From: halcyon!monorail@seattleu.edu
\nDate: 20 Sep 91 13:44:00 GMT
\nNewsgroups: rec.arts.disney
\nSubject: The Monorail FAQ List *LONG*<\/p>\n
Hello Everyone. The response to monorails was so overwhelming that I
\ndecided just to compile all the stuff and post it as a FAQ list.
\nThe technical and operations data is for the Mark VI trains at WDW.
\nI much preferred the Mark IVs, but it’s unlikely you’ll see one of
\nthose again. Theye were a LOT more fun to drive. They were
\nclunky, but they had personality!<\/p>\n
Thanks to everyone who sent me mail or posted questions. If I
\ndidn’t respond to you, please forgive me, as I only get 40 minutes
\na day on line. If you have anything else or if one of these
\nquestions raises another pleas feel free to ask…<\/p>\n
OK. I’m gonna try to cover this stuff from ground zero,
\nhopefully I’ll catch myself before saying something too
\ntechnical or specific. The Mark VI trains are really big on
\nacrynyms for simple stuff.<\/p>\n
The Basics:<\/p>\n
>How do you make it go?<\/p>\n
On the control console in the cab at each end of the train is
\na M.C.U. or Master Control Unit (the stick). Also on this
\nconsole, next to the stick are two rocker switches. One is a
\nforward\/reverse selector, the other is a run mode\/stop mode
\nselector.<\/p>\n
The train won’t go anywhere without the selector in “run”.<\/p>\n
The forward\/reverse switch controls not only the direction of
\nthe train’s movement, but the direction in which the MAPO system
\nreceiver (I know you don’t know about that – It’ coming) is
\npointed. The train can travel equally well in either direction
\ndriven from either end – It can’t tell the difference.<\/p>\n
>How do you make it stop?<\/p>\n
The MCU has 10 selections, 5 forward, 1 center, and 4 back.
\nThe 5 forward positions are propulsion selections labelled P-1
\nthrough P-5. They correspond to speed travelled as follows:<\/p>\n
P-1 15 mph
\n P-2 20 mph
\n P-3 25 mph
\n P-4 30 mph
\n P-5 40 mph<\/p>\n
35 zones are a real pain in the posterior.<\/p>\n
The center position is Neutral. In this setting the train
\nwill do whatever it was doing. If youre cruising along and put
\nit in neutral, the train will coast. If you’re sitting still
\nwith brakes on, the train will leave on brakes until you give it
\na power selection.<\/p>\n
The four rear positions are labelled B-1 through B-4 (for
\nBraking). The higher the number the harder the brakes. How
\nmuch dynamic current or air pressure you get depebds on how fast
\nyou’re going. For those who don’t know what dynamic braking is,
\nimagine that the wheel of the monorail is a windmill. When you
\ntake the train out of propulsion, the wheel is still spinning
\nbecause youre still moving. Use that spin just like a windmill
\nblase to provide electricity. Use that electricity to slow the
\nmotor down, using it’s own energy against it. Its cheap, and
\nefficient. (NOTE to all Engineer types: This is how
\nmaintenence always explained it to me. If I’ve grossly
\noversimplified please forgive me. I’m a driver not a techie.)<\/p>\n
>How do you keep from crashing into each other?<\/p>\n
On the beamway at certain points there are transmitters.
\nThese MAPO transmitters send an electrical signal through the
\ntrack. When a train is on the track, it blocks that signal.<\/p>\n
These transmitters correspond to locations on the beam called
\nHoldpoints. The holdpoints are located at certain numbers,
\nwhich must all be committed to memory (your memory, not the
\ntrain’s)<\/p>\n
Each train has a receiver that can tell how many of these
\nsignals it is receiveing. Say Monorail Red is driving behind
\nMonorail Blue. If there are four transmitters between the
\ntrains, Red will only get four signals, because all the signalls
\nahead of Blue are blocked by that train’s presense.<\/p>\n
If Red gets within two holdpoints of Blue, the train’s MAPO
\nreceiver will say “Hey, you’re gettin’ close buddy!” and turn on
\nan amber light on the console with a beeping alarm. At that
\npoint the driver consults his super-keen monorail-intellect and
\nfigures out where the next holdpoint is. He then stops there
\nand tells all the passesngers that the train is “waiting for
\nfurther traffic clearance.”<\/p>\n
If Red doesn’t stop at that holdpoint? When he passes over
\nthe transmitter at that holdpoint, and his MAPO is then only
\nreceiving ONE signal, the train will automatically assume the
\ndriver is insane: “Hey this idiot is tryin’ ta dent my nose!”<\/p>\n
The train puts on 85-90 psi air brakes and stops on a dime,
\nthen you get canned. Well actually you’re allowed three
\n“overruns” (the term for crossing the line). If however you do
\nsomething that is really dangerous, Good Bye. Three overruns is
\nthe limit for your entire career. They never go away.<\/p>\n
What do we do with overrun victims? Send ’em to Buses of
\ncourse!<\/p>\n
>What does MAPO stand for?<\/p>\n
MAPO is a subsidiary of WED (Walter Elias Disney)
\nTransportation. The name is short for Mary Poppins.<\/p>\n
The MAPO system is also called the MBS (Moving Blocklight
\nSystem).<\/p>\n
>How much track is there?<\/p>\n
There are 13.6 miles of rail including all spurlines. The EPCOT
\nrail is 7.6 miles of that, the Lagoon (Hotel) beam and the Exterior
\n(Kingdom Express) beam are about 2.6 miles each.<\/p>\n
>How do you move trains between beams? <\/p>\n
We can and do move trains back and forth between beamways constantly,
\ndepending on guest flow. With all beams in operation it looks like this.
