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!
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.
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.
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 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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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).
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
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.
What an awesome find ! You need to meet up with UA-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.
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 UA-camr and awesome inspiration for everyone
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.
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.
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
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!
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."
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 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.
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 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.
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.
The yellow pedal is a Dead Mans Switch i believe. They have to keep it pressed to operate. If they release, then train will slow to a stop. Its to stop the driver not being able to control the monorail should anything happen to him.
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.
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.
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.
WOOWW first to comment... In HS we would walk over to the Dusneyland Hotel and you could ride round trip in the tail end of the monorail for free. It was sorta of a free birds eye view of the park.
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
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.
One time going up the hill from TTC to Contemporary on the express track I didn’t know the train in front of me stopped to pick up guest. I got a full fast stop MAPO on the hill. I had to hit the bypass and give the electric motors a chance to get out of being stopped and ease into forward all while rolling backwards. I managed to say we were holding for traffic clearance ahead but wondering if anyone noticed. Going through the contemporary no one looked at me and at MK station not a word was mentioned. 😅
The big yellow pedal is the 'dead man's brake.' If the driver has a heart attack, or some other medical condition and removes his foot from the brake, the monorail will stop. It is a safety feature to prevent accidents. Subway trains have a similar device. Essentially, the monorail will not move unless the driver keeps his foot on the pedal.
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.
So cool! You guys ARE the monorail pirates! DEAD MEN RIDE NO RAILS 🚄☠️
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!
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!
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.
its angelic to remind parents of when they were little. Thank you very much for this video and to whomeever saved this precious wagon.
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.
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!
Wow!
Your genuine pleasure and excitement burst through the screen. Love your passion, dude.
the event was a solid 9000 and it awesome seeing you and ally today
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.
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!
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.
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.
That pilot cabin looks just like the one I rode in on my first trip to WDW...decades ago!
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 glad someone reached out to let you know where this had been relocated. Love the deep dive of the inside.
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.
YES....this is AWESOME!!!
Very cool! I’m glad the community keeps tipping you off to this kind of thing.
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!
Such unique stuff you find.
You're posting more frequently and I am TOTALLY here for it!
Dude that's so cool you found it ill watch this video tonight when I get time 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.
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).
That was very cool!
I seriously love your videos
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
How cool. I remember riding that train at WDW as a kid.
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.
Wow, that is cool!
Thanks for taking us along, this was a great adventure.
What an awesome find ! You need to meet up with UA-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.
Awesome find
I've never heard the word monorail used so many times in such a short time. Lol and I'm not complaining!!! 😂
Fantastic video Justin
Thanks Justin for this video the monorail still looks amazing we don’t have this in Belgium
Very cooool thanks Justin it’s amazing how small they are compared to the new ones
Yay! Monorail from Disney! Memories of my youth. I was lucky enough to have a job at DL as a hs senior.
So happy that you found this!! I appreciate the piece of Vegas history as well as WDW. Glad to know it will be preserved!
so awesome you found it
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 UA-camr and awesome inspiration for everyone
Very nice find!
Good video as always my friend ❤
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.
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.
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.
Epic! Nuff said!
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
I love your adventures friend
This is epic. Great find Justin
Wow Justin what a cool find. Thank you for sharing. ❤❤
And really respect you bro and you all did good today and it was the most awesome event and give it a 9000
Pretty amazing!!
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!
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."
Iconic!
I also met Bob Gurr just recently now seeing this wow! 🎉
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 may have rode in the front when I was a child. It left a big impression for the rest of my life.
Thanks!
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.
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.
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.
I work at WDW did some research about the Monorail , worked at Martin Marietta too and learned at the time they built the Monorail
Nice to see it in decent condition
this is awesome!!!!
That's neat!!!!
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 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.
Awesome !
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.
Need new ones at WDW. Love this BTW.
The yellow pedal is a Dead Mans Switch i believe. They have to keep it pressed to operate. If they release, then train will slow to a stop. Its to stop the driver not being able to control the monorail should anything happen to him.
Epic!
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 a find! a treasure. Now go find monty the monorail!
Hey,im Michael in Jacksonville Florida .Love your channel.
Very Cool
My wife and I rode in that one when it was operating in Vegas. As Disney fans, we just thought it was so cool.
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.
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❤
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.
WOOWW first to comment... In HS we would walk over to the Dusneyland Hotel and you could ride round trip in the tail end of the monorail for free. It was sorta of a free birds eye view of the park.
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
KIIIITTTTTYYYYY❤
Footswitch is probably the Deadman's switch. The operator has to keep the pedal depressed to keep the monorail moving.
The inside of the seating area looks pretty good for the life it's lived. I thought it had already been refurbished.
First I love you Justin keep up with the entertainment 🥰😍😊☺️😁
I actually rode in that very same Monorail back in the 70's & 80's including in the front cab .....
Very cool. But did someone get scared and soil the front seat?
Wow SAVE THEM!!!
Ah memories. I drove those at WDW in the 70s
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.
One time going up the hill from TTC to Contemporary on the express track I didn’t know the train in front of me stopped to pick up guest.
I got a full fast stop MAPO on the hill. I had to hit the bypass and give the electric motors a chance to get out of being stopped and ease into forward all while rolling backwards.
I managed to say we were holding for traffic clearance ahead but wondering if anyone noticed.
Going through the contemporary no one looked at me and at MK station not a word was mentioned. 😅
The big yellow pedal is the 'dead man's brake.' If the driver has a heart attack, or some other medical condition and removes his foot from the brake, the monorail will stop. It is a safety feature to prevent accidents. Subway trains have a similar device. Essentially, the monorail will not move unless the driver keeps his foot on the pedal.
I need to know where this thing is I need to see it