Not a monorail pilot, but I am a locomotive engineer. The pedal you guys are asking about would be a "dead man's switch". The operator would have to keep their foot on that pedal in order to make everything operate. If the operator were to suddenly become incapacitated for whatever reason and have their foot come off the pedal the train would kill the throttle and apply the brakes bringing itself to a stop.
Former Walt Disney World Monorail pilot here, and that pedal was not original to the Mark IV but rather may have been added once the train was intended to serve as Las Vegas-based transportation. The "dead man's switch" in the Mark IV wasn't a pedal at all, but rather a thumb switch button on the right side of the t-shaped throttle control that extended out and up of the center console in front of the enunciator panel. You can see the original kill switch in the video, but different places have different safety laws (and Disney made their own laws at the time), so it is reasonable that an additional pedal kill switch was added to the design.
I worked at DisneyWorld in the Summer of 1985 and actually worked on the monorail platform at the Magic Kingdom. I remember pushing the buttons to open the doors and direct the guests down the ramp. The monorail in the video is one I probably worked with. Brings back memories.
Drove it in 88. Pull back on the T handle to brake. No foot pedal. Used to be timed on how fast we could empty the MK. Slapped many doors closed, Squealing brakes, kids sticking heads under the gates….Nightmares!
Yay! You were able to find it! I believe Adam mentioned that you were trying to find it. He said he would love to go see it as soon as you would find it and he could get out to see it. Awesome!
I remember riding in the front cab of one of those back in 91 when I was a kid. We got home movie footage from the front of it. Going down the rail track.
I believe that pedal in the cab is known as the "dead man switch". The idea is that the engineer/driver has to keep his or her foot on the pedal for the think to move. If something happens and the driver becomes incapacitated, their foot would stop pushing down on the pedal and the train/monorail would stop instead of becoming a runaway train.
Hi ....My name is Mike, This was my Mom's Acer. Now I don't know what that foot pedal is, but it's not the brake for the monorail. The control lever.....The MCU- Master Control Unit, or the Stick If you look at it it has numbers......P-1 to P-4, were the speed controls. P 1 was 1-10mph, P2 11-20 and so on. The D 1, D2, D3....are the de-ce;eration controls. Dynamic Breaking System. the higher the number,the quicker you're gonna stop. If you were at P-4 which is mostly used on the Epcot beam.and suddenly put the control to D 3, everyone in the cabs would be falling over the place. You don't want to do that, lol. You have to get a feel for it, takes a bit to get used to. In the 6's the display at the top right is basially what is in the center now. They called the beams Exterior, Lagoon....which where most of the breaking is taking place, and Epcot. The speed was governed. If you turned em off, you could probably get to 60 mph. the MAPO was moving blocklight system, you had to know all the holdpoints on every beam. If you got a yellow light ( MAPO ), you had to got to the next holdpoint and stop, If you went thru it you got a red MAPO, the train did the stopping for you. for and Example, If you were driving on the Lagoon beam and was coming out of the Contemporary Resort, your holdpoints are 24, 15, 6. You go post 24 and get a yellow MAPO you have to stop at 15, you past 15, the brakes are applied and you stop, then you'll get an earful, from Monorail Central, TTC trans and a supervisor, LOL, no I never had a red MAPO..... only in tests.
Thanks for all your hard work and effort my bro. Been a fan of yours for many years now. I do appreciate your enthusiasm and positivity in all things you do. You are the best of the best at what you do!
I loved those monorails! When you would pull into the station and all the doors would make a loud crack sound as they all opened at once. Great memories, I'm excited to see you got to get inside.
Awesome find! Thanks for sharing with us. I first rode a Disney monorail at the 1964 NY World’s fair. And I got to “drive” it at the kid’s pilot console.
This is a super cool look at a piece of WDW transportation history. I was obsessed with the Disneyland monorails as a kid and remember being blown away when I learned that the Vegas monorails were repurposed WDW originals. Super cool video!
I remember those, they were much different then todays All the doors were manual, and had to be closed one at a time. It mad a very distinctive sound as the cast member would walk along the train and slam all the doors, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk. Then those black buttons on the outside by the cab door would unlock all the doors via some kind of electric actuator, which also made a very distinctive clack as they unlocked, good times.