\nThe Lagoon and Exterior beams are set up with one inside the other. One
\ncircle nested in another without touching it.<\/p>\n
In the diagram below, the Lagoon beam is on the
\nleft, Exterior on the right, and the spur to shop on the far right (coming
\nto an abrupt end). This is of corse a veiw from above. This is a drawing
\nof Switchbeam 1 and 2, between the Contemporary and the Kingdom, right on
\nthe footpath from one to the other.<\/p>\n
| |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | 0 |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | | ____________ to shop
\n | |<\/p>\n
Connecting Exterior to Lagoon looks like this.<\/p>\n
| |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | \/
\n | \/
\n | 0 |
\n \/ |
\n \/ |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | | ____________ to shop
\n | |<\/p>\n
Connecting Exterior to spur looks like this.<\/p>\n
| |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n |
\n |
\n | 0 |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | | ____________ to shop
\n | |<\/p>\n
>Is there any way to see switching in progress?<\/p>\n
Yes. Just take the footpath from the Contemporary to the
\nKingdom, it runs right under switch 2. Trains come out between
\n6:30 and 8:00 am during a regular openning. You might have trouble
\ngetting past the Guard at the head of the footpath, but if you tell
\nhim you only want to walk over to the switch and take some pictures
\nhe should oblige you, (this IS WDW after all).<\/p>\n
>* when were the new style trains at WDW introduced, the ones
\n>with the mediocre standing space and the quiet doors ? (missing
\n>the old !BANG! after a stop :)) BTW, I apologize for ‘mediocre’
\n>to people with strollers or wheelchairs, but for my height
\n>(1.89 m), standing in that train is strainful.<\/p>\n
I’m 2m. tall. I agree.<\/p>\n
The Mark VI Monorails came on line in the spring of 89, but
\nwe didn’t start loading them until X-Mas. The intervening time
\nwas all test and adjust period. We had a third shift crew
\n(which I was on) that came in at 8pm and ran the trains around
\nin circles all night trying to get malfunctions (and boy we sure
\ndid). It was endurance testing and de-bugging.<\/p>\n
Even after the Mark VIs went on line, we had problems.<\/p>\n
a. Before we got the trains we realized that the design
\nwasn’t going to let them fit through the air door at the
\nContemporary Hotel. We went down for several months in the fall
\nof 88 for widening of the openning at the Hotel and for extra
\nconcrete to be poured on the platforms (the trains are taller
\nthan the Mark IVs.<\/p>\n
b. Once we had the first one on line (they came on about
\none per two months at first) we found that the power draw was
\ntoo high. We couldn’t operate two of them within a certain
\ndistance of each other. Major changes were made to the power
\ngrid to compensate.<\/p>\n
c. The software had so many bugs I could’ve caught fish
\nwith it. The trains were very prone to shutdown from software
\nglitches. The Mark IVs were built in 1969 and had squat for
\nelectronics, so this was really new to us.<\/p>\n
d. The doors were a mess at first. Jim Whitman’s arm got
\nbroken in a recycling test (the door DIDN’T recycle). Forever
\nafter that we used special bat-like clubs (made by Disney
\nCentral Shops – Disney doesn’t send out for anything that it can
\nmake) that were known as “Whitman Probes” to test the doors.<\/p>\n
>* who actually builds the monorail trains ? I recall that the
\n>original design (Alweg ?) was of Swiss origin, but this could
\n>be related to the first DL monorail only.<\/p>\n
Alweg built up to the Mark IIIs, all of which operated only at
\nDisneyland. I know this because the nose-cone door from Monorail
\nGold Mk.III is displayed at Monorail Shop and is clearly labelled
\n“Alweg”.<\/p>\n
The Mark IVs (used at WDW from opening until replaced by
\nMk.VIs) were built by WED Enterprises and Martin Marrietta at a
\ncost of around six million per train.<\/p>\n
The Mark Vs that replaced Disneyland’s Mk.IIIs were designed
\nby Ride and Show inc. I think. I’m not completely sure about
\nthat one, but Ride and Show’s press packet claimed it.<\/p>\n
The infamous (two years late and hideously overbudget) Mark
\nVI trains were designed and built by Bombardier of Quebec, (the
\nlowest bidder).<\/p>\n
>* how are the tracks maintained ? The concrete did not look as
\ngood as it once did, when I saw it last September.<\/p>\n
Ummmmmm. weeeeeeeeeell. It’s like this.<\/p>\n
Me: “Hey, there’s a chunk missing near pylon 24!”
\n Maintenence: “Keep your britches on.”
\n Me: “Monorail red just plunged to it’s doom!”
