Animated Monorail

 

Monorail Modeler

The website will be going dark as of June 2025.

All new information will be on the Facebook sites:

Monorail Toys and Collectibles or

Disney Monorail Playset Collectors.

News:

***Jan 2023 - Happy New Year, let's add audio to the rear cab!

May 2022 - some good news - add headlights to your 50th Anniversary monorail

May 2022 - full stop - I have often joked about forces in the universe not wanting me to build monorails:

parts discontinued, parts unavailable, price increases...

today a small circuit board used in most of my projects went from $4 to $20! For now I am not working on monorails.

*** January 2022 - temporary stop due to parts shortage and failed motors

*** November 2021 - Price Increases: parts cost ^ and parts discontinued = more $$

***July 2020 - WhisperJets and radio control !

WhisperJets in WDW and Disneyland Mark VII types

Faster, quieter, smoother than the original

3D printed chassis replaces the original gearbox

 

WJ MkVII wj ss

What's with all the wires!!?? The burgundy Mk VII has a 3.3 V converter for white headlights and an auxiliary motor controller to handle the extra power for the WhisperJet motor.

The orange Mk VII has "soft start" which adds a microcontroller to gently ramp up/down the speed. What good is a monorail without a computer onboard? ;)

RC wiring

Radio Control under construction - L to R RC receiver; 3.3 V converter; electronic switch

 

July 2020 - our latest Disney radio control monorail

July 2020 - our latest N scale radio control monorail

July 2020 - replace the green headlights with proper white ones (WDW models)

August 2017 - Headlights and beacon for the rear cab - and while we're in there, audio!

July 2017 - soft start / stop for the Disneyland Mark VII - let's take the motor upgrade a bit further

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRuYtxK9PGo&feature=youtu.be

May 2017 - upgrade the motor controller in Disneyland Mark VII to enable a more powerful motor

 

January 2017

Autonomous - who needs a pilot ? The monorail can pilot itself.

It started out as a loop system, with automatic stops at stations along the way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO5uZmr6Fys&t=6s

Then it became an answer to an out and back layout, with WhisperJet and enhanced audio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKU73ERuVAE&t=20s

It works with the original drive and sound systems too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZtVdflpcck

 

Monorail History

Prototypes

Not a modern invention.

Although commonly thought of as a modern invention monorails have been with us since 1825 and self-propelled since 1876. The oldest surviving monorail was built in 1901 and is still in operation.

1914 Genoa Monorail

By 1914 monorails had developed into a form that is similar to today's straddle-beam systems.This 1914 Genoa Monorail is easily recognizable as a precursor to modern monorail systems.

Many monorails were built to showcase technology for a world's fair or expositions, such as the ones in Philadelphia (1876), Genoa Italy (1914), Turin Italy (1961), Seattle (1962), and New York (1964).


Of course the best known monorails are those at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, not surprising since the latter is the #1 tourist destination in the world. These monorails have been in daily operation since 1959 and 1971 respectively, transporting millions of guests. Most monorails built since that time are based on similar technology developed by Alweg and continued by Hitachi and Bombardier. The Las Vegas, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, and Moscow monorails follow this design as does the one being built at the ultra-exclusive resort, Palm Jumeirah.

Models

Disney has it.

Disney's models are readily available and reasonably priced, and form the basis of most monorail modeling. The only other recent well known model is by Rokenbok but their model does not represent any prototype and is of little interest to most modelers. Monorail modeling mostly appears to take one of two forms, Disney collectors who have a small layout with only a monorail (and maybe some theme park items), and model railroaders who have a monorail in the background to add interest.

For the first group the monorail is the star, the reason for the layout. The second group considers the monorail as more like moving scenery, the railroad is of primary interest. Still, for either group smooth operation of the monorail completes the scene while poor operation ruins the illusion.

As with the prototypes, model monorails are not new either. Here are some links to model monorails of the past, one as old as 1930's:

Leland Detroit Monorail 1930’s
http://www.mth-railking.com/detail.asp?item=10-1234-1
(Detroit Monorail Set, n. d.)

Schuco - Disneland 1961-1968

http://schucodisneylandmonorail.com/

Paleo-Future 1962
http://www.paleofuture.com/2007/12/x-20-monorail-toy-1962.html
(Matt, 2007)

AMF 1964/65 World's Fair
http://www.geocities.com/AMFMonorail/
(Amf Monorail, 2004)

From Toy to Scale Model

Operation makes the difference

The difference is primarily in the operation. Toys can run around in a circle, roughly and noisily. Scale models must run smoothly to give the appearance (and the illusion) of the real thing. True scale modelers will spend many hours and many dollars to improve the operation of their models, then continue with scenery to enhance the realism. The end result is to re-create a scene from the prototype where the modeler can immerse themselves if only briefly, in a miniature world. This is where we come in, to help turn Disney's toy into a finely operating scale model!

References

The Monorail Society. (2008). Retrieved May 29, 2008, from The Monorail Society Web site: http://monorails.org

The Monorail Society. (2008). Retrieved May 29, 2008, from Monorails.org Web site: http:/?/?monorails.org/?tMspages/?Models.html
Matt. (2007).

Paleo-Future. Retrieved May 29, 2008, from Paleo-Future Web site: http:/?/?www.paleofuture.com/?2007/?12/?x-20-monorail-toy-1962.html

AMF Monorail Research Project. (2004). Retrieved May 29, 2008, from AMF Monorail Research Project Web site: http:/?/?www.geocities.com/?AMFMonorail/?

Detroit Monorail Set. (n. d.). Retrieved May 29, 2008, from Detroit Monorail Set Web site: http:/?/?www.mth-railking.com/?detail.asp?item=10-1234-1

 

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