New monorail spur line

[Donald_Quackers]

I just saw on Monorails.org that WDW is going to (allegedly) get a spur line near the TTC to store a work tractor there, and be long enough to hold a monorail train there as well.

No source is cited, but I've not known them to post anything without having a valid source.

Not a full line, but it's a good step for safety and reliability.

 

[Oglet]

Interesting since I was wondering why they cleared a bunch of land around pylon 15 on the resort beam lagoon side. It would be more than enough space for them to be able to do it however with only having 11 trains id be curious how they would implement it.

Most of the time there are 4 trains on resort and express and 3 on Epcot which uses up the complete number of available trains. If for some reason there are less than those numbers and they need a new one out its usually coming out from shop from repairs so I am not sure how this would benefit them since any train needing repairs must still go to shop.

It's a lot of money to spend for something that really wouldn't save a whole bunch of time. The work tractor IMHO would be better of parked out on the Epcot beam on a mini spur.

 

[DC7800]

While this is certainly an interesting development, couldn't a work tractor and/or monorail be stored on the Epcot-Express beam connecting track which already exists? You would need stairs and a small (work) platform for access, but that's a lot easier than building a new switch and spur.

I wonder that monorail.org's source is?

 

[KYMickey]

I wonder if possibly this is in preparation for buying new trains? It's been discussed many times that the present ones are overdue for replacement. Maybe this full working to that plan somehow?

 

[DC7800]

It would be more than enough space for them to be able to do it however with only having 11 trains id be curious how they would implement it.

In-progress repairs to the damaged cabs of monorails pink and purple will restore the system to twelve trains.

 

[skiingfast]

Assuming this is correct, I wonder why the would be putting a back stage operation in a readily seen area?

 

[mousermerf]

Assuming this is correct, I wonder why the would be putting a back stage operation in a readily seen area?

The tugs are slow, getting them onto any line from TTC would be the quickest way to get them around.

Having one at Epcot station wouldn't help MK express or resort.

Real life example: Yellow went kaput at Epcot station (this happens a lot with Yellow..) and Silver got stuck in Epcot behind it. It's really not a good idea to drive Silver backwards to the TTC and Yellow isn't going anywhere until the tug arrives. It takes 45 minutes to dispatch the tug, have it switch onto the line between Contemporary and MK, then goto the TTC, and switch onto the Epcot line, and then drive to Epcot station. That also includes having to get other trains out of the way of the tug as needed.

So I got to sit there, in the front cab so I got to hear all the communications, for 45 minutes looking at the Imagination pavilion.

 

[skiingfast]

This is the complete article. It adds much light to the conversation.

It says it will be near the TTC, and what it will be for.

"New Spur Track for WDW (07/25/10)
ANOTHER TMS EXCLUSIVE!
Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Sources tell us that Walt Disney World is about to embark on its first track addition project since the EPCOT loop was added in 1982. A new switch will be added near the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC) which will accomodate a new spur line. With that side track, monorail operations will be able to keep a work tractor in a much more central location, ready for events on either the Bay Lake loops or the EPCOT loop. This will save a lot of time if the so-called "Park Rangers" (the electrician and mechanic on duty out on the system) have a tractor close by rather than having to position trains to make way for the work vehicle." Additionally, the spur line will have enough room for a train. As one experienced former WDW monorail pilot tells us, "This will allow them to park 'the fourth' express train during the slow period of the day rather than having to switch it back to shop. That time savings ought to be huge. The space will also be useful for pulling off a train that needs minor maintenance so they can work on it offline, rather than hold up the system while they look it over at Base or Concourse." While the new track is not the massive system expansion plan that was scuttled in the 9/11 aftermath, it may be a useful modern day beam-building experiment that could lead to a 'all points' property-wide system, one similar to what Walt Disney outlined shortly before his death in 1966."

 

[Oglet]

In-progress repairs to the damaged cabs of monorails pink and purple will restore the system to twelve trains.

True however that is still quite a way from being complete, the trains haven't even got the front cabs on them and quite a few parts still need replaced that have been used for other repairs.

The tugs are slow, getting them onto any line from TTC would be the quickest way to get them around.

Having one at Epcot station wouldn't help MK express or resort.