\n Maintenence: “Woah, good thing we bought new ones.”<\/p>\n
Just kidding. The beam is supposed to be inspected yearly
\nand drivers report anything that looks interesting.<\/p>\n
The original tracks (MK loop) are lots better than the EC
\ntracks, which were manufactured in 1981. Strange how quality goes
\ndown through the years…<\/p>\n
>* ever had any safety problems with the exposed electric rails
\nat the track ?<\/p>\n
Yes. People can be really stupid. I personally watched
\nseveral people jump into the trough with the live bar and trains
\nbarrelling down on them. Twice to retrieve a lenscap, and once
\nwas a teenager showing off. All should’ve been killed but got
\nlucky. Can ya believe it?<\/p>\n
>* ever had a runaway train \ud83d\ude42 ?<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
>Ever had any accidents?<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
>Ever had a train get stuck and the people on it have to be
\n>rescued?<\/p>\n
Nope. The procedure for stuck trains is to try everything
\npossible to make that sucker move. If it’s too broke, we bring
\nout a diesel powered work tractor to tow it to a station where
\nthe people can be unloaded. This HAS resulted in people getting
\nstuck for hours (worst case – two mark VIs on EPCOT died
\nsimultaneously along with one on Exterior beam – suicide pact I
\nguess…). The guest relations folks were handing out free
\npasses like candy.<\/p>\n
>Are the drivers allowed to “ad lib” their speeches or is there
\n>a “Disney Approved” script?<\/p>\n
As long as you get all the pertinent info in there and don’t
\noffend anyone, go for it. Sometimes we can cut loose, like Grad
\nNight or at the Cast Christmas Party. (Want to have the best
\ntime of your life at the MK, get a job at WDW and go to the Cast
\nParty in the Magic Kingdom!)<\/p>\n
>Are there any plans to extend the monorail to the MGM studios
\n>or to the EPCOT hotels \/ Marketplace?<\/p>\n
Plans? Sure. There have been PLANS to do that since the
\npark was built. World Showcase is sitting on top of buried
\npylon footers for track extension from there. The problem is
\nthat it’s expensive and impractical. The amount of constructin
\nwould be disruptive, and the sites can be served fine with
\nbuses. There are plans to construct a light rail trolley (San
\nFrancisco style) to those areas. We don’t have one of those
\nyet…<\/p>\n
>When were each Mark model (I, II, etc) introduced?<\/p>\n
The Monorail Mk.I at Disneyland started running in 1959. I
\ndon’t know when the II and III replaced it. The Mk. IV went on
\nat WDW in 1971, and the Mk.V replaced the Mk.III at Disneyland
\nsometime after that, Early-mid ’80s I think.<\/p>\n
>What are the differences between the models?<\/p>\n
The I,II,and III had the “bubbletop” design that had the
\ndriver sit up in a bubble on top of the train (similar to the
\nway the Submarine Pilots sit in 20,000 leagues – which is
\nincidentally a lot like monorails for ops purposes).<\/p>\n
The biggest change for the Mk.V was the automatic door
\nsystem, and the VI is tall enough to stand in and carries a LOT
\nmore people (244 in the IV vs 350+ in the VI).<\/p>\n
>What is the energy effieciency of the monorails?<\/p>\n
Don’t have numbers but it’s pretty good. Granted it would
\nhave to be utilized by people in order to be efficent enough, so
\nplanning would be a major factor in setting up a real monorail
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
Interesting Factoid: Houston appropriated a billion dollars
\nto start a monorail project downtown. They’ll be licensing the
\ntech from Disney and their trains will be commuter models of the
\nMk.VI built by Bombardier.<\/p>\n
>How much power do they consume?<\/p>\n
They run on 600 volts DC, rectified from (don’t quote me on
\nthis) 13,000+ AC. We make our own power at the plant north of
\nthe contmporary, across the street from monorail shop.<\/p>\n
>What kind of brakes do they have and what is their stopping
\n>distance?<\/p>\n
Dynamic braking slows the train down, but is ineffective
\nbelow 7-10 mph. Air brakes are used to stop. Distance depends on
\nhow fast you’re going. At 40 mph, roughly (very) a hundred feet
\nwith regular braking. Emergency brakes are faster, but REAL rough
\non the passengers. (see also “How do you make it stop?”)<\/p>\n
>I’d like to know, for example, about the markings on the pylons.<\/p>\n
The pylons are all numbered for location reasons. If my
\ntrain has a problem and dies, I can’t say to Central “Well I’m
\nsort of near that big tree…” The pylons are for traffic
\ncontrol as well. Remember that there are three or four other
\ntrains out there on 2.6 miles of loop. If somebody gets stuck I
\nwant to know EXACTLY where they are before I find ’em the hard
\nway.<\/p>\n
>Do you use the numbers to judge where to sit and wait before
\n>pulling into the station?<\/p>\n
What I assume you mean is that the train sometimes stops in
\nmid-beam, for no reason that’s apparent to you. The train isn’t
\nrequired to stop before pulling into a station, but often has to
\nbecause there’s still another train inside. The numbers on the
\npylons dont tell us where to stop, but there are designated
\nholding points for each zone (which you have to memorize). When
\nyou get an amber signal you have to stop at the designated
\nnumber (see also “How do you keep from crashing into each other?”)<\/p>\n
Stopping at weird points is frowned upon because it might
\ncause the train behind you to get an indication at an unexpected
\ntime, overrun his holdpoint, and beat you up after work. This is
\nthe preferred method for dumping undesireables out of the
\ndepartment, as safety violations are not tolerated in rails.<\/p>\n
> Is there one central command, or is there a separate “command
\n>center” at each station?<\/p>\n
Each station has a Lead, who CAN give orders to trains if
\nnecessary, but only as pertains to his station. For instance the
\nKingdom Lead could call the train approaching his station and
\ntell him to hold for some reason (someone fell in the track or
\nsomething…) but if he calls down a train at EPCOT, he’d better
\nhave a good reason.<\/p>\n
Monorail Central is at the Transportation and Ticket Center
\n(TTC), on the “To EPCOT Center” side of the station building.
\nThe enclosed glass tower (just like at an airport but smaller) is
\nthe Central Console. Mind you though, Central doesn’t actually
\nhave any control over the trains outside of dealing with unusual
\nsituations. Just driving around it’s the driver’s responsibility
\nnot to bump into anyone. Central can only give orders, it’s not
\nlike he has a remote control…<\/p>\n
General Layout:<\/p>\n
This is the best I can manage with the computer.
