Note from Mark: I’m pleased to turn the World View column
over to Imagineer George McGinnis for the next couple of columns. George
has a couple of great tales to tell about the design of the Mark V and
Mark VI monorails, currently running at Disneyland and Walt Disney World,
respectively. I’m not taking the time off, though. I’m currently trying
to finish up the first couple of installments of a new series, “History
of the World,” taking Walt Disney World history from the opening
of Disneyland through the current day. Look for the first installment
in a couple of weeks.
During my first six months at WED (Walter Elias Disney) Enterprises (from
June to December 1966), I did sketches and renderings of transportation
concepts for Walt Disney’s EPCOT presentation. Walt asked me to do a design
for a larger PeopleMover (then named WEDway). I also sketched a “wide
body” monorail, a concept for the main transportation line through
the property.
Some of these were used in what is sometimes called “Walt’s Last
Film” or “The EPCOT Film,” which showed the original plan
for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT).
Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom was coming out of the ground at this
time. The new icon at the Magic Kingdom would not be the castle, but Walt’s
revolutionary concept of the monorail passing through the Contemporary
Hotel. My illustration of Bob Gurr’s Mark IV monorail exiting the hotel
was the beginning of my relationship with the Disney monorails. The painting was
used extensively for initial advertising of Walt Disney World.
Over the next five years my projects were varied—from the WDW PeopleMover
to the 20,000 Leagues submarine to the Disneyland parking lot trams. Bob
Gurr was next door working out the details for the Mark IV in conjunction
with engineer Dave Gengenbach, another name on the Main Street window
for The Big Wheel Company.
The first few months after my hire, my office was in the main WED building
with other show designers. I was then moved to the MAPO (Mary Poppins) building
that housed the engineers. So my first five years working beside engineers were
extremely valuable to my later career. Dick Irvine, Executive Vice President
of WED, told me when he sent me to engineering that I would be back to
Show Design.
I had just begun concept work in 1971 on the first Space Mountain, working
with John Hench and engineer Bill Watkins—also a member of The Big
Wheel Company—when I was returned to Show Design. I spent the next decade-plus on
many wonderful projects, including the Space Mountains and Epcot’s Horizons
Pavilion. Many more vehicles were in my future when Bob Gurr decided to
retire and start his own design firm.
Getting started on monorail design
Bob left WDI in 1981. The first monorail work I was involved in was on
the last two Mark IV’s interiors, built in the early ’80s. The Disneyland
monorail came up for redesign in 1985. I was at a lunch meeting when the
Mark V was discussed. I asked to see the proposal and the next day, Marty
Sklar asked me if I would like to do the design. It was a great day!
I guess working next door to Bob those five years in the WED Engineering
department was now going to pay off. I took the Mark V from concept to
production, making many trips to Munich, and working with Messerschmitt
Bolkow Blohm (MBB) engineers (Bob’s way was to be both designer and engineer.
I was concerned only with design). Finishing that project, I went right
on to the Mark VI for WDW with the folks at Bombardier. Those 12 monorails
were built in La Pocatiere, Canada, a long drive from Montreal along the
Saint Lawrence River.
The Mark III monorail, with
its distinctive bubble-top, leaves the Tomorrowland station during its
last days of operation. Photo by George McGinnis.
There was a similar design issue on both projects. By contract, both MBB
and Bombardier had design concepts to present. To me, they lacked the
Disney look, so I sketched comparisons for our management. Their decision
was that we should not lose the aerodynamic look Bob gave the monorail;
hence, the Mark IV signature nose on the next two monorails.
The Mark V’s exterior cross-section is based on the Mark III. Its centerline profile
is based on the Mark IV. This gave it the rounded side and the lowered
nose. Since I was given one week to produce the new design, these relationships speeded
the process.
Designing the Mark V
MBB, the German vendor selected to design and build new bodies on rebuilt
Mark III chassis, presented a design by Newmeister Design of Munich. It
had a rather blunt front end, much like Newmeister’s early Maglev designs
and with a multi-piece windshield. (Hitachi of Japan, also a bidder, chose
to imitate the Mark IV, which was an option in the bid package. But the
trains’ proportions were less acceptable due to the use of their larger
Alweg-type bogey.)
