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| ORLANDO, Fla. – Two monorail trains crashed early Sunday morning in the Magic Kingdom section of Walt Disney World, killing one train's operator, emergency officials said. The monorail operator died at the scene of the crash, which happened around 2 a.m., said Bo Jones, deputy chief for Reedy Creek Fire Department. The other train operator was not injured, but was taken to a hospital because he was emotionally shaken. Five park guests were treated at the scene. It is unclear what caused the crash, Jones said. Orange County Sheriff's officials are investigating the cause. Jones said the crash happened at the park's ticket and transportation center. About a dozen guards wearing blue Disney security uniforms guarded the monorail station Sunday morning and prevented visitors from approaching the area. Ethan Meus, who was visiting the theme park from Dubuque, Iowa, said he and his family took the monorail to dinner at a resort hotel Saturday night. Meus, 17, watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the monorail on the way back to his hotel, he said, and didn't notice any problems with the train. "It's pretty shocking to hear that a driver was killed in that accident," Meus said. The family was planning to take the train again Sunday to visit Disney's Epcot Center, but now planned to take a bus, Meus added. "You would think it would be so safe," said 20-year-old Lauren Shoebottom, who was visiting the park from London. "You don't expect it on holiday, do you?" Walt Disney World vice president of public affairs Mike Griffin issued a statement offering condolences to the employee's family and saying the monorail was closed. "It's a bit shocking," said 22-year-old Danielle Williams, of London. "Disney seems so perfect." |
| QUOTE (TampaJoe @ Jul 5 2009, 05:24 PM) |
| I always imagined they had cutoff sensors/braking systems that stopped a train when it came too close to another train, or an occupied station.. they will now eh? This collision tragedy must be the first of it's kind with any disney monorail.. |
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| Specifications The modern trains that have been in use since 1989 are each 203' 6" long (consisting of six cars) and can carry 364 passengers. The trains are driven by eight 113 HP motors which are powered by a 600-volt electrical system running through a busbar mounted on each side of the concrete beam. [6] Each train also has seven inverters on board that convert the 600 VDC to 230 VAC for use by the air conditioners and air compressor, and additionally has a battery-backed 35 VDC low-voltage supply that provides power for the train's electronics. The trains are also equipped with a towing knuckle at each end to allow it to be pushed or pulled by a special diesel-powered tractor if need be. Maximum speed during normal operations is 40 mph, with several speed zones throughout the system with limits ranging from 15 to 40 mph(http://www.monorailyellow.com/monorails.asp). These speed limits are strictly enforced by the train's computer and cannot be overridden without the operator engaging a special lockout. Attempting to drive the train too quickly in a given speed zone will result in an "overspeed stop", often subjecting the driver to good-natured ridicule by his co-workers. Train spacing is maintained by the Moving Blocklight System (MBS), also known as the MAPO (for "Mary Poppins") system, which establishes a number of "holdpoints" throughout the system(http://www.monorailyellow.com/monorails.asp). At any given time, there must be at least two holdpoints between a given train and the train ahead of it. When the train detects that there are fewer than two holdpoints between itself and the preceding train, the emergency brakes are immediately applied and cannot be released until sufficient spacing becomes available or the operator explicitly overrides the system. Failure to maintain adequate spacing is known as an "overrun", and is treated as an extremely serious offense.[citation needed] |
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| Train safety Safe train spacing is maintained via a moving blocklight system, referred to as MAPO, installed in the cab of each train.[5] MAPO appears in the top center of the pilot's console and looks similar to a horizontal stop light. There are three lights—green, amber, and red—and a push-button labeled "Override". The term "MAPO" itself comes directly from Walt Disney, who formed a new company to deal with Disneyland's transportation system directly from the profits made by Mary Poppins.[10] Each monorail beam is divided into blocks based upon pylon numbering. The currently illuminated MAPO color indicates how far ahead the leading train is currently located. A green MAPO shows that the leading train is 3 or more blocks ahead, amber means 2 blocks ahead, and red indicates that the next train is in the very next block. A block is roughly between 500 and 1000 feet (about 150 and 300 m) long, although this varies. The start of each block is called a "hold point", as pilots may need to hold their trains at that location until the train ahead moves away. Guests riding in the front cab of a monorail can identify hold points by the yellow reflective tape around a pylon's number and by two yellow reflectors attached to the top outside edges of the monorail beam at that pylon. For safety, trains must be kept at least two blocks apart during normal operation. A red MAPO indicates that train spacing has become unsafe. When a red MAPO occurs, the train's on-board computer locks out the pilot's propulsion control and applies emergency brakes. The pilot cannot resume control of the train until either the MAPO clears or the pilot presses and holds the MAPO override button.