So cool! I could have easily ridden in that as I was in Disney World & Las Vegas during the time of use in those locations. I love the Star Trek Captains chair.
This really cool. I remember riding in the cab in (I believe) 1987 with my dad and little brother. In the early 2000’s, when you could ride in the cab of the Mark VI’s, my wife and I rode in the front with our kids. Great find and video!
Justin - you have outdone yourself finding this gem. Congrats on the find and the great video. I wonder if we will see it upgraded and repaired to its former WDW glory over the next years? PS I can see why the WDW people upgraded from Mark IV to V to VI. The sizing of the vehicle definitely feels more compact. It doesn't look like the vehicle accommodates people using strollers, wheelchairs, and other mobility assistive devices. I remember the vehicles at both DL and WDW in the early 1980's. The visit you made in the forward cab of the vehicle brought back memories. I recall sitting up in the nose of a monorail as a young child at DL and recall it being similar to what you found in the Mark IV. It may have been one of the Mark IV's at Anaheim.
Awesome find! I grew up riding the WDW Mark IV monorail. Riding the Vegas monorail in 1999 was my “Must-do” just for nostalgia sake. (I posted my home video of it).
Started going to Disney in 1977. I remember riding those Monorails. Riding in the front car with the driver. Love to see it again. Hopefully someone will restore it to original condition. Other than the color it looks pretty much the same as I remember it. Thanks for the video.
Great stuff! The foot pedal is what is called a "deadman pedal" a lot of heavy transit vehicles (ie trains, trolleys, and monorails) have these as a fail safe in the case the operator of said vehicle passes out. These were slowly became required starting in the late 30s, early 40s. Interesting note is that this is also utilized on some theme park rides such as the classic twister, or rocketship rides
This is so cool! My son got to sit in the pilot seat and take a picture on our last trip back in July 2023. Who doesn't love the monorail? Would love to see some stories from former monorail pilots, what all the little button do, and what the foot switch does, and what changes were made when the monorail went to Las Vegas
And you rocked the whole building and it was awesome and never give up on working hard cause you are the best youtuber and an amazing person and also influenced TH-camr and awesome inspiration for everyone
Glad to see that some of Lime survives. It was a good train. The controls are definitely from the Vegas update. I've got a photo of the original controls, which are somewhat different. The foot pedal and the CB handset are also from Vegas, I think. I'm guessing the foot pedal was a sort of "dead-man's switch."
Thanks for the interesting history. Theme Park Shark has a video of this monorail in the desert and he was able to go inside it. He also saw the "Bally's" side panels.
That foot pedal is not a brake. The brakes were activated from the control lever. At 8:50 there is a shot of the console where you can see the legends to the right of the control lever. The central position is Neutral (N). Pushing the lever forward engaged four power levels sequentially (P1 - P4) for low speed through full power respectively. Pulling the lever back from the Neutral position engaged the brakes. D1 and D2 were two levels of dynamic braking. In this mode the electric motors were driven by the wheels as generators, and the power thus generated was dissipated through large resistor banks onboard and this would slow the train down. Dynamic braking has a limitation at low speed below which it is not effective, so for the final braking the pilot would pull the lever past D2 to the last position and this would apply air brakes to bring the train to a complete stop. The foot pedal is most likely a deadman switch. The pilot would have to hold the pedal down to keep the train in operation; if he released the pedal the train would automatically stop. Conventional railroads use a similar system. I think that the foot pedal was probably added when the train was moved to Las Vegas. The train's original deadman switch is the chrome button on the left side of the control lever's hand grip. The pilot would depress that button with his/her thumb, and he/she would have to keep it depressed while the train was in motion. If the button was released, power to the motors would be cut and the train would stop. Perhaps at some point the original deadman switch failed and they couldn't get a replacement part so they installed the foot pedal instead.
I believe that loose pedal is a dead man switch. Very common with single operator machines. They're very popular on carnival rides for the operators, too.
