Case Study

Monorail

Scope

The scope of work included the turn-key design, engineering, production, refurbishment, assembly (including all new propulsion, control systems and interiors), testing, surface coatings, certification, shipping and installation of three new train sets that operate on a two-mile closed loop monorail track at a major amusement park in California.

CLIENT

TBD

LOCATION

TBD

Challenge

The original Monorail attraction opened on June 14, 1959 with the first generation – MKI Monorail. Since that time, the Monorail attraction has been upgraded several times. It was the objective of this project to build and install three new 7th generation Monorail trains at a major amusement park in Southern California.  Each new Monorail (designated as MKVII) consists of a five coach train set.  The lead coach contains the iconic nose section and driver station, and coach #5 incorporates the tail section. The power cars are in coach #2 and #4.

Solution

The new Monorails interface and work with the existing monorail track, stations, and wayside systems.  The monorail system serves two stations in the loop, one at Tomorrowland and the other at the Downtown park area.  A single main line track switch is provided to allow train sets to be routed to the maintenance, service and repair facility in the maintenance facility.  The Monorails are driven by electric motors, which are powered by a mono-beam mounted (DC) bus bar system. The main (load wheels) travel on the top of the beamway and a set of two side (upper and lower) wheel surfaces are provided on the Beamway for guidance, steering and stability.  Each train set is provided with forced ventilation and air conditioning, interior lighting, Public Address (PA) and seating. The main coaches have an island seating arrangement with a capacity of 22 seated passengers. The automated doors fully interlock with station safety systems, allowing for fast and efficient passenger flows.  During station operations, redundant parking brakes ensure safe stand-still and no unintended movement of the train can occur. In conjunction with the Wayside Ride Controls, a integral train protection system is incorporated to ensure safe train separation during operation. Each coach also feature roof mounted supplementary emergency exits for a best in class evacuation capability. Each train set includes an audio subsystem for pre-recorded audio announcements and spools during operation. The driver station in coach #1 is a model of efficiency, with advanced train monitoring, side and rear video systems, as well as all of the safety and communications systems expected on a ‘state of the art’ transit system.

Benefits

The MKVII system represents a triumph in form and beauty.