The Disneyland Monorail was the first operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere and the first to cross a public street. When Walt built Disneyland, he wanted complete control over the steam trains, so that he could take them out when ever he wanted. Thus, he placed the steam trains, and then later the monorails under the ownership of Retlaw and leased them back to the park. In 1982, the family decided to sell the assets of Retlaw to the Disney Company, and a holding company, Walt Disney Incorporated was formed. Eventually, the steam trains and monorails became "officially" Disneyland's property.
Required a "E" ticket in 1964-1965
Mark III trains capacity 127-5 cars per train 4 wrapped windows monorail red,blue,green,gold: 1968-1986
Mark IV trains: (Only used at WDW)
Mark V trains 5 cars per train first monorail with air-conditioning:monorail purple, red, blue, gold: 1986-2008
Mark VI trains:(Only used at WDW)
Mark VII trains 5 cars per train all have have blue glass that change color in the sunlight. : monorail red ,blue ,orange 2008-
The trip from Tomorrowland to the Disneyland Hotel is more level and has more straight-aways, drivers can run the Monorail at full speed, 35 miles per hour. The return trip, though, has several curves and a seven-degree grade near the Submarine Lagoon, so drivers are instructed to maintain a speed of fifteen miles per hour.
The Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System. the forerunner to the present Disneyland Monorail System, was unveiled at Disneyland. on June 14, 1959, by Walt Disney and Vice President Richard M. Nixon and his family at a ribbon cutting ceremony which was viewed by a national television audience. Since that time. monorail trains have carried most of the heads of state who have visited Disneyland, as well as millions of other Disneyland Guests from nearly every nation of the world!
The original monorail system at Disneyland, which opened in 1959. included two trains, one blue and one red, and covered .8 miles of track. In June of 1962 the Disneyland Monorail System was extended to the Disneyland Hotel, making it the first monorail in America to run adjacent to a major highway (Harbor Boulevard) and to cross a city street (West Street, currently renamed to Disneyland Drive).
With the addition of the Disneyland Hotel to the Monorail route, the track was extended to a total length of 12,300 feet or nearly 2 1/2 miles. To whisk Disneyland Hotel Guests to the Park, new trains were designed to accommodate more Guests (2,100 hourly). Three trains were made. The new Mark II trains had four cars and a capacity of 108 passengers utilizing four 55 horsepower motors with a trip time of 6 minutes and 45 seconds from the Hotel to the Tomorrowland Station. And a cycle time of 9 minutes and 20 seconds. Trips per hour, approximately 19.5!
As demand for additional capacity grew, so did the Monorail System. In 1969, four new Mark III, (five car monorails) were unveiled. The carrying capacity was 124 Guests with four 100 horsepower motors. costing approximately S2.3 million dollars.
This demonstrated Walt Disney's dedication to stay at the forefront of technology.
The Ideas for monorail transportation became a reality in 1825. When on June 25th of that year the Cheshunt Railway opened. Originally. It was built to carry bricks. On its opening day it made monorail history by carrying passengers as well. It was horse-powered. A horse walking on the ground was connected via rope and harness to the carriages sitting on the beam! Since that time monorail transportation has been improved and added upon to meet the daily needs of the world's commuters. The oldest monorail line can be found in Wuppertal, Germany. Opening in 1901. it has survived two world wars and can carry 65,000 present-day passengers to 18 stations along it's 8.26 miles of track. The longest operating monorail track can be found in Florida at Walt Disney World Resort. Twelve Mark VI monorails with a capacity of 365 Guests pre train, traverse approximately 14.66 miles of track. Currently there are approximately 36 operating monorail systems world-wide with many more scheduled to open in the next few years.
The Disneyland system was based on an experimental monorail developed in 1952 by Dr. Axel Lennart Wenner-Gran of Cologne, Germany. When Walt Disney and Vice President Nixon and his family cut the ribbon on the sparkling new $1.3 million transportation system seven years latter the Mark I trains were christened the "Disneyland-Alweg Monorail".