Hey Justin, The yellow pedal on the floor is called a deadman switch. Basically you have to push it down to enable the controls to be operated. When you release the pedal it will cut off the controls and stop monorail. (I’m no monorail driver.) But we see these pedals on most theme parks rides as well. Next time when you get on a ride take a look at the ride operators panel on the floor you will see the same pedal as well. By all means no them park wants an accident to happen just because an operator stepped away from a control panel. Safety First. Haha
I don't have any firsthand knowledge what the exact function of the yellow pedal serves, but my interest in trains would suggest that's it's a "dead man" device. The pilot or operator must either hold it down continuously or tap it within set intervolves to signal that the operator is in control, otherwise sending the train into an emergency stop cycle.
What an awesome find ! You need to meet up with TH-camr Mrcoaster1, he's got some interesting Disney World monorail content and a former pilot of that very monorail! Keep up the great work guys.
Just before the pandemic, I was lucky enough to get chosen to ride in the front of the Disneyland Monorail. I couldn't believe I got to ride in there. They let me do a full circuit tour of Disneyland there because it was a slow-ish day. The cast member laughed a little at how I was geeking out being there.
That pedal might’ve been modified to be a break, but when I drove them, you had to stop it with air brakes handle there that moves back-and-forth. He had to pump them to build up the brake pressure.
That "foot pedal" is the "Dead man's switch" basically the operator has to keep it depressed while the train is in motion to show that they're alert/alive/paying attention, otherwise the train comes to an e-stop.
I remember seeing a monorail car for a bit that was up on a ridge near the Castaic Lake exit off of I5. I thought I was crazy at the time, but it had gotten moved and I was able to kind of locate it using Google Earth or Maps. (Some kind of yard on "Romeo Canyon Rd") That was 2013. Wish I'd gotten a picture of it. It was in some kind of yard with old big rigs and such.
The foot pedal is a “deadman’s switch”. You have to keep it pressed down for the train to operate, if it’s released it shuts off and stops. It’s a safety device in case something happens to the conductor, it won’t crash.
Nitrogen is used in many tire stores with a nitrogen generator and accumulator tank, from the regular air compressor. Other than removing the moisture it is more of a "feature" and if the tire catches fire and pops the oxygen inside won't feed the flames. 14:21
Not a monorail pilot, but I am a locomotive engineer. The pedal you guys are asking about would be a "dead man's switch". The operator would have to keep their foot on that pedal in order to make everything operate. If the operator were to suddenly become incapacitated for whatever reason and have their foot come off the pedal the train would kill the throttle and apply the brakes bringing itself to a stop.
Former Walt Disney World Monorail pilot here, and that pedal was not original to the Mark IV but rather may have been added once the train was intended to serve as Las Vegas-based transportation. The "dead man's switch" in the Mark IV wasn't a pedal at all, but rather a thumb switch button on the right side of the t-shaped throttle control that extended out and up of the center console in front of the enunciator panel. You can see the original kill switch in the video, but different places have different safety laws (and Disney made their own laws at the time), so it is reasonable that an additional pedal kill switch was added to the design.
I worked at DisneyWorld in the Summer of 1985 and actually worked on the monorail platform at the Magic Kingdom. I remember pushing the buttons to open the doors and direct the guests down the ramp. The monorail in the video is one I probably worked with. Brings back memories.
This is so cool!! I hope you get to see it again after the new owner restores it! The before and after would be quite an amazing thing to see too!
So cool! You guys ARE the monorail pirates! DEAD MEN RIDE NO RAILS 🚄☠️
its angelic to remind parents of when they were little. Thank you very much for this video and to whomeever saved this precious wagon.
Drove it in 88.
Pull back on the T handle to brake.
No foot pedal.
Used to be timed on how fast we could empty the MK.
Slapped many doors closed,
Squealing brakes, kids sticking heads under the gates….Nightmares!
Your genuine pleasure and excitement burst through the screen. Love your passion, dude.
Yay! You were able to find it! I believe Adam mentioned that you were trying to find it. He said he would love to go see it as soon as you would find it and he could get out to see it. Awesome!
