Las Vegas Monorail

[bonzoesc]

And many of the Uber pickups are down a soul-less hallway and into a specific level of a parking garage. I've used the monorail to get around everywhere I needed to go except for the Rio which I used the bus to get to and then Uber back.

The Vegas Strip in general is just a particularly deranged place in every aspect due to the focus on gambling, and the decisions that pushes. Casinos don't want you to see a clock or the outside or any other indication that time is passing, don't want you to leave easily, just consume and gamble. There's the odd push to non-gambling attractions but it's never consistent. At the Caesars Forum (behind Harrah's and the Linq) for a conference this August, it was nice to be able to get out of the forum and down to the pedestrian alley between the Linq and the Flamingo for food without going through the maze of the casinos, just a walk in the very pleasant and not hellish August weather at noon.

 

[joelkfla]

That steel rail disadvantage fairly well disappeared with use of welded rail.
All rubber tire systems have higher energy consumption, and hence greater heat generation than steel wheel on rail systems due to greater rolling resistance.

Doesn't cure the wheel squeal on curves and sometimes on braking.

Got it. Still far more complex than a standard railroad turnout.

It's a simple rotation around an axis. How is that complex? No possibility of a wheel picking a switch.

 

[railiner]

How do the suspended type monorails compare?
I recall the AMF operated one around the 1964-65 NY Worlds Fair Lake Amusement Area…

https://www.worldsfairphotos.com/nywf64/monorail.htm

 

[BCL]

ah I didn't know that. Sold during Covid times I see. Plenty of people were using it when I was there this summer so hopefully it has a good future.

The underpinnings are supposed to be the Mark VI that was designed for WDW by Bombardier, but automated and with slightly different cosmetics.

The full sized monorails I've ridden on are Disneyland, Seattle, Expo 86 (Vancouver), Sydney, and LV. We rode on something called a "monorail" at a kiddie theme park (Gilroy Gardens) although it was rather small and just an amusement ride.

 

[Willbridge]

The reason why the location is awkward is because the casinos complained that a location along the Strip would block the views of their properties. There are still apparently plans to extend to the airport but they haven't gotten very far.

I've taken the monorail and I found it OK, but I was staying at the SLS (now the Sahara again) and used it several times to get to the MGM. But from the airport I took the bus - not The Deuce, but a regular route (108 I believe) that cost maybe $2. I found the bus pretty convenient given where I was staying.

It takes a few minutes waiting in line, but as of my pre-Covid trip to Las Vegas, seniors can get a transit i.d. card for even cheaper fares, including on the extra-fare services. When they changed formats, they even mailed me a letter to my Denver address asking me to drop in and pick up the new style card. I rode the monorail once to have a look at it and otherwise the bus system was good enough to get around.

2015.

 

[west point]

Have you noticed how fast your favorite monorail travels.? Not very fast I imagine. Monorails become dynamically unstable somewhere between 25 - 35 MPH. depending on design. Maybe an very very active stabilization system might allow faster but have not heard of one in full operation. EWR airport was about 25 MPH as I recall.

 

[cirdan]

That steel rail disadvantage fairly well disappeared with use of welded rail.
All rubber tire systems have higher energy consumption, and hence greater heat generation than steel wheel on rail systems due to greater rolling resistance.

One advantage of rubber tired system is their ability to climb hills, and also to provide a better acceleration using a smaller number of drive units.

An advantage that is sadly hardly ever used on the systems that chose to adopt the technology.

I understand that on the Paris metro for example, rubber tires were adopted on certain lines because they permit faster acceleration and braking, meaning more trains can run at shorter headways , meaning the overall passenger capacity is increased. At peak times you can sometimes see trains running almost literally head to tail, with a fresh train running into a station mere seconds after the previous one has pulled out.

This argument, however, does not apply to most systems that adopted the idea.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

The rubber tire systems are a bit quieter - definitely remember Montreal being quiet.

Don't some of the Japanese Monorails go fairly fast - and I think the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal is speedy too.

Did anybody here ever ride the Rainbow Springs monorail in Florida?

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

The monorail at EWR airport has the beams attached together. The beams are 180 degrees on top of each other and rotate longitudinally on 2 king pins to either have straight beam showing or diverging beam showing.

I just had the opportunity to see this in action yesterday - was really cool (the Airtrain itself, not so much, it felt like a fairground ride and a bit tatty/ratty, but it got me to the terminals).

 

[George Harris]

One advantage of rubber tired system is their ability to climb hills, and also to provide a better acceleration using a smaller number of drive units.

An advantage that is sadly hardly ever used on the systems that chose to adopt the technology.

I understand that on the Paris metro for example, rubber tires were adopted on certain lines because they permit faster acceleration and braking, meaning more trains can run at shorter headways , meaning the overall passenger capacity is increased. At peak times you can sometimes see trains running almost literally head to tail, with a fresh train running into a station mere seconds after the previous one has pulled out.

This argument, however, does not apply to most systems that adopted the idea.

Go back to my original negative: Higher rolling resistance. This means greater energy consumption and greater heat production for the same weight and capacity vehicle. A rubber tired vehicle with the same capacity will NOT be lighter than an equivalent steel wheel vehicle. Also, pollution from tires is greater than from steel wheels.

Accelerations in lower speed ranges is limited by passenger comfort. Above lower speeds it is limit wed by power per weight of vehicle. Normal steel wheel "heavy rail" transit systems commonly use maximum grades of 4.0%, and numerous light rail systems have grades of up to 6.0%. Most high speed passenger systems limit grades of 3.5% or less, but there is no technological reason they can't be higher. On these steeper grades rubber tires will have better low speed adhesion when the roadbed/trackway is wet. On the other hand, at high speeds rubber tires can hydroplane.

The rubber tire Paris Metro lines have small vehicles and trains, hence not really a high capacity system. Mexico City built their metro using the same system but had a couple of surprises, which seemed to have not gotten a lot of publicity. First, passenger loading was greater per vehicle. Second and most significantly, since Mexico City is considerably closer to the equator than Paris the ground temperature is higher and the average air temperature is higher than they are in Paris. Thus, the Paris based ventilation design was inadequate to dissipate the heat produced by the vehicles. Whatever they have done to deal with these things, I do not know.