Monorails Collide at WDW - One Killed

[flynnibus]

Originally Posted by lazyboy97O

From what I am gathering there is an emergency escape hatch on the roof of the nosecone.

I hadn't consider the pilot walking down the train himself.. tho I find that unlikely. Making him wait until he could be evacuated is a possibility.. but can you imagine that guy's life sitting there waiting for god knows how long?

[PleaseRemainSeated]

Originally Posted by Code90

Personally, I think shutting down the DL Monorail for this reason would be unnecessary.

If DLR is running one train only today, as someone mentioned earlier, I would think that this would have as much to do with PR and making guests feel safer as with actual safety concerns.

[flynnibus]

Originally Posted by goatdan

It struck Purple at about 15 MPH going backwards and the trains coasted to a stop just outside the station.

Yes, that is yet another possibility we had not considered. One train pushing the other out back outside the station

Originally Posted by goatdan

After doing this, a panicked Pink driver pulled Pink back into the station only to find that Purple was literally attached to the train, at which point they pulled forward enough to unload purple (presuming that Pink was already unloaded).

At that point, they got the rescue equipment to unload the Pink driver who was out by themselves wondering what the heck just happened, and probably not imagining it was as bad as it was.

Seems like a plausible story. I just still can't figure out why Pink would be backing into Concourse to start with knowing Purple is in a block they need to override for some reason. There is probably a whole section of info we aren't aware of.. that hopefully will make some sense of this.

[Code90]

Originally Posted by TheDude

This might be a stupid question, but why in the world is the MAPO override allowed to move the train at a speed that can KILL? Who in the hell decided 15 mph is a safe speed? They are the one who is at fault here in my opinion. MAPO override should be the backup!

why not 5 mph on an override?

It's not a stupid question, but I do have an opinion on that.

5 mph on MAPO override would be extremely inefficient given the distance from the switchbeam to the shop. When you've got 10 trains coming out of the shop, 5 mph just wouldn't make sense.

There will definitely be operational changes as a result of this accident. Reducing the speed at which the trains operate in MAPO override would not be a viable solution.

[lazyboy97O]

Originally Posted by flynnibus

I hadn't consider the pilot walking down the train himself.. tho I find that unlikely. Making him wait until he could be evacuated is a possibility.. but can you imagine that guy's life sitting there waiting for god knows how long?

I know. There is a part of me that really wishes Pink did not back up into Purple, even if that is what it looks like happened. I feel awful for the pilot of Pink, who is going to be tormented by what happen this morning.

[Shorty26]

Dose anyone think that purple and pink are messed up beyond repair? or will they one day be out again?

this is a sad day

[goofystitch]

flynnibus wrote:

I just still can't figure out why Pink would be backing into Concourse to start with knowing Purple is in a block they need to override for some reason. There is probably a whole section of info we aren't aware of.. that hopefully will make some sense of this.

I think this raises more questions. Perhaps communication with purple wasn't as smooth as it should have been? It has been stated that the driver was new to this position and had possibly worked a shift longer than what should have been allowed. Perhaps he was ahead of schedule as well. If only 1 family got on his monorail at Epcot and if he left the station earlier than he was expected to, perhaps the driver of pink and the control tower were under the impression that purple was a safe distance away. I am not trying to accuse anybody of anything or hurting anybody, but it is obvious that multiple factors were at play here and perhaps this is one of them.

[KevinYee]

Actually, the theory of purple being in the station and inertia doing the kicking back into the parking lot makes a LOT of sense.

[goofystitch]

Shorty26 wrote:

Dose anyone think that purple and pink are messed up beyond repair? or will they one day be out again?

They might not be messed up beyond repair, however that doesn't guarantee that they will be repaired. Disney has 12 monorails, which is more than they use on a daily basis. I know that they have some for backup and they rotate them, but I am unaware if from an operational standpoint they need that many. If they can make do with 10, which they will for sure have to do for a few months, then they might cut costs and not repair them at all. There might be some structural damage to other cars, but the majority of the damage seems to be the back of pink and the front of purple. They would be costly to replace, as these are no doubt the most expensive parts of the monorails, but I think it can be done.