\n (“Dammit, Jim, I’m a monorail pilot not an artist!”)<\/p>\n
_______MK____*___
\n \/
\n \/
\n | CO
\n | | _______
\n GF | \/
\n | |#| |
\n | TTC |
\n | | |
\n \/ | |
\n \/ _ |
\n _______POLY_____\/ _ ______
\n __________
\n ^
\n | | |
\n The above section is actually | |
\n two tracks, one inside the other. | |
\n | |
\n A long way
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n \/
\n \/
\n \/
\n EPCOT CENTER | SE |
\n \/
\n \/
\n ___\/<\/p>\n
TTC The Transportation and Ticket Center, (also called
\n the Ticket and Transportation Center by Tickets
\n people, but they don’t count.)<\/p>\n
MK The Magic Kingdom station<\/p>\n
GF The Grand Floridian (oops, I mean “Disney’s Grand
\n Floridian Beach Resort.” – the Duty Manager can be
\n touchy about that!)<\/p>\n
CO The Contemporary Resort<\/p>\n
POLY The Polynesian Resort<\/p>\n
SE Spaceship Earth (the big golf ball at Epcot)<\/p>\n
* Switchbeam One and Two (see “switching”) –
\n goes between Exterior, Lagoon, and Spurline.<\/p>\n
# Switchbeam 8 & 9 – goes between Exterior, Epcot beam,
\n and Epcot spurline.<\/p>\n
That’s it (wheeew!) See ya round!<\/p>\n
Monorail Green<\/p>\n
aka B-Man<\/p>\n
—
\n The 23:00 News and Mail Service – +1 206 292 9048 – Seattle, WA USA
\n PEP, V.32, V.42bis
\n +++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++<\/p>\n
From: halcyon!monorail@seattleu.edu
\nDate: 20 Sep 91 13:45:16 GMT
\nNewsgroups: rec.arts.disney
\nSubject: Monorails: In Training<\/p>\n
This was written by my old roommate John, the hardest workin’
\nman in Monorails. He also no longer works in Rails.<\/p>\n
-Monorail Green<\/p>\n
aka B-Man<\/p>\n
AN INTRODUCTION TO DRIVE TRAINING
\n BY
\n JOHN ROBERT KAPPELER<\/p>\n
Welcome to the wonderful world of drive training. For
\nthe next six days, I will be your sole Lord and Master,
\notherwise referred to as your drive trainer. During this
\ntime, we shall learn how to operate the Mark IV or Mark VI
\nMonorail Train, and how to use them on the Walt Disney World
\nMonorail System.
\n You’re probably exited about drive training, and who
\ncould blame you? After two or three months of repeating
\n“How many in your group?” or “Take this train to the next
\nstop and get on another.” six or seven hundred thousand
\ntimes a day, you’d be excited about anything. Just keep in
\nmind that the time you spent on the platform was well worth
\nit. It built up your anticipation for driving. Think about
\nit. While you were on Exterior Load, busting your butt to
\nget five hundred Brazilians onto Monorail Gold, you saw all
\nthe drivers at the water cooler, or in the console, or on
\nunload, not doing any work, and the same thought kept going
\nthrough your mind. . .
\n When will I be able to do that?
\n Soon now, very soon. Soon you’ll be able to get out of
\ngoing to turnstiles, or taking hour lunches and not getting
\ndocked, or getting back cab times where you’re allowed to
\nturn your brain off. Soon, very soon.
\n But first, comes training.
\n I realize there’s a great deal of resentment between
\ndrivers and platform people. Drivers are always the
\n“snots”, while the platforms are always the “slaves”. I
\nremember when I was a platform-only. I used to hate drivers
\njust like you probably did. I worked like hell, and they
\ndid nothing but ride around in trains all night, and
\nactually bitch about it sometimes. I used to resent them.
\nIn fact, I began to hate them. Especially whenever I’d put
\npeople in their front cab and they’d look at me like I’d
\njust asked them to donate their liver. Drivers were stuck-
\nup jerks, and I swore I’d never be like them.
\n Then I became a driver.
\n I saw what makes them that way. I saw what makes them
\nstand around while the platform people do all the work. I
\nlearned the truth.
\n I became enlightened.
\n Drive training is hard. Real hard. It looks like a
\npiece of cake from a platform person’s point of view. After
\nall, all they do it push the stick to go, pull it back to
\nstop, and talk into a microphone. That’s it. Pretty easy.
\n Well, as I learned, there’s more to that.
\n Much more.<\/p>\n
Driving a monorail is a lot like driving a bus filled
\nwith drunk people on a crowded highway with your fuel gauge
\nhovering just above “E”. There’s a lot to do. A lot to
\nlook out for, and a lot of bad things that could happen to
\nyou. It can be fun, but it takes a lot of practice.
\n In comes me.
\n For the next week, I’m going to show you just what it’s
\nlike to drive that bus, with all those drunks vomiting all
\nover the place, and trying to find a gas station that will
\naccept your expired Radio Shack credit card.
\n Before we begin drive training, I will sit you down and
\ndiscuss something with you. Call it a sort of disclaimer.
\nI will look you in the eye and say something like: “Listen,
\nit’s going to be rough out there, and I’m going to be rough
\non you. The pressure will be on you like you’ve never felt
\nit before. I’ll be asking you to do sixteen things at the
\nsame time, and if you mess up, I’ll be on your case about
\nit. But just keep one thing in mind–nothing personal.”
\n This will probably make more sense after about three
\ndays of training. Day Four of training is often referred to
\nas, “Hell Day”. That’s when it suddenly dawns on your that
\ndriver’s don’t really have it that easy. That’s when you
\nrealize that you’re operating a monorail carrying anywhere
\nfrom 244 to 364 people, and you have to get then to the next
\ndestination, preferably alive.