I remember riding in the front cab of one of those back in 91 when I was a kid. We got home movie footage from the front of it. Going down the rail track.
the event was a solid 9000 and it awesome seeing you and ally today
Wow!
Very cool! I’m glad the community keeps tipping you off to this kind of thing.
I believe that pedal in the cab is known as the "dead man switch". The idea is that the engineer/driver has to keep his or her foot on the pedal for the think to move. If something happens and the driver becomes incapacitated, their foot would stop pushing down on the pedal and the train/monorail would stop instead of becoming a runaway train.
Hi ....My name is Mike, This was my Mom's Acer. Now I don't know what that foot pedal is, but it's not the brake for the monorail. The control lever.....The MCU- Master Control Unit, or the Stick If you look at it it has numbers......P-1 to P-4, were the speed controls. P 1 was 1-10mph, P2 11-20 and so on. The D 1, D2, D3....are the de-ce;eration controls. Dynamic Breaking System. the higher the number,the quicker you're gonna stop. If you were at P-4 which is mostly used on the Epcot beam.and suddenly put the control to D 3, everyone in the cabs would be falling over the place. You don't want to do that, lol. You have to get a feel for it, takes a bit to get used to. In the 6's the display at the top right is basially what is in the center now. They called the beams Exterior, Lagoon....which where most of the breaking is taking place, and Epcot. The speed was governed. If you turned em off, you could probably get to 60 mph. the MAPO was moving blocklight system, you had to know all the holdpoints on every beam. If you got a yellow light ( MAPO ), you had to got to the next holdpoint and stop, If you went thru it you got a red MAPO, the train did the stopping for you. for and Example, If you were driving on the Lagoon beam and was coming out of the Contemporary Resort, your holdpoints are 24, 15, 6. You go post 24 and get a yellow MAPO you have to stop at 15, you past 15, the brakes are applied and you stop, then you'll get an earful, from Monorail Central, TTC trans and a supervisor, LOL, no I never had a red MAPO..... only in tests.
You're posting more frequently and I am TOTALLY here for it!
So glad someone reached out to let you know where this had been relocated. Love the deep dive of the inside.
That pilot cabin looks just like the one I rode in on my first trip to WDW...decades ago!
Thanks for taking us along, this was a great adventure.
Thanks for all your hard work and effort my bro. Been a fan of yours for many years now. I do appreciate your enthusiasm and positivity in all things you do. You are the best of the best at what you do!
So happy that you found this!! I appreciate the piece of Vegas history as well as WDW. Glad to know it will be preserved!
I loved those monorails! When you would pull into the station and all the doors would make a loud crack sound as they all opened at once. Great memories, I'm excited to see you got to get inside.
Very cooool thanks Justin it’s amazing how small they are compared to the new ones
I may have rode in the front when I was a child. It left a big impression for the rest of my life.
Dude that's so cool you found it ill watch this video tonight when I get time justin
This is epic. Great find Justin
Awesome find! Thanks for sharing with us. I first rode a Disney monorail at the 1964 NY World’s fair. And I got to “drive” it at the kid’s pilot console.
Such unique stuff you find.
This is a super cool look at a piece of WDW transportation history. I was obsessed with the Disneyland monorails as a kid and remember being blown away when I learned that the Vegas monorails were repurposed WDW originals. Super cool video!
I remember those, they were much different then todays All the doors were manual, and had to be closed one at a time. It mad a very distinctive sound as the cast member would walk along the train and slam all the doors, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk. Then those black buttons on the outside by the cab door would unlock all the doors via some kind of electric actuator, which also made a very distinctive clack as they unlocked, good times.
So cool! I could have easily ridden in that as I was in Disney World & Las Vegas during the time of use in those locations. I love the Star Trek Captains chair.
so awesome you found it
This really cool. I remember riding in the cab in (I believe) 1987 with my dad and little brother. In the early 2000’s, when you could ride in the cab of the Mark VI’s, my wife and I rode in the front with our kids. Great find and video!
Wow Justin what a cool find. Thank you for sharing. ❤❤
How cool. I remember riding that train at WDW as a kid.
This is awesome! I think I rode that in 1986 when I first went to EPCOT. I kinda miss that older style on the inside.