In 1971 the Mark IV monorail system was introduced to the public at Walt Disney World near Orlando Florida. The initial fleet 10 Mark IV's was expanded to 12. The Mark IV trains were replaced by the Mark VI model, two of the old Mark IV trains operated in Las Vegas until the city introduced their new monorail system on July 15, 2004.
From Steve Birnbaum brings you the best of Disneyland 1982:
America's first daily operating monorail system, introduced in 1959, might have been a novelty in those days- but though it was replaced with four new Mark III five-car 137-foot-long trains a decade later, the at- traction still doesn't provoke wows of excitement. The 2.5-mile-long "highway in the sky" does, how- ever, add immeasurably to Tomorrowland's aura of urban futurism, and it does provide speedy trans- port for 2.5 miles through the edge of Tomorrowland and off the property to the Disneyland Hotel. Straddling its concrete beamway, the train has rubber tires to move it along, plus braking wheels atop the beam and guiding and stabilizing wheels on either side-for a total of 10 load-carrying wheels, 40 stabilizing wheels, and 4 steering wheels. Four 100-horsepower traction motors, operating on 600 volts of direct current, supply the power for each train.
With the arrival of 1984, the engineer's at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) began work with Messerschmitt, Bolkow and Blohm of Munich, Germany, on designs for the Mark V. The next generation of monorail trains to replace Disneyland's.. Mark III monorails. On April 12, 1988 the last trip of "Old Red", Mark Ill took place as the new Mark V trains were brought on line. The Mark V trains use the chassis of the old Mark III trains and cost approximately $6 million dollars. The familiar "driver bubble" was gone in favor of a more sleek profile. With a molded, lightweight fiberglass body and onboard computer control. In 1997 the Mark V trains were upgraded to operate backwards at full speed (35 mph) as necessitated by the construction of Disney's California Adventure in the old Disneyland parking lot. Yet again demonstrating the diversity of monorail design.
In 1985 the Disneyland Monorail received Historical Mechanical Landmark Status. Here is what is written on the dedication plaque:
HISTORICAL MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING LANDMARK
DISNEYLAND MONORAIL SYSTEM
1959
DISNEY ENGINEERS DESIGNED THIS MONORAIL SYSTEM, BASED ON THE SYSTEM DEVELOPED
BY AXEL L. WENNER-GREN (ALWEG). BUILT AT THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS, THE SYSTEM IS
INTENDED TO APPLY TO URBAN TRANSIT. OPENED IN 1959, IT AS BEEN IN DAILY
PASSENGER SERVICE EVER SINCE. THE CARS ARE EQUIPPED WITH 600 VOLT D.C. 100 HP
ELECTRIC MOTORS DRIVING RUBBER TIRED WHEELS ON A SINGLE BEAM TRACKWAY.
REDEDICATED JUNE 14, 2004
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS-1986
When the last of the Mark II trains were scrapped one was used to create the Mouse-O-Rail.
With the opening of the Downtown Disney District in 2001 the old Hotel Station was demolished and re-opened as the new Downtown Disney Monorail Station. This new station opened up the new Resort area to Guests visiting the Park who wished to visit the high energy shopping, dining, and entertainment district. Also opening on February 8, 2001 was Disney's California Adventure. The monorails now traversed from Tomorrowland through the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, over the Golden Gate Bridge, and through Disney's Grand Californian Hotel on their way to the Downtown Disney Station.
From WED Monorail History 2006
Silent-running Monorail trains at Disneyland. provide a preview of future transportation for America's cities playing a vital role in linking the Park with the Downtown Disney District, thus giving Guests a sweeping view of the Park from its entrance, and a glimpse of the many Attractions in the Tomorrowland and Fantasyland areas.
Again in Late 2006 the monorails were upgraded to travel in reverse service as necessitated by the construction of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
Today the Monorail continues to offer the "Transportation of the Future" to thousands of visiting Disneyland Resort Guests. As the Mark V Monorail ends its life span on the beam new Mark VII Monorail will be debuting in late 2007.
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