\n A lot of trainees quit after Hell Day. We don’t think
\nany less of them, they just couldn’t take the pressure,
\nthat’s all. They just usually announce that “This isn’t
\nworth $5.25 a @!&%!! hour!” and quit. The main reason they
\nquit is that they didn’t realize the pressure involved.
\nThat’s why I wrote this. To let you know.
\n But I don’t want to scare you. I don’t want you to
\nthink that I’m going to prod you with sticks and make you
\naccept Satan as your Supreme Being. All I’m doing is
\nattempting to bring out the best in you, and make you the
\nbest damned monorail pilot you can be.
\n So don’t hurt me, okay?<\/p>\n
—
\n The 23:00 News and Mail Service – +1 206 292 9048 – Seattle, WA USA
\n PEP, V.32, V.42bis
\n +++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++<\/p>\n
From: halcyon!monorail@seattleu.edu
\nDate: 20 Sep 91 13:46:52 GMT
\nNewsgroups: rec.arts.disney
\nSubject: Monorails: Radio Ops *Funny!*<\/p>\n
My roommate, John Kappeler, wrote up the following treatise
\non monorail radio operations. I couldn’t improve on it a bit…<\/p>\n
-Monorail Green<\/p>\n
aka B-Man<\/p>\n
TALKING ON THE RADIO<\/p>\n
by John Robert Kappeler<\/p>\n
Talking on the radio is one of the most important
\naspects of drive training. Our goal is to make you sound as
\nprofessional, accurate and most of all, coherent as
\npossible.
\n This is not as easy as it sounds. Talking on the radio
\nis the major stumbling block to most trainees, because it’s
\nyour responsibility to repeat back verbatim whatever it was
\nCentral or Shop has told you to do. Still sound easy? Okay
\nthen, try doing this:<\/p>\n
CENTRAL: Monorail Green from Central.
\n GREEN: Green bye.
\n CENTRAL: I show you clear MAPO Bypass through
\nSwitchbeams 8 and 9 to the EPCOT Center Mainline, following
\nMonorail Pink Delta in a temporary three-train normal visual
\noperation. You’re clear normal visual to pylon 95, hold and
\nnotify Central. Also notify Central upon passing pylons 27
\nand 45.
\n GREEN: (30 second pause) What?<\/p>\n
Not very professional, is it? That’s why we have the
\nmost important radio code you can use–10-9. 10-9 means,
\nsimply, I don’t have the slightest idea of what you just
\nsaid and would you mind repeating it very much. Here’s an
\nexample of how the code 10-9 improves the professionalism of
\nyour radio work.<\/p>\n
CENTRAL: Monorail Pink from Central.
\n PINK: Pink bye.
\n CENTRAL: I show you clear to put your train in stop
\nand your control arm in neutral. You’re clear to press
\nLinebreaker Reset and Group A\/B Reset for fifteen seconds,
\nhold and notify Central the status of your groups.
\n PINK: (30 second pause) 10-9?<\/p>\n
See? Much more professional. To help you sound even
\nMORE professional on the radio, we use a variety of
\ndifferent codes to make your radio experience as confusing
\nas possible. Here’s a listing of the codes you will need to
\nknow.<\/p>\n
10-1: Reading you poorly, get a new battery
\n 10-2: Reading you perfectly, you don’t have to shout
\n 10-4: Okay, yes, acknowledged, sure, uh-huh, whatever
\n 10-6: Busy, (Only supervisors can be busy. You can’t)
\n 10-7: Out of service, off, broken beyond repair
\n 10-8: In service, on, “My God! It actually works!”
\n 10-9: Repeat, say what?, I ignored you the first time
\n 10-20: Your exact location, (In pylon numbers, please)
\n 10-22: Disregard, never mind, I goofed
\n 10-23: Stand-by, wait, hold, don’t move or die!
\n 10-26: I understand, (Only Poly leads can say this)
\n 10-36: The current time of day, (In military time)
\n 10-45: Phone call, you were speeding through the Poly
\n 10-51: En route to, hope to get to. . .
\n 10-52: E.T.A., (Always say 5 minutes, no matter what)
\n 10-56: Come here, you’re in biiiiig trouble!
\n 10-99: Deadheaded, no guests on board. . . I think
\n SIGNAL 25: Fire, flames, Chernobyl
\n SIGNAL 96-S: There’s a huge snake on my train!<\/p>\n
As a Monorail Pilot, you will use each and every one of
\nthese codes during your career, although the last one might
\nnot come up as often. I put it there just in case you do
\nget a huge snake in your front cab, you’ll know the exact
\nradio code to relay this information to Monorail Central.
\n(Chances are, however, they won’t know what the hell you’re
\ntalking about.)<\/p>\n
RED: Central from Red.
\n CENTRAL: Central bye, Red.
\n RED: Be advised, I have a Signal 96-S on board.
\n CENTRAL: (30 second pause) 10-9?
\n RED: Be advised, I have a Signal 96-S on board!
\n CENTRAL: I copy you have an auto accident on board?
\n RED: Negative! A Signal 96-S!
\n CENTRAL: I copy you have a robbery in progress?
\n RED: 10-22, I threw it out the window.
\n CENTRAL: I copy, you threw the robber out the window?<\/p>\n
I think you get the picture.
\n Now then, it’s important to learn those codes, because
\nin the coming days, Central, Shop, Maintenance, Leads, and
\njust about everybody with a radio is going to be calling you
\nup to see if you know them inside and out. This is
\nespecially true after Day Three of training. On Day Four
\ncomes a lot of radio from Central. It’s used to see if you
\ncan talk and drive at the same time. Up front, it sounds
\npretty easy. Here’s an example of radio Mark VI trainees
\nreceive:<\/p>\n
CENTRAL: Monorail Gold from Central.
