Disney Skyliner (Gondola Transportation System) Read Post 1 Now Open!

[OKW Lover]

These things have large windows. Its not going to be extremely dark inside them.

 

[mom2rtk]

These things have large windows. Its not going to be extremely dark inside them.

They're pretty much all window. I'm talking about after dark.

 

[jade1]

I don't believe Disney is going to load strangers into a completely dark enclosed space.

They're pretty much all window. I'm talking about after dark.

Yea agree, they will not mess around.

I believe the monorails are dark when loading maybe?

Although at the fair the loading platform was just as lit up at night as during the day, so who knows I guess.

They added a lit ring outside (not sure how), none inside weirdly.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Just looking for examples of Doppelmayer systems with lighting:

their 3S lift in Vietnam: The comfortable CWA cabins offer ample space for 30 passengers. The lighting and PA systems inside the cabins are powered by an innovative carriage wheel generator.

This is from the comments on a story from Theme Park Insider about the Disney system - largely in response to if they would have A/C but talks about the system and what can be powered in the cars:

“ACT cabins generally have no onboard source of high voltage electrical power, only rechargeable batteries.
Low voltage lighting, intercom, Wi-Fi and closed circuit video cameras are powered with these batteries but climate control systems for cooling or heating are limited at best."



So seems like they could have lighting inside and other things that need power - just less power than A/C would require

 

[joelkfla]

their 3S lift in Vietnam: The comfortable CWA cabins offer ample space for 30 passengers. The lighting and PA systems inside the cabins are powered by an innovative carriage wheel generator.

No possibility of this on a single cable system. There are no turning wheels on the cabin, except possibly while in the stations and when passing a tower.

 

[OKW Lover]

They're pretty much all window. I'm talking about after dark.

I don't think there's any such thing as "dark" at WDW. There are so many lights everywhere.

 

[RRB]

No possibility of this on a single cable system. There are no turning wheels on the cabin, except possibly while in the stations and when passing a tower.

Having said that, the pictures posted above are from a single cable system and the cars have lights

 

[joelkfla]

Having said that, the pictures posted above are from a single cable system and the cars have lights

Yes I was referring to the use of a generator powered by the wheels against the cable. They could still be battery powered, and the batteries recharged when passing thru the stations, or by solar. If WDW leaves the cabins online overnight as has been suggested, overnight charging would not be an option.

 

[jade1]

Having said that, the pictures posted above are from a single cable system and the cars have lights

Yea and they are 50 years old.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Yes I was referring to the use of a generator powered by the wheels against the cable. They could still be battery powered, and the batteries recharged when passing thru the stations, or by solar. If WDW leaves the cabins online overnight as has been suggested, overnight charging would not be an option.

there is really no reason for the entire top of each cabin not to be a solar panel. Heck, the golf carts I was playing in two weekends ago had a solar mat across the whole top of the cart that charged the golf cart batteris...even had two USB ports for our phones...(these worked great as I use my phone app for yardage and I was low on battery when I arrived).

 

[jade1]

(these worked great as I use my phone app for yardage and I was low on battery when I arrived).

Yep, and many carts have it installed. Although how many are just off solar I'm not sure.

 

[RRB]

As shown on BlogMickey.com, the wire that runs in the middle of the towers is shown in the pictures below (on their website). The second pic shows the wire spool. The 3rd pic is an enlargement of the 2nd pic. The wire looks to be a metal type cable. The full story is here - http://blogmickey.com/2018/11/photo...at-hollywood-studios-disney-skyliner-station/

 

[hertamaniac]

Yes I was referring to the use of a generator powered by the wheels against the cable. They could still be battery powered, and the batteries recharged when passing thru the stations, or by solar. If WDW leaves the cabins online overnight as has been suggested, overnight charging would not be an option.

So the question I would have is how much charging time would we expect through the re-charge process at the station(s)? There is a severe limit on amperage and charge rate that the batteries can accept in that short window.

Also, the Florida heat and duty cycle could wreak havoc for onboard batteries.

 

[joelkfla]

there is really no reason for the entire top of each cabin not to be a solar panel. Heck, the golf carts I was playing in two weekends ago had a solar mat across the whole top of the cart that charged the golf cart batteris...even had two USB ports for our phones...(these worked great as I use my phone app for yardage and I was low on battery when I arrived).

I don't know whether there's a reason or not. Maybe it would be in the way of the suspension. But pictures I've seen are of a solar panel (or 2) that may be a couple of square feet in area. If it were feasible to layer the entire roof with solar cells, I'd think it would have been done by now. Has anybody seen one?

Or maybe that many cells are just not needed to power LED lights and a small speaker.

 

[sachilles]

That spool of wire is not the haulrope fyi. It's too small for that task. It does look like bare cable as opposed to communication wire. I'm guessing it's part of the grounding system. The grounding wire gets run in the middle. Often the communication wire runs along it in tandem.

 

[sachilles]

You wouldn't need a very large solar panel to power a few led foot lights. You'd need a battery though. My RV is equipped with enough LED lights, to provide good light inside, that will last 6 plus hours. I small solar panel should provide enough power to charge that battery during the day.

 

[STLstone]

As shown on BlogMickey.com, the wire that runs in the middle of the towers is shown in the pictures below (on their website). The second pic shows the wire spool. The 3rd pic is an enlargement of the 2nd pic. The wire looks to be a metal type cable. The full story is here - http://blogmickey.com/2018/11/photo...at-hollywood-studios-disney-skyliner-station/

View attachment 364083

I'm throwing these semi-educated guesses out here. I don't bet my life on them, but it's fun to speculate.

The metal cable spool appears to say "FATZER" on it. From Fatzer's website, it appears they make steel wire ropes for several applications - including gondola systems. This rope does not appear to be the haul rope for a few obvious reasons. It's too thin and it's in the wrong location. Fatzer also makes structural support cables. My guess is this is some type of guy wire, possibly to support the actual electric/communication cables that will run between the poles.

That brings me to two of the other spools of wire being run. the two red/pink spools at the base of the pole. The one spool say "CORTLAND" on the side of it. Cortland's website shows they provide, among other things, custom cables that can include power, communication and/or optical fiber. It wouldn't be unusual for these types of cables to require some type of support - besides holding their own weight between towers.

So, with this small bit of information, I'm guessing that the metal cable is installed and used to support the signal cables.

 

[rteetz]

Looks like install will start today DHS.

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2018/11/disney-skyliner-gondola-rope-to-be.html

 

[hegstad1]

If anyone cares to watch this process live, Big Sky Resort in Montana is currently finishing up construction of their new Ramcharger 8 Lift also built by Doppelmyar. The smaller cables are sand lines used to tow the actual haul rope into place.

https://bigskyresort.com/ramcharger8

Follow the links to the live cams. It's kind of interesting to watch.

 

[STLstone]

If anyone cares to watch this process live, Big Sky Resort in Montana is currently finishing up construction of their new Ramcharger 8 Lift also built by Doppelmyar. The smaller cables are sand lines used to tow the actual haul rope into place.

https://bigskyresort.com/ramcharger8

I should have thought of that one...