Not really true, Since you would not have to de-energize the express beam to bring the work tractor out. If you put the mini spur as I called it where you park the work tractor somewhere between pylons 225 and say 365 there would be no need even think about having to move any other trains backwards.

Say Coral Breaks down and needs towed around 185 right before Epcot, you have Yellow at 45 and Blue at 374, all you would do is bring Blue into TTC, Move Yellow out to say about 105 and once Blue has unloaded move it out to 55 or somewhere which would leave Coral a straight shot back to TTC and a clear path on to the express beam. Once The train got into the station all you would need to do is drop power to the express beam to about 62 and then take it out the switch and back off the express line to shop. Realistically you could have it moved and out of the way with 20 - 30 minutes downtime on the express beam so for that time people are just directed to take the resort trains.

The real problem is the resort beam, If something breaks down on it things become a real pain. You simply cant divert resort guests to the express beam since it needs to go out of service for the train to be taken to shop. Watercraft and Buses can pickup the slack however its not really good show and can upset a lot of people.

In My opinion Disney should have raised the platform at the Polynesian and put in a service elevator and also put in an Elevator at the Grand Floridian so in the case the resort line is down the express beam could be used as a resort beam. The contemporary is already setup this way and can easily be used for loading and unloading in this manor.

In the end I believe the whole thing was designed poorly, right from the start there should have been a way to bring a resort train out/off without having to go through the express beam. This could easily have been done during the planing phases of the system but wasn't.

 

[mousermerf]

I think I get what you're saying, but in terms of time - it does take what feels like forever (and a timed 45mins to boot) to go save a train that went kaput in Epcot station.

If the tug is at/near TTC then a series of switches don't have to occur at various points, but instead right there at TTC. Getting it to Epcot would take about half the time and depending on where the problem was it'd also be faster then coming out of the roundhouse for resort and express. They have, i think, 3 tugs? So adding this spur makes it easier to get to Epcot and some parts of resort.

 

[mousermerf]

Side note: Wouldn't the spur give then an alternate location to park a train at night besides Epcot station? At least once Epcot line has been delayed in opening because the train in the station "derailed" due to high winds from overnight storms. The other stations aren't built that way.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I don't know the pylon numbers, but instead of a spur add a third beam in the STOLPort area with switches at both ends. One end could connect toward Epcot and the other toward the TTC. This would eliminate some backing up.

 

[mousermerf]

Bump: It's official.

http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010/07/disney-world-plans-small-monorail-expansion/

From the Orlando Sentinel - it's for exactly the reasons stated by the monorail society, myself, and others.

 

[Oglet]

Its great to see they are finally spending some money on the monorail system...

 

[mousermerf]

Its great to see they are finally spending some money on the monorail system...

Here's hoping we get new trains sometime this century.

 

[Donald_Quackers]

Bump: It's official.

http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010/07/disney-world-plans-small-monorail-expansion/

From the Orlando Sentinel - it's for exactly the reasons stated by the monorail society, myself, and others.

I'm glad to see confirmation of this. I, like others, would like to see them expand to all 4 parks, but I do realize that that isn't going to happen soon,if at all -- but one can always hope.

 

[skiingfast]

Bump: It's official.

http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010/07/disney-world-plans-small-monorail-expansion/

From the Orlando Sentinel - it's for exactly the reasons stated by the monorail society, myself, and others.

Thanks for posting the link. I do wonder if it was incorrect when it said a 62 foot spur. Incidently the trains are about 62 meters long so maybe that's what was meant. Of course then it would just fit a trainset on it with nothing to spare. We'll see.

 

[Oglet]

While this is certainly an interesting development, couldn't a work tractor and/or monorail be stored on the Epcot-Express beam connecting track which already exists? You would need stairs and a small (work) platform for access, but that's a lot easier than building a new switch and spur.

The problem with that would be before a switch from Epcot to Express could occur you would have to move the tractor of the spur and on to another line, the line which you are moving the tractor on to would need to have power dropped.

 

[skiingfast]

The problem with that would be before a switch from Epcot to Express could occur you would have to move the tractor of the spur and on to another line, the line which you are moving the tractor on to would need to have power dropped.

Why would the powere need to be dropped?

 

[Donald_Quackers]

I don't think the power should need to be dropped. For example, switches automatically operate daily on the Las Vegas monorail without needing the power to be cut.