Question About Monorail Playsets.

[DClatt]

Does anyone have any more information about theach Silver Disneyana monorail set? I can't even find a picture online haha I've been trying to hunt one down.

 

[MagicEarsTyler14]

Hello all,
I believe the Silver monorail that you are refering to is not an actual full 5 car monorail playset but a different smaller one, which is still awesome.

After searching the web it appers this forum and this thread have the "most" monorailing going on. I have been to monorail society but the disney monorails are my favorite.

I have built a DL and WDW models to display the monorails on after seeing what Kim Pederson had made. If you havent seen his DL Mark5 display you really should check it out. It really is awesome and it is true that the DL Mark5 was only in the Blue stripe and has amazing detail for a toy. It seems like it was more pricey to built the Mark5 with all the detail so they scrapped them for the WDW style trains which most dont notice or care.

I too have the TTC switch station that is prone to jamming or getting stuck. What happens is the sliding or switching part will slide off its area and be stuck. Once you see the problem you can add a little piece, I used plastic, to block the piece from going too far. Good luck

I will be posting some of my stuff maybe on youtube or here. I have 2 of the DL monorails with Golden gate bridge, a monorail purple that I added an extra car to make a 6 car train. I also have the red stripe and 2 green stripes. I also have some straight track packs, and of course the TTC. Well have a magical day all!!!

 

[boBQuincy]

If the silver monorail does not exist, all is not lost. I just spoke with the owner of a plating shop and they can "chrome plate" (actually vacuum metalize) the monorail for about $125. This is the same process used to plate model car chrome parts so it would look a lot like chrome. It is a complete plating process so the stripes/windows would be plated too, the windows could be painted black/grey afterwards.

Who wants to be the first with a "chrome" monorail?

 

[MagicEarsTyler14]

This could be the Silver special edition monorail that you were refering to. If it is this one, it is a bit smaller and only 4 cars so a bit different then the standard monorail playset.

 

[DClatt]

If the silver monorail does not exist, all is not lost. I just spoke with the owner of a plating shop and they can "chrome plate" (actually vacuum metalize) the monorail for about $125. This is the same process used to plate model car chrome parts so it would look a lot like chrome. It is a complete plating process so the stripes/windows would be plated too, the windows could be painted black/grey afterwards.

Who wants to be the first with a "chrome" monorail?

haha thanks for the advice! But I'm more into "shiny" things in the sense of the words "limited edition" or such haha. In other words I'm a sucker for limited and special editions things. So when I read about this mythical all-silver edition monorail I got excited and haven't stopped my search since. Sadly I still lack any substantial evidence of it's existence.

 

[boBQuincy]

This has taken a long time (and still has one revision to go), Disney changed almost every dimension from the WDW model to the Disneyland Mark VII. Even though the WhisperJet chassis looks the same as the WDW version it is almost entirely different with many hours of design time. And it works! I doubt anyone has seen a Mark VII model run like this:

Here is the WJ chassis in the Mark VII shell:





Work still to be done: the large pulley slightly contacts the battery box. I ground away some of the battery box for my test model but for "production" the next design has the pulley moved further away from the battery box to eliminate contact.
The two side rollers are different materials, testing will show which is better but I think the softer one reduces noise.

My Mark VII rear cab had a lot of drag, one of the side roller supports was molded incorrectly and allows the roller to flop around and drag on the beam.

 

[boBQuincy]

Two items I am testing that may be of some interest: an autonomous monorail that runs to the end of the beam, slows down, stops, plays a message, then accelerates in reverse to the other end of the beam... repeat. This opens up possibilities for an "out and back" layout.

Next, continuous (up to 12') beam pieces that can be curved to various radii. The smoothness and quiet makes a big difference from the original beam pieces.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

If you want to see really cool monorail sets from the 1960's, that's right the 1960's google schuco Disneyland monorail sets. Vintage and very expensive but really really cool. You can also google youtube video of people showing of their monorail layouts. No buildings but really nice vintage monorail stuff.

 

[ragrubbs]

I know we are Super late to the monorail game? But we bought one last yet for christmas.wehave added the contemporary and spaceship earth and Extra characters. I know I saw the tree of life and space mountain not too long ago at disney, but not seeing now. Are those retired now too? Are they releasing any other pieces, or am I completely at the mercy of ebay.

