HOWTO drive the Disneyland Monorail

If you ever find yourself writing a historical novel about someone who goes joyriding in the Disneyland Monorail, I have a hell of a reference for you: the 1966 Disneyland Monorail Operator Guide.

Disneyland Monorail Operator Guide (1966) (Thanks, Jeff!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: automotive • Copyfight • disneyland • happy mutants • Old school

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http://halfbakedmaker.org Robert Baruch

LOL!!!! The spiel button! ROFL!!!!
Hank

According to my uncle who helped build Disneyworld and then got a job as a monorail operator, they are called monorail _pilots_.
- fett101
  
  But of course. If you get a ride in the front you can get a Monorail Co-pilots license.
  - Tony Fannin
    
    Sadly, you can no longer ride in the front of Monorails at WDW. This came down after the accident in ’09 that killed an operator, sorry, pilot. This has disappointed me greatly as that’s the one thing I looked forward to more than anything when visiting.
    As a Monorail junkie(I have at least 20 Monorail themed items here on my desk at work), I hope they change that ruling back some day.
    - fett101
      
      Well, at least you can still get in the Mark Twain pilot house.
Evan Rappaport

So to conclude; mono means ‘one’ and rail means ‘rail’.
http://www.geekforce.com Hugh Johnson

Well, sir, there’s nothing on earth
Like a genuine,
Bona fide,
Electrified,
Six-car
Monorail!
What’d I say?
- http://twitter.com/PsychicWhoosh Michael W.
  
  MONORAIL!
  
  But what about us brain dead slobs?
  - YakHerder
    
    You’ll be given cushy jobs! (Monorail = job creation)
peterkvt80

Hand signals aren’t international. On page 22, the sign indicating that two compartments are required might be misunderstood in England.
http://www.jimdraws.com Thorzdad

I’ve been to Disneyworld two or three times, and each time I’ve gone, I come away dismayed that Disney simply stopped developing the monorail system.

It’s such a huge property, with attractions scattered all over the place, it just seems like a perfect set-up for a complex monorail system. Instead, they built the small system and stopped there. It’s such a missed opportunity.
niktemadur

Hey, where’s the damned steering wheel? lol
semiotix

If you ever find yourself writing a historical novel about someone who goes joyriding in the Disneyland Monorail

I have to admit, that’s a pretty awesome premise. And there’s no one on earth better qualified to write that novel than you.
CLamb

Its interesting to learn of Richard Nixon’s involvement with the monorail.

Contrary to what the book says the Disneyland monorail is the first daily passenger carrying monorail in the Western Hemisphere. I know of one, the Hotchkiss Bicycle Railroad, http://nj-pine-barrens.livejournal.com/2557.html, which is older.
http://twitter.com/zizban Christopher Turkel

I used to drive a monorail at WDW. Not much has changed. It’s still the most boring job in the transportation department.
http://twitter.com/jaipunk Jaipaul Massey-Singh

Need. More. Spiel.
Dale Mahalko

Disney’s monorail isn’t really all that great. Yes, it is a monorail, but no it is not magnetic levitation. The drive system uses regular rubber car tires for traction and support, and for whatever reason the smell of hot tire rubber seeps into the passenger cabins and reeks in every car, nasty. Hey Disney tell ya what, why don’t you suck in fresh air from the roof and blow it out the bottom underneath?

Also, taking the $200 Backstage Disney trip, the guide tells us that due to insurance and permitting and all that, the monorail would cost something like a million bucks a mile to extend to the other parks, which is why they haven’t.

There is probably more to it. Remember, the existing monorail has been around for decades, so Disney has been able to see what the maintenance costs are vs bus transport. Since it is used nowhere else, the total cost of repairs and custom replacement parts falls squarely on Disney to produce for itself.

They probably reached the conclusion that although “visionary” the monorail is not that much of a cost savings vs other methods of getting around, plus also the monorail requires a big complex station for boarding, while a bus simply rolls to a stop and people get on and off anywhere.

A better option with higher flexibility would be a hybrid bus with steel and rubber wheels, that can get on and off tracks between parks. It could use electric rails on-track, and a diesel engine off-track. But this is not so visionary, so.. eh.
Eric Hunting

”Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas…”