Originally Posted By -em Oh and I forgot to mention... I can't be sure (cause I was walking to my car) but it seems like Silver was carrying passengers in the front tonight (as there was looked like 2 small heads visible) So the "ban" may have been rather short lived
Originally Posted By hopemax So I know in the grand scheme of things this is pretty irrelevant but... > though all the reports agree on the MOD being at breakfast (though I've heard Denny's and Perkins) < When I mentioned to my Mom, about Denny's she said, "No, it was Perkins!"
Originally Posted By sjhym33 The driver of Monorail Pink today said that he was sorry for what happened and offered his condolenses to the family of the other driver. He was named today on a local televions station. He is 62 years old and says that he was following instructions that he was given on the radio like he had done many times before.
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL >>>He is 62 years old and says that he was following instructions that he was given on the radio like he had done many times before.<<< Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, BUT if he had "done it many times before" wouldn't he have known he was still on the same beam and immediately stopped and alerted control seeing that there was open radio communication?
Originally Posted By sharpc I think "he had done it many times before" is referring to listening to the instructions on the radio and backing up into the station. Apart from that, we can't really be sure how well he could tell the differences between the two tracks when driving.
Originally Posted By danyoung From what I've read on other threads, the feel of the tracks in this one location is very similar. It would be hard to tell just by feel alone whether he was on his old track or moving on to a new track. Plus, he was at the farthest point away from the switch, meaning that it would all feel the same to him right up to the point of the cab actually moving over to the new track. And remember, he was backing up, so was physically far away from the point of accident. Whether this could have been prevented with better visual sightings from the Pink pilot is probably an important question for the investigation.
Originally Posted By ImaginingDisney001 >>>> From what I've read on other threads, the feel of the tracks in this one location is very similar <<<< So are you saying that the Switch track, the part that switches from Epcot to TTC Exp ( I think that is an individual track, could have some vibration bumps installed to confirm that the MonoRail is changing tracks? If that could be done, it makes sense, a very good confimation that the monorail is going in the right direction. ID
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<So are you saying that the Switch track, the part that switches from Epcot to TTC Exp ( I think that is an individual track, could have some vibration bumps installed to confirm that the MonoRail is changing tracks?>> I believe a few people mentioned something like this earlier in the thread when they said there should be track side lights or something to alert the drive as to what track the monorail is on.
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL I am open to info on this as I don't know the WDW rails that well. At the switch, it looks as if there are three tracks. If monorail PINK making the switch is coming down, say the middle track, makes a switch, is told it is clear to proceed, travels back over the same middle track instead of one of the outside tracks....you should immediately know you are heading back in the wrong direction. This being a closed circuit rail, much like a roller coaster, and more than one train is on that circuit or loop, you would immediately stop and find out what happened to the switch and where the other trains are in relation to you. Is the track switch so close to the TTC that even if you did realize an error, with this visual cue and stop, you would still make contact with a parked train?
Originally Posted By sjhym33 I think the best picture of the switch system at TTC can be found here: http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/blog.php?b=459 It is a capture from Google Maps if you want to go there and zoom in and out. To answer your question. Even though the monorail was going in reverse and he couldnt see where he was going, when the train cleared the trees the driver should have noticed all the landmarks around him. For instance he should have seen the switch he should have been on to his left with the Contemporary in the distance. To his right he should have realized the bus parking lot was right there and that there was NO beam on that side of him like there should be. My guess was he wasn't paying attention. It was a busy night and it was late. If you check out the map on google and zoom in you can see that even though the beams look really close, there is enough room between the beams that when your driving you should notice the difference.
Originally Posted By sjhym33 Here are 2 closer views of the switch beams: <iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=28.406838,-81.57755&t=h&sll=38.060512,-101.75144&sspn=29.401293,86.220703&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=28.419561,-81.57383&spn=0.002015,0.005262&z=14&output=embed" target="_blank">http://maps.google.com/maps?q=...ut=embed</a>"></iframe><br /><small><a href="<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=28.406838,-81.57755&t=h&sll=38.060512,-101.75144&sspn=29.401293,86.220703&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=28.419561,-81.57383&spn=0.002015,0.005262&z=14&source=embed" target="_blank">http://maps.google.com/maps?q=...ce=embed</a>" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small> <iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=28.406838,-81.57755&t=h&sll=38.060512,-101.75144&sspn=29.401293,86.220703&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=28.419561,-81.57383&spn=0.001007,0.002631&z=14&output=embed" target="_blank">http://maps.google.com/maps?q=...ut=embed</a>"></iframe><br /><small><a href="<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=28.406838,-81.57755&t=h&sll=38.060512,-101.75144&sspn=29.401293,86.220703&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=28.419561,-81.57383&spn=0.001007,0.002631&z=14&source=embed" target="_blank">http://maps.google.com/maps?q=...ce=embed</a>" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>
Originally Posted By sjhym33 The NTSB has completed their investigation but has not released any info. Here are some other interesting things reported today. The driver of the other monorail is so distraught over what happened that he is under a doctors care. My heart goes out to him. What a terrible thing to have gone through. The Orange County Sheriff's Office has gotten involved. According to WESH-TV, the men and women who operate Disney's monorails are being drug-tested.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy Are they normally subject to drug testing, or is this something new?
Originally Posted By MPierce >>I've got a question for you -em. Do you remember how long it takes to reboot the Monorail when switching from cab#1, to cab#6?<< >> Not too long I cant remember exactly but I would estimate about 5 min total << Thanks -em. >> "I've got a question for you -em. Do you remember how long it takes to reboot the Monorail when switching from cab#1, to cab#6?" In reality it doesnt take more than a couple of minutes. Here was the way it used to be done. The train on the EPCOT beam would reverse out of the station to just past the switch beam. This way they would be faceing the switch beam and driving onto the MK line. When the train was safely thru the switch AND in the station, monorail base would call and have the beam switch back to normal. At that point the power in the station on that beam goes off (because there is an incomplete electrical circuit) while the switch is being moved the driver can close down the back of the train, walk up to the front and be ready to go. By the time the power is restored the driver should be just about ready to drive from the front cab. << I can't imagine why they abandon this practice. It's the only way of avoiding backing a monorail blind. That is unless you have a CM in both #1, and #6 cabs. This tradgedy should never have occured.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I'm kinda interested they stated that the Driver of Pink tried to reverse...approx how long does it take for a monorail to fully stop and reverse direction? << It was monorail purple that was trying to reverse. I don't know how long it takes, but I do know the monorail has to come to a complete stop before the reverse command can be given.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Are they normally subject to drug testing, or is this something new? from what I have seen in my area- the NTSB after any type of transportation accident -- commuter train, bus, plane etc. drug testing is done
Originally Posted By MPierce If they fall under the D.O.T. like the buses, then mandatory as well as random drug testing is in effect.
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL Thanks for the links and info, sjhym33. WOW, after looking at the satellite views, I sure wouldn't want to be the guy who was piloting Monorail Pink right now. There is pretty much no way to NOT know which track you are on. And plenty of room to stop after realizing you are still on the EPCOT beam and another Monorail might be behind you. This is so very sad.
