bad. They are almost guaranteed to release a blockbuster film that immediately outpaces all three prequels.

I apologize for the rant. Most of that has nothing to do with the monorail... but I suppose in other ways it has everything to do with Disney as a whole. Is the monorail practical? No. Is it Disney? Hell yes it is. And for that reason, I don't see it going anywhere. And while it may not get the love it deserves from the budgeting department, I have hope that as the system continues to age we will eventually get a CEO who sees the value (not the cost bottomline) in renovating the flying train.

 

[Polydweller]

Lightning striking the monorail is not uncommon. However I've heard the monorail stalled and brakes were locked rather than weather related issues.

Yes, I know that happens but simply to say it stalled and brakes locked doesn't explain why. So, I know there was a severe strike there at the time it stalled. Not necessarily the monorail itself getting hit it was more likely electrical and signal systems,

On Sunday morning, the day after, there was work going on to the electricals in that area. They only ran test trains late that morning and appeared to be testing electrical and signalling systems in that stretch. It was clear that it was far more than just a train stalling. It suggested that it was electrical failures that caused the stall. Given that the train stopped at the time of that tremendous bolt of lightening it seems likely that triggered the event.

 

[LeeAndRobin]

Even then I don't know how comparable that is to a monorail because isn't a monorail electric?

So is a train engine. It just has a big diesel engine that runs a generator that in turn powers the electric motors which drive the wheels. The diesel doesn't actually drive anything but the gensets.

 

[Eoghann]

If they insist on keeping the monorails, they should build a gasoline "donkey engine" into each train which is capable of limping forward or backward to the nearest station in case of loss of power or signaling.

If the breaks locked as some are saying then that wouldn't actually have helped in this case.

 

[DisneyDude71]

I understand things break down I'm good with that. My question is why doesn't WDW invest in a stair truck as in the type they use for Aircraft when monorails break down. I am sure there will be some spots it may not be able to get to, but I'm sure that's better than waiting for three hours.

 

[rteetz]

I understand things break down I'm good with that. My question is why doesn't WDW invest in a stair truck as in the type they use for Aircraft when monorails break down. I am sure there will be some spots it may not be able to get to, but I'm sure that's better than waiting for three hours.

This equipment they use for evacuations is already specially made for monorail breakdowns. Not all areas the monorail could breakdown can have a stair truck get there.

 

[DisneyDude71]

I agree a stair truck would not be able to get everywhere. From the pictures I saw it looked like a fire engine and a utility truck bucket, or a scissor lift. Nothing that looked specific to monorail rescue equipment. But you may have more insight then I'd do. Just trying to throw ideas out there so that there could be a quicker solution.

 

[cranbiz]

Reedy Creek has All Wheel Drive Tower (Something you don't find everyday) specifically for monorail rescues. It was not "just" a fire engine. They also have a Tactical Rescue team that gets called in when needed.

 

[DisneyDude71]

Reedy Creek has All Wheel Drive Tower (Something you don't find everyday) specifically for monorail rescues. It was not "just" a fire engine. They also have a Tactical Rescue team that gets called in when needed.

Really! Did not know that now that I know the name of it I can check it out. Is that have like a scissor lift or more of a ladder type truck? No offense but Tactical Rescue Team sounds pretty awesome of a detail

Searched this on you tube... Reedy Creek Station 1 In Quarters
The first vehicle they showed was the scissor-lift vehicle which I am guessing is the All Wheel Drive Tower. Now I just wonder why it took so long to get the rest of the people back to the station to unload them. It looks like they have the right equipment!