Mark IV monorail

Mark IV monorail at Walt Disney World.

The Mark IV monorail is a design model of monorail trains. The design was developed by Bob Gurr^[1]. Ten were built by Martin Marietta in 1969 at the cost of about six million USD each^[2] and they were used on the Walt Disney World Monorail System between 1971 and 1989 before they were replaced by the Mark VI monorail,^[3] although a few lasted until 1990. The Coral and Lime trains were sold for $3.5 million each, refurbished, and operated on the Las Vegas Monorail. They have since been replaced.^[3]

The trains originally consisted of five cars. (The Mark VI trains added a sixth car.)

Mark IV Monorail Red sitting in the front yard of Chip Young.

Most of the monorails were scrapped. Monorail Red's first car was sold online to Chip Young of Georgia.^[4]. It was later sold again on eBay^[5].

Design

The Mark IV monorails were the first of the "Learjet" styled monorails used for Disney. The original trains in operation in 1971 were five-car trains, while the later models which came online in the mid-1970s were six-car. Eventually the original Mark IV monorail trains were converted to six cars, Monorail Gold remained a five car train. Each car featured numerous bench seats which stretched the entire width of the car. The cars were accessed by doors which were automatically opened (a loud clunk would be heard and the doors would swing open at the press of a control button on the outside of the monorail near the driver door) and manually closed by a cast member (who would walk from one end of the train to the other with his hand out, pushing the doors shut as he walked by). Unlike the current Mark VI trains in use at Disney, Mark IV's were shorter, somewhat narrower, and had no standing room capability. To help with ventilation, each window could be cracked open with a latch.

1985 Fire

Monorail Silver sitting on the EPCOT beam after the fire was put out.

On June 26, 1985, a fire engulfed the rear car of the six-car Mark IV Silver monorail train in transit from the Epcot station to the Transportation and Ticket Center.^[6] This fire predated onboard fire detection systems, emergency exits, and evacuation planning. Passengers in the car kicked out side windows and climbed around the side of the train to reach the roof, where they were subsequently rescued by the Reedy Creek Fire Department.^[7] Seven passengers were hospitalized for smoke inhalation or other minor injuries.^[7] The fire department later determined that the fire started when a flat tire was dragged across the concrete beam, heated due to friction, and ignited.^[8]

References

1. ^ McGinnis, George (14 January 2004). "Disneyland's Mark V Monorail, by Imagineer George McGinnis". http://www.mouseplanet.com/mark/mg040114.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-07. 
2. ^ "The Monorail FAQ". Archived from the original on 2007-04-05. http://web.archive.org/web/20070405020301/http://disneylandian.com/faqs/monorail.html. Retrieved 2007-05-07. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Walt Disney World Monorail System". http://www.bigfloridacountry.com/monorail.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-07. 
4. ^ "WDW Mark IV Collectible". http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/CPMarkIV.html. Retrieved 2007-05-07. 
5. ^ "Disney Monorail for Sale on eBay". http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y02/m05/i28/s02. 
6. ^ "The Orlando Sentinel News Paper". Archive. The Orlando Sentinel News Paper. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/orlandosentinel/results.html?st=basic&QryTxt=Disney%2Cmonorail%2Cfire. Retrieved 2007-05-14. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Gandhi, Prakash (1985-06-28). "Disney Fire: "It Could Have Been Worse"". Orlando Sentinel. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/orlandosentinel/access/91759605.html?FMT=ABS. Retrieved 2007-07-16. 
8. ^ Trager, Louis (1985-07-04). "Report Blames Tire Friction for Fire on Disney Monorail". Orlando Sentinel. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/orlandosentinel/access/91765902.html?FMT=ABS. Retrieved 2007-07-16.