[goofystitch]

KevinYee wrote:

Actually, the theory of purple being in the station and inertia doing the kicking back into the parking lot makes a LOT of sense.

I agree, but clearly there was still a communication problem. Somewhere along the way, the command center didn't know where the purple monorail was, leading me to believe that it was either ahead of schedule, possibly caused by a lack of people needing transportation from Epcot, or that somebody didn't update them with the status. It has been reported that the two cast members at the dock didn't have a portable communication system, such as walkie talkies. It has also been speculated that this was the last run of the night, with purple docking at the TTC for the night. Perhaps somebody, either the driver or a cast member, neglected to report it's status because it was the last drive for the night? Obviously they didn't expect pink to back up to the loading dock, but the command center was clearly unaware of purple's location.

And this must have happened within seconds of purple reaching the dock because the doors hadn't even opened for unload. If that is where purple was, if this had happened just 15 seconds later, the driver and passengers would have probably been off the train.

[NormalVisual]

Originally Posted by flynnibus

Do they park trains in both EPCOT stations? Otherwise, I don't see why they would be backing Pink into Concourse.

The point about going on the wrong beam is interesting.. but wouldn't that require TWO switches to be wrong for that to happen? Both the switch on EPCOT loop and the switch right outside TTC on the express loop?

Yes, sometimes there are trains left out at both Epcot and Concourse. Yes, it would mean that at least one of the switches were in the wrong position. Central could simply have failed to call Shop to ask that the switches to be moved, although that's sheer speculation at this point. Still, stranger things have happened.

[NormalVisual]

Originally Posted by Code90

There will definitely be operational changes as a result of this accident.

Strictly my opinion, but this accident could not have happened if everyone was working according to written standard operational procedure, and for whatever reason, Purple just sat there. I don't think there's a change in the world that would have gotten that train moving before it was struck.

[lazyboy97O]

Originally Posted by goofystitch

Shorty26 wrote:


They might not be messed up beyond repair, however that doesn't guarantee that they will be repaired. Disney has 12 monorails, which is more than they use on a daily basis. I know that they have some for backup and they rotate them, but I am unaware if from an operational standpoint they need that many. If they can make do with 10, which they will for sure have to do for a few months, then they might cut costs and not repair them at all. There might be some structural damage to other cars, but the majority of the damage seems to be the back of pink and the front of purple. They would be costly to replace, as these are no doubt the most expensive parts of the monorails, but I think it can be done.

It is also possible that remaining cars could be put together to form one monorail, and just run with 11 instead of 12.

[Code90]

Originally Posted by sir clinksalot

Not only that, but the Disneyland system is pretty visible throughout the duration of the track. Meaning that you can pretty much see a monorail in front of you from a few hundred feet at all times.

The only spaces I can think of that may not have such a wide view is when entering Disneyland and Entering DCA (making the turn before HPB).

Plus, with as small as the route is at DL, you can pretty much hear the all-clear horn when a monorail leaves the station pretty far away.

I'd actually say that the DL monorail does not allow for as much visibility as you would think. There are a lot of tight turns, buildings and trees that block visibility. In Tomorrowland, there are only a few key places where the driver can visually check the station ahead of him.

At DL, monorail operators have been complaining about WDI's design of the new Mark VII trains. Due to aesthetics, WDI did not carry over the nosecone side windows that were previously on the Mark V's. The side windows were the only way a driver could visually check the station ahead of him at certain key points on the beam.

Apparently, Scot Drake (the head designer of the Mark VII) told one of the monorail operators that nosecone side windows did not complement his design very well. Therefore, he prioritized form over safety and did away with them.

In light of the accident at WDW, I wonder if DL will end up overriding Drake's decision by modifying the trains to have the front side windows.

[goofystitch]

Very true.