Yay! Monorail from Disney! Memories of my youth. I was lucky enough to have a job at DL as a hs senior.
I seriously love your videos
That was very cool!
Very nice find!
Justin - you have outdone yourself finding this gem. Congrats on the find and the great video. I wonder if we will see it upgraded and repaired to its former WDW glory over the next years?
PS I can see why the WDW people upgraded from Mark IV to V to VI. The sizing of the vehicle definitely feels more compact. It doesn't look like the vehicle accommodates people using strollers, wheelchairs, and other mobility assistive devices. I remember the vehicles at both DL and WDW in the early 1980's. The visit you made in the forward cab of the vehicle brought back memories. I recall sitting up in the nose of a monorail as a young child at DL and recall it being similar to what you found in the Mark IV. It may have been one of the Mark IV's at Anaheim.
Awesome find! I grew up riding the WDW Mark IV monorail. Riding the Vegas monorail in 1999 was my “Must-do” just for nostalgia sake. (I posted my home video of it).
Awesome find
Started going to Disney in 1977. I remember riding those Monorails. Riding in the front car with the driver. Love to see it again. Hopefully someone will restore it to original condition. Other than the color it looks pretty much the same as I remember it. Thanks for the video.
YES....this is AWESOME!!!
Fantastic video Justin
Great stuff! The foot pedal is what is called a "deadman pedal" a lot of heavy transit vehicles (ie trains, trolleys, and monorails) have these as a fail safe in the case the operator of said vehicle passes out. These were slowly became required starting in the late 30s, early 40s. Interesting note is that this is also utilized on some theme park rides such as the classic twister, or rocketship rides
Wow, that is cool!
Thanks Justin for this video the monorail still looks amazing we don’t have this in Belgium
I also met Bob Gurr just recently now seeing this wow! 🎉
I work at WDW did some research about the Monorail , worked at Martin Marietta too and learned at the time they built the Monorail
I've never heard the word monorail used so many times in such a short time. Lol and I'm not complaining!!! 😂
This is so cool! My son got to sit in the pilot seat and take a picture on our last trip back in July 2023. Who doesn't love the monorail? Would love to see some stories from former monorail pilots, what all the little button do, and what the foot switch does, and what changes were made when the monorail went to Las Vegas
Epic! Nuff said!
And you rocked the whole building and it was awesome and never give up on working hard cause you are the best youtuber and an amazing person and also influenced TH-camr and awesome inspiration for everyone
Nice to see it in decent condition
I rode in the Mark 4 monorails quite a few times at WDW as a kid. Also as a young adult in the early 80"s I even got to ride in the front.
Good video as always my friend ❤
last time I've ridden on the Mark 4 monorail was when it was running in Las Vegas between MGM and Balley back in 2000.
Iconic!
Glad to see that some of Lime survives. It was a good train. The controls are definitely from the Vegas update. I've got a photo of the original controls, which are somewhat different. The foot pedal and the CB handset are also from Vegas, I think. I'm guessing the foot pedal was a sort of "dead-man's switch."
Thanks for the interesting history. Theme Park Shark has a video of this monorail in the desert and he was able to go inside it. He also saw the "Bally's" side panels.
Pretty amazing!!
Thanks!
I forgot, till watching your video that I have a monorail key my brother got me. It's from one of the Disneyland monorails!❤ I am a huge monorail fan.
I love your adventures friend
And really respect you bro and you all did good today and it was the most awesome event and give it a 9000
What a find! a treasure. Now go find monty the monorail!
Ah memories. I drove those at WDW in the 70s
My wife and I rode in that one when it was operating in Vegas. As Disney fans, we just thought it was so cool.
That’s an older model ❤
That foot pedal is not a brake. The brakes were activated from the control lever. At 8:50 there is a shot of the console where you can see the legends to the right of the control lever. The central position is Neutral (N). Pushing the lever forward engaged four power levels sequentially (P1 - P4) for low speed through full power respectively. Pulling the lever back from the Neutral position engaged the brakes. D1 and D2 were two levels of dynamic braking. In this mode the electric motors were driven by the wheels as generators, and the power thus generated was dissipated through large resistor banks onboard and this would slow the train down. Dynamic braking has a limitation at low speed below which it is not effective, so for the final braking the pilot would pull the lever past D2 to the last position and this would apply air brakes to bring the train to a complete stop.
