Designer Times
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22. Monorail Tractor No. 2
When the first generation Disneyland Monorail was being designed in 1958, we needed a tow truck to retrieve the train if it stopped somewhere on the beamway. Well, you just can't call the Auto Club for this one. So I had to design a Monorail Tow Truck.....we called it the Power Tractor. The first engineering drawings did not start until April 1959, just three months before the Monorail's opening day!
It was hectic enough just trying to get the two Monorails built in time, but I had to quickly design a Monorail Tow Truck. To keep it real simple I figured we could get away with a short chassis non-steering two axle arrangement. That way I could drive just one axle thru a chain drive from an automotive differential assembly mounted rigidly without any universal joints......real cheap and simple.
I also thought we could get away with no side springs, just let the tires flex a bit as they squeezed the sides of the beamway. A six cylinder Ford Industrial gasoline engine looked about right for power, and I could rig it up with a three-speed Fordomatic transmission. All these items would be bolted to a big one-piece steel tube frame heavy enough to develop the required tractive effort to pull a fully loaded Monorail train up the steepest grades.
We got this cute little switch engine built just in time, since the first Monorail Train broke down every day for the next two weeks prior to opening day. That little Ford worked so well, it saved us every time. It was a good example of a design which was easy to define, then search mechanical catalogs to select the perfect parts for the job, then draw up the framework to put it all together.
When the Monorail Beamway was extended in 1961 to the Disneyland Hotel, a third Monorail train was added to the system. The existing two Monorails were rebuilt from three-car trains to four-car trains. Now we needed a much bigger Power Tractor to pull the much heavier trains up the hills, so I designed yet another Monorail Tow Truck.
Instead of following the orthodox design and parts selection methodology, this Power Tractor got off to a far different start. We now had to use a steerable dual-axle set up with power delivered to more wheels. We decided to use the standard Monorail bogies as used on the trains. These were already engineered and had production drawings available. We now had to come up with a method to generate on-board 600 volt DC electricity to power the bogies.
So here comes the purchasing department with the technical answer before I could select the logical parts to buy. Seems they had "a deal" for me! They took me out to a nearby junkyard and showed me a WWII U.S. Army tank engine.....actually two engines in one. This contraption was big! Two General Motors GMC 6-71 counter-rotating diesel engines hooked to a twinning gearbox with a single output flange. The price was so attractive that they told me this is what I was going to use no matter what my "proper" selection was.
Then they took me to another junkyard and showed me a big 600 volt DC generator, also at a very attractive price. Another electrical gizmo called an exciter was thrown in with the deal. They have to work together to make electricity. All this stuff was purchased, I measured up all the pieces......no catalog dimensions provided. Then I designed this monstrously long welded steel frame to mount everything on. I added a generous work deck, almost like a bridge on a ship, to act as the control center.
Two big exhaust pipes stuck up in the air, some control levers were added along with a very big air horn. I took the new big power tractor out on the newly extended beamway, which went down Harbor Boulevard then across the parking lot to the Disneyland Hotel. This thing was real fun to drive. It had way more power than needed. When I dialed in full power, two horrific columns of black smoke shot high overhead, just like an old steam locomotive. And the acceleration was breathtaking, especially combined with the diesel engine roar.
I loved testing this brute, but got in trouble right away. Roaring down Harbor Boulevard one day blowing the big air horn with long blasts, I saw a California Highway Patrol car racing along below. The beamway turned west across the parking lot, thus stranding the CHP officer at the Harbor Gate. When I got back to the barn, my boss, Roger Broggie was angrily awaiting. Seems the officer wanted to give me a ticket for noise. For many years afterwards, the word around Disneyland was "don't let Gurr near any more horns".
oOo
Next month: Ford Magic Skyway Test Track - New York World's Fair
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-- Bob Gurr
Bob Gurr began working with Disney in 1954. He retired in 1981 but occassionally consults for the Company. Since Disney he's worked on the sinking ship at Las Vegas' Treasure Island, Universal Studios' King Kong, Godzilla for the film by the same name and much more. Among his proudest accomplishments he lists "making Walt tickled pink that some of the things he wanted to build actually worked. You could tell how proud he was when he would show off things to his friends and the press. Lincoln and the Monorail were two big ones for him."
Designer Times is normally posted the second Wednesday of each month.
The opinions expressed by Bob Gurr, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of Disneyland and the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted February 13, 2002
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