 

[boBQuincy]

eBay is probably your only source for the discontinued models. There is a nice paper model of Space Mountain at: http://www.disneyexperience.com/models/spacemountain77_model.php

 

[boBQuincy]

I posted information on how to install an auxiliary motor control circuit board in the Disneyland Mark VII to enable an upgraded motor. For those that don't know the Mark VII remote can not provide much more power than the stock (slow) motor takes. This upgrade keeps the original remote and all functions.

http://monorail.suzieandbob.com/dl_motor_upgrade.html

 

[DClatt]

I posted information on how to install an auxiliary motor control circuit board in the Disneyland Mark VII to enable an upgraded motor. For those that don't know the Mark VII remote can not provide much more power than the stock (slow) motor takes. This upgrade keeps the original remote and all functions.

http://monorail.suzieandbob.com/dl_motor_upgrade.html

Thanks for the upgrade info! This is something I've been considering doing for a while but I didn't really know good resources to find different modding options

 

[Onizukachan]

Very late to the party, but I hadn’t seen anyone modding the actual playsets as opposed to the monorails.
Got my Spaceship Earth, and fiancées Contemporary and monorail (orange) new from shopDisney the other day. So I started this within about 10 minutes of opening the packaging.
Not sure if I should open a new thread? If so please move, mods.

I also started modding the Contemporary by adding actual windows and will be adding a 4th floor “concourse” and windows to it, and possibly a small speaker to play Disney Christmas music loops when it is under the tree. The LEDs for it haven’t arrived yet, so all I have is a test with some LEDs I had laying around.

https://instagram.com/p/Bf5hUWcjUwA/

Really liked monorailsilvers mods, and love Bobs whisper drive and automation work. Thanks.
That’s what inspired me to finally get one after all these years.

 

[boBQuincy]

Nice lighting effects on your Spaceship Earth!
The"All Scales Theme park/Disney Train Layouts" on Facebook has some members who put a lot into their structures, including lighting.

 

[Flayre]

This addiction is real. LOL Just got three more trains - 2 of the Lime and 1 of the newer DL Mark VII sets (finally back on the Shop store). The first Monorail Lime arrived yesterday and totally discolored which was a let down, but I guess somewhat expected. Found another set without a lot of discoloration issues - so might have to see what I can come up with between the two. Might need to move the set to the basement eventually and setup an actual area for the lines to run and what not. I'm running out of floor space in the spare room. So far I have Blue (current), Black, Red, and Yellow in addition to the 3 other trains.

Any have any experience in trying to lighten the plastic back to white? Heck at this point it might just be easier to take it to my family's body shop and repaint the thing.

I think I'm going to definitely try to do a light and/or motor replacement on one of these to try it out and see if I can do it without screwing things up too badly.

 

[Onizukachan]

There is a mixture that Macintosh user use to lighten their yellowed cases back to light beige. Hydrogen peroxide and oxyclean, then leave in the sun. The UV rays and solution react to safely bleach it back.
However I don’t know if it would remove the windows and other painted on details. I can tell you 91% alcohol will absolutely dissolve them, because I used it and q tips to clean up where the factory had gone beyond the lines.

You can always spray it metallic blue and do a TRONorail...

That’s my next project.

Don’t fear the light mod. Very easy.
I haven’t done the motor mod, but I’ve had mine apart a bunch modding other stuff, so my new motor is still sitting there waiting for everything else to go in. Not going to be hard either.

 

[boBQuincy]

Pulling the gear off the old motor is best done with a gear puller but since we probably are not going to use the motor again the gear puller is not necessary. Pressing the gear on the new motor we should press against the shaft on the rear of the motor to avoid putting pressure on the commutator (on the shaft inside the motor, made of plastic).

 

[Flayre]

Well I think I'm almost there when it comes to getting each color that was made. So far have Blue (new), DLP Mark VII (new), Red, Yellow, Black, Lime, Silver, Teal, Purple, and Green. It is crazy how much some of these variants go for, but I've been able to make deals on most of them.

Anyone have an extra connecting accordion pieces by chance? I've been scouring eBay for them, but no one seems to sell extras or part these out that much.

 

[Onizukachan]

I saw some on eBay a week ago, decided not to get them as spares, and a couple days later someone else snagged them. I’ve seen several “part outs” where they disassemble the cabs or cars and sell them by pieces, and often include the accodions in the selections, though not explicitly detailed in the listing.

 

[Andrew Bradley]

Hello, everyone! I recently got into collecting monorails (both the diecast and plastic versions) and I would like to collect all color variations. So if anyone has any they would like to sell, that is still "new in original box" please let me know! Thank you