Another feature of the Newmeister design was its dimensions—they
were close to a full-size train. The roof had been raised to the height
of the dome on the lead car of the Mark III. In that the Monorail traversed
so much of Tomorrowland, I suggested we keep the miniature scale of the
Mark III with its 5-foot-3-inch doorways. After viewing comparison sketches,
the WDI Steering Committee chose the scale of the Mark III and the more
aerodynamic features of the Mark IV as the basis for the Mark V.
I provided MBB with a surface development, the drawing that defines the
form and assures the Monorail’s smooth highlights. Horst Stockermann,
MBB’s Project Manager for the Monorail, said to me at the beginning of
the construction phase, “Disney had made the right choice on the
design.” As the trains were being built, the only question I heard
regarding the design’s aesthetics was, “Why would you trim a train
in the color purple?” This, no doubt, from a person accustomed to
conventional railroad color schemes.
Early in MBB’s design process, Designworks/USA produced an interior concept
for a nearly full-size train. We then adjusted the design to fit the smaller
train.
A new feature of the Mark V and Mark VI monorails was mechanically actuated
doors. The Mark V was to have a “plug” door, similar to a van
door. I demonstrated the design with a working wooden mockup at WDI. The
belt line “bump” that I had retained from the Mark III provided
space for a simple mechanism. Dieter Spiller, MBB engineer, thanked me
for that one. Without the “bump” it would have required a more
complicated design. From an esthetic viewpoint, the “bump” adds
a pleasant detail as it blends into the nose.
Trans-Atlantic partnership
The Mark V monorail crosses
the Disneyland parking lot. Photo by George McGinnis.
A wonderful thing about working with foreign vendors is of course the
opportunity to enjoy the country and its culture. When my family had an
opportunity to join me, MBB was most hospitable. Dieter Spiller gave us
a tour of the area around Stuttgart including the Ulm Cathedral, and Horst
Stockerman hosted our group at several fine restaurants.
Horst’s wife took my wife and children to Baden Baden to a wonderful
indoor/outdoor swimming pool with a wave machine. On another trip she
took my wife to a Carl Spitzwig (“The Bookworm”) art exhibit
as well. This trip gave my young children (ages 8 and 10) a wanderlust
that continues today, although at the time the highlight of the trip was
the elevators at the Sheraton.
The MBB engineers had a respect for Industrial Designers that impressed
me. I attribute this to a requirement for art, or ay least an appreciation of
art in their training. During the project I traveled with our WDI Monorail
Project Engineer, Eduard Feuer, who also trained in Germany—so we
had a good rapport.
The Mark V was built with the new composite materials MBB had experience
with in helicopter construction—smooth sides without the rivets that
the old Mark IV had. The lighter train would give the monorail beamway
a longer life.
“Gummypoofers”
I recalled some negative camber in the beamway near the Disneyland Hotel
that made for a rough ride, so I wasn’t surprised when I heard the engineers
talking about shock absorbers. But in the German language, they were “gummypoofers.”
We had trouble controlling our laughter at the sound of this as they chatted.
The “gummypoofers” smoothed out the beamway problems considerably
when tested.
The trains were delivered and the only thing we had to fix, relevant
to my design, was the paint scheme. Somehow they were painted the same
as the Mark IV. John Hench had revised the scheme (including one train
that was trimmed in purple) to give more color at the nose, and I had
provided a scale model painted thus. So, I taped out the correct shape
on one of the trains and they were all corrected at Disneyland.
Mark V still looks so smooth and graceful as it moves through Disneyland.
It has served well even though it is showing some wear and tear in its
16th year of service. I understand it will continue service for a few
more years with the aid of much TLC. (On the WDW Mark VI Monorail, height
was limited for a different reason—the hurricane doors at the Contemporary
Hotel through which the Monorail traversed.)
Next time
Walt Disney World’s Mark VI monorail.
