Mark VII

[drnilescrane]

Does anybody have any details on these new trains? I know now they are being built in house, but is the design going to drastically change? (I know they wouldn't be stupid enough to remove the leer jet front)

I personally would like to see them more like the Mark VI's (I know they are smaller than the Mark VI's but they have a whole year to lower and raise some of the tight clearances near Fantasyland) -- With quality parts and no Bombardier technology, such as that horrible, useless ALISON. We only have to look at Vegas to see why...

[Liquidspaceman]

Yes, I too would like to know any info on the new monorail and agree it needs to have the Lear Jet nose cone. There is a neat story, in the late 60's or early 70's, about that design, cited in part from www.laughingplace.com The Disney private plane stopped at an executive airport in Kansas. A red carpet was rolled out to their airstair door. Just as Bob Gurr de-planed, a new white Lear Jet coasted next to them. "This beauty was so slick and futuristic that I never forgot the feeling of 'having arrived in style.'" "I wanted our guests first visit to WDW to have this same experience...a sleek Monorail will guide into the station and whisk them off to The Magic Kingdom." Thus the Mark IV was going to have a giant one piece wraparound wingshield, flush rivets, and be painted white just like a LearJet. Many years later Bob Gurr met Shanda Lear, the daughter of Bill Lear,the father of the fabulous LearJet.
He confessed to Shanda that "I 'stole' the front of her dads LearJet for my Monorail." ...she was quite honored to hear this.

[boo52]

With quality parts and no Bombardier technology, such as that horrible, useless ALISON. We only have to look at Vegas to see why...

WDW's monorails are mostly ALL Bombardier parts.

[Liquidspaceman]

From The Lagoon of Liquidspaceman...

I hear that a company called Ride and Show, in San Bernardino http://www.garnerholt.com/index.htm will be assembling them. The bodies will come from a company from Gremany and possibly the original Mark III chassis.

[Liquidspaceman]

In addition, but separate from this discussion. Does anybody know if they could use Monorail Orange for future use. I heard that a driver, on his last day, took Monorail Orange quite fast through the figure 8 above my Lagoon and tweeked the frame. Does anybody know anything about this?

[FormerDiz]

Yes, Orange did take "Carlton's Wild Ride" around the park. The train was inspected and no frame damage was found. A few side tires blew out.

Your post about Ride and Show engineering is accurate, however, it was accurate only for the transition from Mark III to Mark V.

The Mark V chassis were from the original trains. The Mark III's were removed one by one and rebuilt (in this order)

Mark III Green removed, reborn as Mark V Purple.
Mark III Gold removed, reborn as Mark V Orange
Mark III Blue removed, reborn as Mark V Blue
Mark III Red removed, reborn as Mark V Red

Purple is the heaviest train and had some weight issues upon delivery, it still is heavier than the others (but they've changed out parts over the years to lighten the load).

Red is the lightest train (it was the last to be rebuilt so they obviously modified the rebuild specs to produce a lighter train).

[speederscout]

What is the best source for information and data on the monorail system and its history?

[Druggas]

Yes, Orange did take "Carlton's Wild Ride" around the park. The train was inspected and no frame damage was found. A few side tires blew out.

Your post about Ride and Show engineering is accurate, however, it was accurate only for the transition from Mark III to Mark V.

The Mark V chassis were from the original trains. The Mark III's were removed one by one and rebuilt (in this order)

Mark III Green removed, reborn as Mark V Purple.
Mark III Gold removed, reborn as Mark V Orange
Mark III Blue removed, reborn as Mark V Blue
Mark III Red removed, reborn as Mark V Red

Purple is the heaviest train and had some weight issues upon delivery, it still is heavier than the others (but they've changed out parts over the years to lighten the load).

Red is the lightest train (it was the last to be rebuilt so they obviously modified the rebuild specs to produce a lighter train).

Tell us more about Carlton's wild ride. There's a great story somewhere.

[FormerDiz]

Pretty simple really.

Carlton's spiel (allegedly) leaving the hotel station in 1990 was:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Disneyland Monorail, I'm Carlton and I'll be taking you on a one-way trip to the Tomorrowland station. On a personal note, this will be my last trip driving for the Magic Kingdom because today is my last day. HANG ON!"

From there it was a P-4 trip all the way to TL Station. The lead on duty at the time was not paying attention to the rapidly approaching train as she was taking photos for a guest. She should have cut power to the beam when she saw the hot train sailing over the lagoon. Unfortunatly she lost her lead status on that attraction for quite some time.

She only noticed how fast the train was going when it came screeching into the station (those dynamic brakes can make a lot of noise when you push them hard). She also heard the cheers and applause of all of the guests on board.

(this story is second hand to me as told by the Monorail lead who lost her status, if the Disney Company is reading this, I have no direct knowledge of the incidents in the Autumn of 1990) :devil:

[Disneyphile]

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Disneyland Monorail, I'm Carlton and I'll be taking you on a one-way trip to the Tomorrowland station. On a personal note, this will be my last trip driving for the Magic Kingdom because today is my last day. HANG ON!"

(this story is second hand to me as told by the Monorail lead who lost her status, if the Disney Company is reading this, I have no direct knowledge of the incidents in the Autumn of 1990) :devil:

Uh-huh....... Carlton, is that you?

[drnilescrane]

Is Monorail Orange still on the beam? I came across these this morning and I started to worry:



From the Monorail Society. Posted 29-Jun-2004. As you can see the cars and cabs have been split and placed at WDI

--------------------

On a lighter note, I think with the Mark VII's they should go for more intersting names:

Monorail Cyan (Blue)
Monorail Fuschia (Purple)
Monorail Goldenrod (Orange)
Monorail Crimson (Red)

[Liquidspaceman]

From the Lagoon of Liquidspaceman...

I just hope they don't look like the Monorails at Tokyo Disney

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

From the Lagoon of Liquidspaceman...

I just hope they don't look like the Monorails at Tokyo Disney

I just hope they rehire Carlton, I want to ride Carlton's High Speed Monorail Orange...

[drnilescrane]

From the Lagoon of Liquidspaceman...

I just hope they don't look like the Monorails at Tokyo Disney

Amen to that. They are boxy, ugly and the Mickey windows are a joke. It's designed to please the the people who think Mickey and everything Disney has to be 'cute' (Unfortinatly the TYPICAL [I'm being general here] female Japanese teenager). The only thing it has going for it is the walk though design, but that makes it sit so high on the rail it only adds to the boxy design.

That's the reason the Mark VI is my favorite Monorail (apart from it's Bombardier heritage), it's designed to be sleek and a serious form of transport to be used in city's, the way Walt wanted it. I'm surprised the Monorail isn't WDW's logo, it's the final touch that makes WDW so magical. If only they could expand the system...

[drnilescrane]

I just hope they rehire Carlton, I want to ride Carlton's High Speed Monorail Orange...

Unfortunately after Carlton, they installed a system that will slow down the monorail if it gets too fast. (I know, I want to go on it too )