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Disneyland Mark VII Monorail Discussion


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I was talking with a Disney technician yesterday, and according to him, the Mark VII's were designed for WDW's monorail beam and station geography (distance between platforms, platform to beam, etc). Since there were some subtle differences between WDW's beam & DLR's beam, as well as issues with the geography of the stations at DLR the new monorail didn't work properly (rubbing issues, etc). So imagineers were pulled off other projects and told simply to "fix it". They apparently have "fixed it", but not without some ugly costs. However, he said that ugly cost was preferable compared to the even uglier senario of altering the Disneyland Monorail stations to accomodate the new Monorail Mark VII.

 

I don't think that story is correct. They took apart the old monorails and re-engineered them. Why would a re-engineered version of the old train end up as WDW's? I also believe that WDW's track is a completely different size than DLR's, so it would have been a HUGE mistake to build them to fit WDW's track.

 

BTW, I merged the two Monorail topics into one big discussion thread.

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I don't think that story is correct. They took apart the old monorails and re-engineered them. Why would a re-engineered version of the old train end up as WDW's? I also believe that WDW's track is a completely different size than DLR's, so it would have been a HUGE mistake to build them to fit WDW's track.

 

BTW, I merged the two Monorail topics into one big discussion thread.

 

Well that's what he claimed happened, his name was "Tony", didn't get a last name. He also agreed that was a HUGE mistake, but they didn't have too many options once the train actually arrived and failed its tests. He also said the new Blue is receiving the same fixes that Red had, while being put together.

 

It was an interesting theory he put forth that I hadn't heard before, thought I'd pass it along...

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I was talking with a Disney technician yesterday, and according to him, the Mark VII's were designed for WDW's monorail beam and station geography (distance between platforms, platform to beam, etc). Since there were some subtle differences between WDW's beam & DLR's beam, as well as issues with the geography of the stations at DLR the new monorail didn't work properly (rubbing issues, etc). So imagineers were pulled off other projects and told simply to "fix it". They apparently have "fixed it", but not without some ugly costs. However, he said that ugly cost was preferable compared to the even uglier senario of altering the Disneyland Monorail stations to accomodate the new Monorail Mark VII.

 

No offence, but that is BS. The beam size at DL and WDW is completely different, and requires a completely different chassis. Disneyland's monorails were built a 5/8 (0.63) scale to match the Disneyland Railroad, while WDW's were built to an approximately a 5/6 (0.83) scale (Tokyo DL's monorail system is Disney's only full-size Alweg monorail). That is why there have always been separare models for the three resorts (DL had the Mark I, II, III, V, & VII, WDW had the Mark IV and VI, and TDL uses a customized Hitachi Standard).

 

If the monorails were designed for WDW, they never would have fit on the beam.

 

Well that's what he claimed happened, his name was "Tony", didn't get a last name.

 

It wasn't this guy, was it?

alwegs.jpg.0722855be072fcb205fcebe14a581e1e.jpg

Size comparison of the monorail beams for Disney's three monorail systems.

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Just of note...I seem to remember seeing that the WDW monorail track is 26" wide. Also, I think WDW's was built to "transit standards" in terms of size.

 

The original Las Vegas monorail (back in the mid-'90s between MGM and Bally's) actually used a pair of WDW MK IV trains after they were retired from the resort, so its track had to have been built to the same size. And I think the current LV monorail's track is about the same, even though it runs trains built by Bombardier.

 

Whatever...we're going to be riding some cool monorail trains before long...

 

Eric

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^ Yup, the beam at WDW is 26", just like Vegas. As EBL said, Vegas only uses that size because the current system reused track from the old MGM line, which was designed to use the old WDW Mark IVs. The fact that Las Vegas uses Bombardier didn't change anything since both the WDW Mark VI trains and the Vegas MVI trains were built by Bombardier. However, that size is used nowhere else but LV and WDW -- most transit monorails use a 31.5" beam.

 

Since TDL's Resort Line uses modified Hitachi trains, it runs on a standard 31.5" beam.

 

Disneyland's monorail, since it is 5/8 scale, runs on a 20" beam.

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It was just a case of a CM telling an overly-simplified and almost totally erroneous story to appease a guest. The CM could have just been very misinformed, however CMs are known to lie to guests go they can then go compare stories and giggle amongst themselves. Just read "Mouse Tales" by David Koenig.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my understanding that those were the old monorail trains. I heard that the two cone sections are brand new, but the three middle coaches are just heavily refurbished sections from the old monorail trains.

 

Anyway, this is looking more and more sexy. Love the new attraction poster!

 

-Jahan

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^I don't know how much is new and how much is old, but I believe you are correct. They took the monorails completely apart, reversed engineered everything so new pieces could be fabricated where needed, and put everything back together.

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Wow those look great . What does Disney do with the old monorail trains?

 

 

 

 

Well in 1995 Walt Disney World's Mark IV Coral and Lime Monorail trains came to Las Vegas to run on the original 1 mile stretch from the MGM Grand to Bally's (now the Las Vegas Monorail). These trains first ran in 1977 at the Walt Disney World Resort.

 

From 1995 to 2003 They ran in Las Vegas, unfortunately the current state of the trains is really dismal. These trains did a lot in their life time serving millions of riders. I found a few pictures at MousePlanet.com, some warning though. These Pictures are really sad.

 

 

Since these pictures were taken the trains have been moved, I don't know where they are now, but still its sad to see these trains in this shape.

 

John

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