\n GOLD: Gold bye.
\n CENTRAL: What’s the status of your CMPAS?
\n GOLD: Be advised, my CMPAS is 10-8.
\n CENTRAL: 10-4, what mode is your CMPAS in?
\n GOLD: Be advised, my CMPAS is in ‘play’.
\n CENTRAL: What’s the status of your Car 3 LMCU?
\n GOLD: Uh. . . 10-8?
\n CENTRAL: 10-4, how do you know that?
\n GOLD: Uh. . .
\n CENTRAL: What’s the status of your Group A PECU? And
\n while you’re at it, give me the status of your Group B
\n BECU, your VOBC, your DPAS, your BCS, your TIM, your
\n LVPS, and the OVERHEAT light in your upper display.
\n GOLD: (30 second pause) Central from Gold.
\n CENTRAL: Central bye.
\n GOLD: Please 10-56 hell, Gold clear.
\n CENTRAL: 10-4, will 10-56 he. . . 10-9!?<\/p>\n
Take into account that while you’re attempting to
\nanswer Central’s questions, you’re also attempting to keep
\nyour train from smashing into the one ahead of it, spieling
\nto your guests, and watching your trainer’s face distort in
\ndisgust whenever you mess up.
\n When you first start out, the trainer will be there to
\ncoach you along the difficult radio parts. But after
\nawhile, the trainer will no longer take an active interest
\nin what you say over the radio, and begin taking an active
\ninterest in his nails, the weather, or the gorgeous blonde
\non the Grand Floridian’s beach.
\n After some practice, you’ll notice that you will know
\nahead of time what it is Central, Shop, Etc. is going to say
\nto you, so it gets easier to repeat it back. The reason it
\ntakes practice is because there are a lot of people on the
\nMonorail System who are not easy to understand over the
\nradio. This is especially true when you’re taking a train
\nto or from Shop.<\/p>\n
SHOP: Mo’rail Peenk fro’ Shap.
\n PINK: Uh, Pink bye. . . I think.
\n SHOP: I sho’ ya cleer usin’ MAYPO Buypays outta da
\n Shap to th’ No’ Side o’th’ Shiller Playnt, hol’ an’
\n notify Swiytchbeem.
\n PINK: (30 second pause) What?<\/p>\n
It’s not just Shop. There are some Central Leads who
\nare a bit difficult to understand at first. But, if you
\nknow what he\/she’s going to say ahead of time, you’ll be
\nable to repeat back the commands with no problem. Just
\nlisten to any veteran operator on the radio, and you’ll see
\nhow it’s done.<\/p>\n
CENTRAL: Monorail (Garbled) from (Garbled).
\n BLUE: Blue bye.
\n CENTRAL: I show you (Garbled) to use (Garbled) to
\n (Garbled), hold (Garbled) (Garbled) (Garbled).
\n BLUE: 10-4, MAPO Override to pylon 34, will hold and
\n notify Monorail Central. Blue clear.<\/p>\n
That’s why it’s important to study your radio codes and
\nscripts. If you memorize them, then you won’t have a cow
\ntrying to talk on the radio and drive your train at the same
\ntime.
\n In all seriousness, if you have a problem repeating
\nback a command, just ask them to 10-9. They know you’re in
\ntraining, and won’t get it perfect! A lot of trainees get
\nall flustered on the radio, that’s perfectly understandable,
\nand acceptable. What isn’t acceptable, (at least to me), is
\nkeying your radio to talk back to them, messing up, and
\ncontinuing to hold down the radio button! All this does is
\nmake you sound unprofessional, make me look like an idiot,
\nand give Central Leads funny stories to tell each other at
\ntheir parties.
\n An example:<\/p>\n
CENTRAL: Black from Central.
\n BLACK: Black bye.
\n CENTRAL: You’re clear in reverse, MAPO Bypass if nec-
\n cessary to reach pylon 62, hold an notify Central.
\n BLACK: 10-4. . . clear MAPO. . .uh, necessary to. . .
\n in, uh, reverse. . . what did he say? Huh? Why are
\n you giving me the ‘cut off the flow’ hand signal?
\n What? I didn’t hear what he said! How can anybody
\n understand what he says? All I heard was ‘Black’ and
\n ‘MAPO’ something. Hey! Why are you grabbing my ha-
\n CENTRAL: (Laughter) Monorail Black, please have your
\n trainer 10-45.<\/p>\n
See what problems that causes? And don’t think to
\nyourself that you won’t do it. You will! Everybody does it
\nduring training. But with me, you will do it once.
\n Now then, I don’t want to give you the idea that
\ntalking over the radio is going to be the worst experience
\nof your life. Come on now! There are a lot of things worse
\nthan that. Drinking Oven Cleaner comes to my mind. But if
\nyou practice, practice, practice, and know your radio codes
\nand scripts, you will find that talking over the radio is
\neasy.<\/p>\n
—
\n The 23:00 News and Mail Service – +1 206 292 9048 – Seattle, WA USA
\n PEP, V.32, V.42bis
\n +++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++<\/p>\n
From: halcyon!monorail@seattleu.edu
\nDate: 23 Sep 91 11:58:22 GMT
\nNewsgroups: rec.arts.disney
\nSubject: Monorails: Some safety discussion\/ranting<\/p>\n
~From: cscon134@uoft02.utoledo.edu (John Heiden UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO)<\/p>\n
>Well, according to my brother (who work at THE DISNEY-MGM STUDIOS),
\n>DISNEY plans to begin construction on a new monorail segment that extends
\n>to DISNEY-MGM sometime in 1992. (Remember, this is what HE said.)<\/p>\n
Don’t bet on it. The rumor mill has been saying that ever since
\nthe Studio got under construction. It’s not feasible.<\/p>\n
First, where would it go? EPCOT? Not likely. The
\nconfiguration of the station would make it impossible to run a
\nrail near the loading side of the station for a “bridge” to let
\npeople transfer from MGM’s rail to EPCOT’s rail. The other option
\nis to take people from the unload side. That would be a nightmare.
