From:
http://thedisneydrivenlife.com/2011/...y-the-numb3rs/
Granted, this is a privately built ideal: ideal in that the builders did not have to deal with multitudes of property owners/governmental entities and ideal in that 1 design authority was used throughout.
“The Disney Driven Life”
The Disney World Monorail
(Asterisks are my addition)
• 50 million people use the monorail each year, making this the world’s busiest monorail system in the world.
• 337 individual track beams were used on the original monorail loop that consisted of the resort hotels and Magic Kingdom. Each track beam is 85 to 110 feet in length, and weighs 55 tons.*
• 3 monorails were in operation on Opening Day in 1971: Orange, Green, and Gold.
• $1,000,000 per mile is the estimated cost to build the monorail system.**
• 11 Mark VI monorails trains are in service today. Each train is identified by a color with the following colored trains still in service: Black, Blue, Coral, Gold, Green, Lime, Orange, Red, Silver, Yellow, and Teal.
• 2 colors were retired after the 2009 accident: Purple and Pink. Teal was rebuilt using parts from the retired cars.
• 6–number of cars per each Mark VI monorail train.
• 203’ 6” is the overall length of the Mark VI Monorail trains. With a height of 10 feet 10.5 inches tall.
• 124 tires are on each train of Mark VI monorail train, and each train can carry 360 passengers.
• 300-372 guests are the capacity of a Mark VI 6-car monorail.
• 15 miles–the total length of monorail track at WDW
• 4,200 feet of track were originally installed.
• 171 feet–the total length of a 5-car monorail train.
• 50 miles per hour–the maximum speed of the monorail, but they typically don’t exceed 40 miles per hour.***
• 50 tons–the gross weight of an empty 6-car monorail train.****
• 14 monorail trains are currently used; they include (1 5-car train, 9 old 6-car trains, and 4 Mark VI 6-car trains).
• 10 selections are on the Monorail Master Control Unit (MCU), 5 forward, 1 center, and 4 back. The 5 forward positions are propulsion selections labeled P-1 through P-5. They correspond to speed traveled as follows: P-1 = 15 mph, P-2= 20 mph, P-3= 25 mph, P-4= 30 mph, P-5= 40 mph. The 4 back are labeled B-1 to B4; the higher the number the harder the brakes. The 1 center is a neutral.
• 8 electric motors are on each monorail train.*****
• 113 horsepower–what each monorail motor delivers.******
• 600 volts of DC power is generated from each electric motor.
• 99.9% up time for the monorail system. Each train has a strict maintenance schedule to keep these running as well as they do.
• 4 million plus miles–the approximate total miles the monorail has traveled since 1971.
• 200,000–how many people use the monorail each day between Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, and the 3 Resorts
• 26 inches–the width on the Monorail track
• 40 MPH is the average speed of the Monorail
• 77,427 feet–the total track length
• 10,000 guests ride per hour
• 65 feet–the highest point of the track
• 300 guests can ride on the Mark IV monorail
• 400 beams were used to construct the original track
• 110 feet long is each section (beam) of track
• 1 million dollars were needed to extend the monorail in 1982
• 200 pilots operate the monorail system that keeps WDW guests moving each day
• 2009 was the first year in the 48 year history that there was a fatal accident
• 1 death occurred in 2009 as a result of a head-on collision of 2 monorails, a 21 year monorail pilot, Austin Wuennenberg died at the scene of the accident at the TTC at 2 am Sunday July 5, 2009
*Compare this with the support structure for the elevated portion of the Dallas light rail shown in Electricon’s photos. Compare this even to the poorly designed Las Vegas monorail system.
**Perhaps $15,000,000 per mile if privately designed and built in 2011. If metro area authority built perhaps $50,000,000 per mile.
***Slightly slower than light rail speeds
****Amazing.
****,*****Very energy efficient as the units are so light (square cube law again)
This type of system IMO would be ideal to connect transportation terminals which, whether through poor design or physical barriers could not be located close to one another. This would work best as a loop.
Jamesinclair also pointed out that elevated stations do not have to be any more complex than for elevated steel rail.