The Walt Disney World Monorail System
Following on from the success of Disneyland Park in California, Walt Disney started planning another park, this time in Florida. Walt Disney World was opened in 1971, complete with a monorail system just like its West Coast counterpart. The new park opened with a 4.8-kilometre track serviced by ten Mark IV trains, developed from the Mark III fleet in use in Disneyland at the time. Both the trains and the tracks have been upgraded and expanded since then to support the growing popularity of Disney World. Today, it is one of the most extensive monorail networks in the world, spanning over 23.5 kilometres across the resort, and it is used by over 150,000 guests every day. The current fleet of 12 Mark VI trains has been in service since 1989 and are still going strong. They run on a track made from a precast concrete beam 66 centimetres wide and supported by columns spaced about 33.5 metres apart. The trains are powered by a 600-volt DC propulsion system consisting of eight DC motors, and the electrical current is conducted to the trains from each side of the beam. The monorails are now completely automated and just need crew on the platform to signal the train into and out of stations, but a pilot sits in the front cabin just in case of an emergency.