\n Changing the load to unload side was shown (during rehab of the
\nload side platform in ’89) to be SUPER-difficult, because the
\nloading side is completely different in construction, and has the
\ncontrol console.<\/p>\n
In any case the MGM park is RIGHT NEXT DOOR to EPCOT.
\nBuses are cheaper and in this situation just as fast. TTC? This
\nwould be crazy. The beam from MGM to TTC would run right alongside
\nthe EPCOT beam and that seems damn redundant.<\/p>\n
>Well, when I asked this question, I was told that the monorail runs
\n>on precisely 13,800 volts. (Sorry to be so picky.)<\/p>\n
Hey, I don’t know everything. I’m not in maintenence, I just
\nkeep my ears and eyes open. I like to know what I’m doing.<\/p>\n
>Well, one other fact I found to being interesting… The monorail trains
\n>run on either EXACTLY or PRECISELY 100 wheels each.<\/p>\n
That’s not true of the 4s or the 6s.<\/p>\n
The trains have 136 side tires and 12 load tires. Side tires
\nare those little tires that run along the side of the beam. Load
\ntires are between the cars.<\/p>\n
A load tire sits inbetween cars like this…<\/p>\n
(side veiw)
\n__________________________ ___________________
\n \/ ||||
\n \/ ||||
\n \/ ||||
\n cabin area \/ OO |||| OO cabin area
\n \/ OOOOOO |||| OOOOOO
\n \/ OOtireOO |||| OOtireOO
\n_____________\/ OOOOOO |||| OOOOOO _______
\n OO OO
\n||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
\n||||||||||CONCRETE BEAMWAY||||||||||||
\n||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||<\/p>\n
A side tire runs along the side like this:<\/p>\n
(REAL simple drawing)
\n ______________________
\n \/
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | front view |
\n | |
\n | |
\n | |
\n |________________________| __cabin floor level
\n | |
\n | ______||||||______ |
\n | |_tire_||||||_tire_| |
\n _______ |||||| _______\/
\n |beam|<\/p>\n
If you go somewhere where the train passes over you, you can
\nlook up and see the side tires under the train.<\/p>\n
>I have one question now. How does each Mark VI cost?<\/p>\n
Between 6 and 9 million depending whether you include certain
\naspects, (refitting powers systems, post delivery mods, etc.).<\/p>\n
>About a week ago, I got stuck on a Mark IV for about 30 minutes. It appeared
\n>to be the only Mark IV in operation at that time. After being on it for
\n>that long, I MUCH prefer the VI’s. (Bu then, my experience on that day
\n>was already a rather unpleasant experience. Perhaps I should write about
\n>that day. Boy am I mad!)<\/p>\n
Those trains are twenty years old, but given the choice, I’d
\nrather be stuck on a Mk.4. The 4 has openable windows instead of
\nthe “ventilation openings” of the Mk.6. Those “vents” are one inch
\nwide and abou four feet long, 2 of them located at each end of a
\ncar that’s supposed to hold *65* passengers, most of them standing.
\nIt’s cramped, and it gets hot dangerously fast, especially in the
\ncars located next to resistor banks.<\/p>\n
If you’d been on a 6 you’d have been STANDING for that time.<\/p>\n
The 4 also has a MUCH better chance of being troubleshootable by
\nthe driver, and thus getting moving faster. Also it might not have
\nbeen your train that was broken. I might infer from your
\ndissatisfaction with the wait that the AC units were probably off.
\nIn that case power was off and the train style makes no difference.
\nIf you wrote me with more data I might be able to say more
\naccurately what might have happened.<\/p>\n
And remember THIS tidbit. My roommate trained the last Mk.4
\npilot to be checked out. This means that anyone in control of a 4
\nis a pilot with AT LEAST 2 years experience on the system, AND is
\nsomeone who could handle the MUCH more difficult (IMHO) Mk.4
\ntraining. (“Mk.6 onlys” will say that this isn’t true, but they’re
\ntalking from conjecture, not experience…)<\/p>\n
Also remember that we have 12 mark 6 trains. We only usually
\nrun 3 on EPCOT and Exterior (MK express) – 4 at peak, and 4 on
\nLagoon (resort). This means we only need 9 trains to operate.
