Monorail reopening has been delayed until at least December 21st

[Darkbeer]

^Last I heard, Only 3 Monorails will be rebuilt!

[zippythesquirrel]

Why are monorail blue and orange in Canada? Why Canada, being rebuilt?

The monorails are being rebuilt by Amec. http://www.amecds.com/experience/ent...ment/index.asp
A good friend of mine is part of the team doing the work (yes I envy him).
They are a very large company (lots of local press) and are currently developing a robo coaster, an industrial type robot arm mounted on a coaster track.

[figment1986]

The monorails are being rebuilt by Amec. http://www.amecds.com/experience/ent...ment/index.asp
A good friend of mine is part of the team doing the work (yes I envy him).
They are a very large company (lots of local press) and are currently developing a robo coaster, an industrial type robot arm mounted on a coaster track.

hmm.. i wonder.. (remembers older rumors of universal and disney developing similar ideas for same tech..)

nah... i doubt disney would use it this early...

wish i could see the prototype of the coaster tech though.

[College Zoo]

Just remember there are ALWAYS pessimistic "Grumpy" people out there - they just can't have everything go perfectly.

Was he alone or with a family group? It's entirely possible the wife insisted on staying at the DLH (or even booked the ressies at Full Rack Rate without asking hubby first, and you know how stiff that can be) - and he wanted to go cheap and stay across the street on Harbor. And he was looking for any valid excuse to say "That's it, we're leaving!" and get out of staying there without a stiff cancellation fee that would eat up any savings - the Monorail being down was as good an excuse as any.

--<< Bruce >>--

Possible, but some people really love them and make them a big part of why they go to DLR in the first place. Think about how much fellow forum member Steve DeGaetano loves the steam trains that circle DL daily.

If that doesn't convince you, take a look at this article from Monorails.org about a trip one of their members took around the opening of DCA. (Link Here)

I'm a big railfan myself and would probably plan any trips to DLR around Monorail and DLRR both being operational

[jspiwak]

^Last I heard, Only 3 Monorails will be rebuilt!

the project dose only call for 3 of them to be rebuilt with a 4th as an option(mind you that more money would also have to be approved) also the above is correct that the blue and the orange are in canada to be rebuilt how ever in the plan for the new monorails there is no blue train(blue would be the 4th option train to be added) this may have changed however and i will be posting a pic that confirms that the plan has no blue train , the pic will come as soon as i can get it off my old comp and on to my new one give me about 20 mins

jspiwak

[jspiwak]

here is the pic that shows no blue monorail sorry to all you monorail blue fans! also i would asume(sp?) that the monorail that will not be rebuilt or the 4th option train would be the current monorail red as this train was rebuilt after DCA opened http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...rail_art29.jpg

[audibleatom]

we need monorails that hover above the track like a magnet, but would it still be called a monorail?

[Bruce Bergman]

here is the pic that shows no blue monorail sorry to all you monorail blue fans! also i would asume(sp?) that the monorail that will not be rebuilt or the 4th option train would be the current monorail red as this train was rebuilt after DCA opened http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...rail_art29.jpg

Concept Artwork isn't an approved plan of action and a multi-year budget appropriation... I wouldn't use that photo as any sort of proof (for or against the idea) that they are only going to rebuild three trains now, and wait on the fourth.

They may have it planned out to do the first three under FY07 Budget, and the fourth will get done under FY08 if the timing works right. (Note: I am not their accountant, just an educated guess.)

we need monorails that hover above the track like a magnet, but would it still be called a monorail?

Yes, if it's one rail, it still counts. Maglev is a great idea, but it's still not practical - and may never be, unless we do it in space where this pesky problem of "gravity" isn't involved.

The maglev guideways are very technology intensive and every mile of track will cost a fortune to build. With active electromagnets and control electronics that have to come on for thirty seconds as a train pases, then sit there dormant for 98% of the day.

And it fails a basic tenet of reliable transportation - KISS. A glitch in the track, and the entire system has to shut down. You want to eliminate potential failure points with new designs, not introduce thousands of them (each magnet only covers a few feet of distance) per track mile.

--<< Bruce >>--