A question about the Peoplemover

[MrPotatoHead]

Did the Peoplemover in CA ever get the magnets like the version at WDW during it's later years?

[Disneyland Daddy]

Did the Peoplemover in CA ever get the magnets like the version at WDW during it's later years?

To my knowledge, no. Last time I rode PeopleMover was November 1994.

[Dlandclub33]

IDK I thought it always had magnets? Oh wait it used to have tires every 10 feet!

[MrPotatoHead]

but look at the track in this videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http:...eature=related

[Bruce Bergman]

The Peoplemover in California was built with the in the track "pusher" drive tire system from the first day, and stayed with it till it was closed, ripped up and reworked for Rocket Rods - after all it was sponsored by Goodyear for all those years, and guess who supplied all the drive tires?

I'd have to look at close-ups, but I'm remembering they were little buggers, either 4.80x8" or 5.70x8", all on simple synchronous gearmotors.

Some of the motors located in the track sections where the trains were to speed up or slow down probably had sprag clutches of some sort to allow overrunning and avoid tire squealing, because the trains covered four or five drive motors at any one time. It's impossible for the front half of the train to speed up to 2 MPH when the back half is still being driven at the slower station speed of roughly 1 MPH.

The WDW PeopleMover (later renamed Tomorrowland Transit Authority) was the one built with the linear synchronous motors. No drive tires meant no Goodyear sponsorship.

--<< Bruce >>--

[Dusty88]

You can find the patent to the original PeopleMover drive system Here. It has detailed descriptions and drawings of how the original drive system worked.

[Nautilus]

The Peoplemover in California never had the Magnets, or LIMS (Linear Induction Motors). The reason for that is that the track in California has hills and grades and is out in the open weather; unlike the Florida PeopleMover which is level through out and it covered, which is ideal for LIM's.

[Jetlife]

California has hills and grades and is out in the open weather

If I was to rebuild the People mover (not that they've asked), it would definitely have LIMS (Linear Induction Motors).
Screamin' has them, even on the hills, and it's definitely out in the weather.

[tamasurvivor]

I love the People Mover... Rocket Rods were fun but people mover was just one of those rides you could sit back and enjoy and relax and go around Tomorrowland at a nice pace... just like the skyway it was fun to just hop and ride around seeing the sights and taking a break

[The Disneylander]

The Peoplemover in California never had the Magnets, or LIMS (Linear Induction Motors). The reason for that is that the track in California has hills and grades and is out in the open weather; unlike the Florida PeopleMover which is level through out and it covered, which is ideal for LIM's.

I never quite understood the difference between LIMs and LSMs (Linear Synchronous Motors). What exactly is the difference between these two?

[filmfreak11]

If I was to rebuild the People mover (not that they've asked), it would definitely have LIMS (Linear Induction Motors).
Screamin' has them, even on the hills, and it's definitely out in the weather.

Is that based on technical knowledge or wishful thinking?

[Jetlife]

Is that based on technical knowledge or wishful thinking?

Mostly wishful thinking.
But I have ridden on Screamin', and I don't see why the technology that they use to propel that ride couldn't be used on a new PM.

[CoasterMatt]

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland uses LIMs to move trains in/out of the station and train storage. California Screamin' uses LSMs for propulsion. The LIMs do just fine out in the "weather".

[Bruce Bergman]

The overhead canopies in Florida's TTA are more for the glorious Florida Weather (bright sunshine one minute, surprise downpours the next) than for the protection of the gear. The motors are weather sealed.

Linear Synchronous Motors are a lot easier to use and cheaper to build - feed it 60 Hz directly from the grid and it will push the motor (and the attached vehicle) along at exactly {x} feet per minute, {x} variable depending on how far apart they space the poles in the motor. Perfect for things like the Peoplemover/TTA because the separate trains will stay in lock-step. They can vary the speed by varying the drive frequency, but that takes some fairly simple power electronics.

The Linear Induction Motors as used on Screamin' can handle widely variable speeds (0 to 60 MPH is easy...) far better, but they need BIG driver electronics to generate a varying AC frequency that ramps up rapidly as the vehicle accelerates, and you need a feedback loop to make sure you stay in sync.

(Oh, and you also need the feedback loop so you can stop sending power to any magnets that don't have a train over them anymore. No sense wasting power and heating the magnet coils for nothing.)

There's a huge electrical equipment room hiding underneath Paradise Pier for all the main LIM drives - both lift hills and the launch zone. They are efficient, but it takes a BIG Pulse of energy... I think the "back door" staircase in the empty shelter by the new Hot Dog and Turkey Leg Stands is the emergency exit from the power rooms.

Small LIM's like they use to jockey the empty trains at Big Thunder aren't that big a pulse drain on the electric grid. Same thing with LSMs in a slow-speed drive system like TTA.

--<< Bruce >>--

[DLandFansAZ]

So when they changed it over to the Rocket Rods what propulsion system did they use? I know it didn't stay the tires and that the entire track system changed. Didn't the Rocket Rods propell themselves and that was part of the proplem keeping them powered?