The foot pedal is most likely a deadman switch. The pilot would have to hold the pedal down to keep the train in operation; if he released the pedal the train would automatically stop. Conventional railroads use a similar system. I think that the foot pedal was probably added when the train was moved to Las Vegas. The train's original deadman switch is the chrome button on the left side of the control lever's hand grip. The pilot would depress that button with his/her thumb, and he/she would have to keep it depressed while the train was in motion. If the button was released, power to the motors would be cut and the train would stop. Perhaps at some point the original deadman switch failed and they couldn't get a replacement part so they installed the foot pedal instead.
I believe that loose pedal is a dead man switch. Very common with single operator machines. They're very popular on carnival rides for the operators, too.
Hey Justin, The yellow pedal on the floor is called a deadman switch. Basically you have to push it down to enable the controls to be operated. When you release the pedal it will cut off the controls and stop monorail. (I’m no monorail driver.) But we see these pedals on most theme parks rides as well. Next time when you get on a ride take a look at the ride operators panel on the floor you will see the same pedal as well. By all means no them park wants an accident to happen just because an operator stepped away from a control panel. Safety First. Haha
That's neat!!!!
That's one of the ones that I got to ride up front in with my family. There's something to be said for the older style❤
I don't have any firsthand knowledge what the exact function of the yellow pedal serves, but my interest in trains would suggest that's it's a "dead man" device. The pilot or operator must either hold it down continuously or tap it within set intervolves to signal that the operator is in control, otherwise sending the train into an emergency stop cycle.
What an awesome find ! You need to meet up with TH-camr Mrcoaster1, he's got some interesting Disney World monorail content and a former pilot of that very monorail! Keep up the great work guys.
Just before the pandemic, I was lucky enough to get chosen to ride in the front of the Disneyland Monorail. I couldn't believe I got to ride in there. They let me do a full circuit tour of Disneyland there because it was a slow-ish day. The cast member laughed a little at how I was geeking out being there.
this is awesome!!!!
Need new ones at WDW. Love this BTW.
The inside of the seating area looks pretty good for the life it's lived. I thought it had already been refurbished.
Epic!
Footswitch is probably the Deadman's switch. The operator has to keep the pedal depressed to keep the monorail moving.
Wow SAVE THEM!!!
Awesome !
That pedal might’ve been modified to be a break, but when I drove them, you had to stop it with air brakes handle there that moves back-and-forth. He had to pump them to build up the brake pressure.
That "foot pedal" is the "Dead man's switch" basically the operator has to keep it depressed while the train is in motion to show that they're alert/alive/paying attention, otherwise the train comes to an e-stop.
I worked out at Walt Disney World in 1990 and drove those Mark4
Very Cool
I actually rode in that very same Monorail back in the 70's & 80's including in the front cab .....
I need to know where this thing is I need to see it
First I love you Justin keep up with the entertainment 🥰😍😊☺️😁
Hey,im Michael in Jacksonville Florida .Love your channel.
I remember seeing a monorail car for a bit that was up on a ridge near the Castaic Lake exit off of I5. I thought I was crazy at the time, but it had gotten moved and I was able to kind of locate it using Google Earth or Maps. (Some kind of yard on "Romeo Canyon Rd") That was 2013. Wish I'd gotten a picture of it.
It was in some kind of yard with old big rigs and such.
The foot pedal is a “deadman’s switch”. You have to keep it pressed down for the train to operate, if it’s released it shuts off and stops. It’s a safety device in case something happens to the conductor, it won’t crash.
Hope you have more
KIIIITTTTTYYYYY❤
Nitrogen is used in many tire stores with a nitrogen generator and accumulator tank, from the regular air compressor. Other than removing the moisture it is more of a "feature" and if the tire catches fire and pops the oxygen inside won't feed the flames. 14:21
That’s crazy
Very cool. But did someone get scared and soil the front seat?