\nThe fact that the Mk.4 was out means that THREE Mk.6s were
\ninoperable at that time. We only had 11 Mk.4s. If 3 went down the
\nsystem was screwed. This almost never happened. I’ve seen three
\nMk 6s die AT THE SAME MOMENT of different ailments.<\/p>\n
Three time during the Test and Adjust phase the 6s were declared
\ntoo unsafe for further operation, and we had to use the 4s
\nexclusively. This became a problem when they started to take the
\n4s off the beam to make room for 6s. When the 6s would get
\ngrounded we’d have only 9 Mk.4s TOTAL, but we got by. We used to
\njoke about what was gonna happen when they found such a problem
\nafter we didn’t have enough Mk.4s to run with out the 6s.<\/p>\n
The answer? Run the 6s anyway. I saw more fires on Mk. 6s in
\nthe 2 years that I drove them than anyone could remember EVER
\nhappening on the 4s. Hydraulics don’t catch on fire, electrical
\nrelays do. And on top of this, the rear cab operator was
\neliminated “because the Allison heat detection system can detect
\nany fires in the train.”<\/p>\n
The Allison only covers the wheelwells of the train. If a car
\nwere burning the Allison would never know till it burned through
\nthe wall to the wheelwell. On top of this if there’s a fire, the
\ndriver cannot possibly evecuate all the passengers to the roof of
\nthe train (YES, that’s the procedure) by himself. Truthfully you’d
\nbe pressed to do it with two people, but for one it’s not possible.<\/p>\n
I had over a hundred Allison alarms in my time, only ONE was
\nreal. On the flip side I saw a train come in (during testing) with
\nit’s ALLISON heat detector ON FIRE and not going off…<\/p>\n
I sound pretty cynical don’t I? Well I’m not saying that the
\nTrains are deathboxes or anything. But In my opinion it’s only a
\nmatter of time before there’s a serious accident, probably a fire.
\nA Mk.4 could drive in flames, but the Mk.6s electronics would
\noverheat and die, leaving the train stranded. This might sound
\nsilly, but when we got the trains we had a lot of trouble with the
\nelectronic door controls everytime it rained. Turned out the
\nboards weren’t covered from rain. They just got soaked if it
\nrained. AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRG!<\/p>\n
Maybe when they have to get Mk.7s (in a few years, since these
\nwill NEVER last 20 like the 4s did) they’ll do it “in house”
\ninstead of by the lowest bidder, and they’ll ask the drivers how
\nit should be…<\/p>\n
Monorail Green<\/p>\n
aka B-Man<\/p>\n
—
\n The 23:00 News and Mail Service – +1 206 292 9048 – Seattle, WA USA
\n PEP, V.32, V.42bis
\n +++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++<\/p>\n
From: halcyon!monorail@seattleu.edu
\nDate: 24 Sep 91 15:33:22 GMT
\nNewsgroups: rec.arts.disney
\nSubject: Monorails: Yet more discussion<\/p>\n
sumax!gte.com!krs0 (Rod Stephens) asked:<\/p>\n
>What is the complete evacuation procedure for when a monorail is going
\n>up in flames? You mentioned that you move the passengers onto the
\n>roof, but then what?<\/p>\n
The truth? You’re supposed to take a rope from the cabinet
\nunder the driver’s seat, attatch it to a clip on top of the train
\nnear the nose. Repel down the windscreen to the beamway. Attatch
\nthe other end of the rope to a clip near the headlight. The
\npassengers are supposed to follow you down the windshield and walk
\ndown the beam to a station.<\/p>\n
They don’t figure you’ll be wanting to save any handicapped
\nguests, I guess. In fact, for $5.25 an hour, most pilots
\nprobably wouldn’t get out on the roof anyway and have said so. I
\nwould because I’m me, not because of any S.O.P.. The whole thing
\nis nuts considering that a full car’s load of people couldn’t get
\non the roof all at once anyway (not enough space\/handholds).<\/p>\n
>
\n>Can the trains be separated easily? Like can you break the train and
\n>leave the burning car(s) behind?<\/p>\n
Nope. The trains are assembled as one unit.<\/p>\n
I should clairify that. Monorails come in 1 car portions on
\nthe back of a flatbed truck. They are assembled onto the beam
\nwith a crane, not to be separated until they’re dismounted for
\nscrap. One Mk.6 got misassembled (they reversed cars 3 & 4) and
\nhad to be taken down and switched before it could run…<\/p>\n
A monorail isn’t
\nlike a normal train in that it has an engine and the rest of it is
\ndead weight. A monorail train has 8 motors in it, 113 horsepower
\neach in the new trains, 100 HP each in the mk.4s, spaced through
\nthe train. The resistors and other components aren’t set up in a
\nfashion of “one per car” either. You can no more split a monorail
\nthan a bus, but maintenence HAS tried…<\/p>\n
WARNING! MONORAIL WAR STORY TO FOLLOW!!<\/p>\n
When Adrian Scott was new to the department and going through
\ndrive training, he was assigned one morning to bring monorail
\norange out of shop. He and his trainer were getting the train
\nthough switch #3, south of shop, but Adrian was taking a REAL
\nlong time because he was a trainee. Book procedure calls for a
\ntrain to notify shop by radio when he’s clear of switch #3, since
\nshop can’t really see there. Shop then knows that its OK to move
\nthe switch for the next train.<\/p>\n
Well, since most of the opening crew are vets, we never much
\nbothered with extra radio traffic and got pretty loose on this
\npoint. Shop would hear us notify switch #2 of our position and
\nknow that we’d gotten clear of #3, so why bother?<\/p>\n
Adrian was two cars over #3 when shop decided that it had been
\nSOOO long that he HAD to be clear of #3. They just must not have
\nheard the call to #2.<\/p>\n
Adrian’s train started to shake. It made a funny noise that
\nmade his trainer say “What the #@*%! is that!”. Cars 3-6 started
\nmoving sideways in his mirror.<\/p>\n
After a judicious amount of Adrian screaming into the radio,
\nshop turned the switch motors off and went to see what happened.
\nThe train wasn’t torn in half, so they OKed it to continue on out
\nand we ran it that whole day. We just kept waiting for it to
\n“liberate” cars 1 & 2…<\/p>\n
Monorail Green<\/p>\n
—
\n The 23:00 News and Mail Service – +1 206 292 9048 – Seattle, WA USA
\n PEP, V.32, V.42bis
\n +++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++<\/p>\n