[5] It is the pilot's responsibility to avoid a red MAPO during normal operation. When the MAPO switches from green to amber, this indicates that the monorail is approaching the train ahead. The pilot must stop the train before crossing into the next block of beam way and hence before the MAPO switches to red. Should a pilot cross the hold point and receive a red MAPO, this counts as a safety demerit against the pilot. If the pilot ever has three demerits on their record, then they will be transferred out of the monorails department and into a different role at Walt Disney World.[11] Safety tests are performed daily to ensure that the MAPO system is working properly on each train. At the direction of the monorail station conducting the test, each train will intentionally overrun a hold point to verify that a red MAPO occurs and that the emergency brakes activate. Pilots perform tests in forward and reverse when bringing a train onto the system for the first time that day, and a forward test is again conducted mid-afternoon. The indications are called into Monorail Central with the emergency brake pressures. A red MAPO will also occur when the pilot approaches a section of un-powered beam, a spur line, or a switch beam thrown in the direction of a spur line. Pilots must engage the MAPO override when moving trains through a switch to the spur line. MAPOs occurring due to safety tests, switching, or beam power loss do not count as demerits against the pilot. |
| QUOTE (Jessiestudio @ Jul 8 2009, 06:41 PM) |
| bummer i really wanted to try that at least once :( oh well |
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| Disney also has suspended for now a practice that allowed some park guests to ride in the front cabin with the monorail operator. A spokeswoman said it was done out of respect for pilots during the difficult time. |
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| Moments before another train traveling backward slammed into the front of his vehicle and killed him, Walt Disney World monorail pilot Austin Wuennenberg apparently attempted to avoid the collision by throwing his train into reverse, according to the federal agency investigating the crash. "There are indications that [Wuennenberg] ... had brought the train to a stop and had attempted to put the train in reverse prior to the collision," the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released Wednesday evening. The NTSB's findings confirmed that Sunday's fatal crash was the result of a failed attempt to transfer a train between tracks, though the agency said it has not yet determined what errors caused the accident. But it also said it has found no "anomalies or malfunctions" with any track-switch components or with the automatic anti-collision system onboard all of Disney's trains, suggesting the tragedy was the result of human error. One potential contributing factor: The "monorail central" coordinator, who oversees the entire system and signals trains when to begin moving, was not at the central console at the time of the accident, according to a Disney employee familiar with the events. The console has a display grid that the coordinator can use to ensure that a track switch has been realigned before instructing a train to begin transferring to the other line. It also has a red, mushroom-shaped emergency-shutdown switch that can be used to stop all trains. The Disney employee, would spoke to the Orlando Sentinel only on condition of anonymity, said the monorail-central coordinator who had been working that night went home sick and had handed responsibility for the system to an on-duty manager. But that manager was off site and communicating by radio when the accident occurred, the person said. A spokeswoman for Disney World said Wednesday that the resort will "continue to work closely with the NTSB and other agencies investigating the incident." The other agencies include the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Transportation Communications Union, which represents monorail employees. Not having someone at the central console would not be enough to cause the accident by itself, according to former monorail pilots. For instance, workers in the monorails' maintenance shop, who are supposed to activate track switches upon request from the coordinator, have their own display grids as well as monitors linked to video cameras that overlook the track switches -- and emergency-shutdown switches. Former pilots said there also would likely have been multiple clues for the unidentified pilot of the second train that his vehicle had not shifted onto the spur line and was instead moving back down the Epcot line. And at least one individual on the Transportation and Ticket Center platform, near where the trains collided, should have had a portable "kill pack" that could have shut down the electrically powered monorail track had the person realized a train was coming from the wrong direction. The roughly 400-word NTSB report offers the first official account of how the two trains collided. It was the first fatal accident in the 38-year history of Disney World's monorail. With workers preparing to shut down for the night after the end of the busy Fourth of July holiday, Disney's "pink" train -- each train is identified by a colored stripe along its side -- was instructed to drop all of its remaining passengers off at the Transportation and Ticket Center. Its pilot was then told to advance along the Epcot line until just beyond a switch for the spur leading to a Magic Kingdom loop; there the train was to wait until the track was realigned and it could take the spur to return to the system's maintenance bay for the night. The train was then instructed to begin traveling in reverse -- even though the track's switch had not changed position. At the same time, Wuennenberg, who was piloting the "purple" train farther back on the Epcot line, was instructed to advance into the Transportation and Ticket Center so he could drop off his six passengers. Before he reached the station, Wuennenberg apparently realized the pink train was backing toward him. That is where the NTSB said it appears he stopped his train and attempted to shift into reverse -- and where the pink train smashed into him. All six passengers aboard Wuennenberg's train were unhurt. |