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Novelty Monorails - Busch Gardens, Tampa
On July 2nd [1997], Busch Gardens opened the Edge of Africa,
a new section of the park where guests can walk through parts
of the African veldt and get an up-close view of the animals.
Having just survived a re-alignment to make room for this new
section, the monorail recently re-opened. [It turns out the re-alignment
was only a stay-of-execution; this is another monorail system
that was demolished soon after I wrote about it. 'Something I
said?] For the last few months, it has been out of service while
this addition was being constructed, much to the chagrin of the
Walt Disney World monorail drivers who recently made their annual
pilgrimage across the state to ride the big coasters and the monorail.
Luckily, the Azzollinis (TMS members from New York) and I visited
the Tampa attraction prior to its suspension of service. The monorail
at Busch Gardens opened in its original form in 1966. This small
suspended system operated boxy trains that used two propane fired,
air cooled, aluminum Corvair engines per train to produce the
AC power necessary for the electric motors. Personally, my favorite
part was the Anheuser-Busch eagle emblazoned on each red and white
car. [Since the Busch Garden monorail's removal in 1999, the Disney monorail drivers may not be in that group anymore. After all, it was the monorail that we went for anyway, right?] |
In 1987 it was closed to allow
for a complete overhaul of the system, and re-opened in February
of 1988. Intamin Inc. of Switzerland built six sleek new trains
for the redesigned system. Bus bars retro-fitted to the overhead
track now provide power for the six car trains. Better air conditioning
is aided by deeply tinted windows on each car. Seventy two passenger
trains are capable of six mph, making their round trip in 10 to
12 minutes.
Interestingly, this is not the
only monorail system operated at a Busch Gardens theme park. The
brewer's Los Angeles location operated a similar [to the first
Tampa design] monorail that went through the brewery, allowing
guests to view the process that produced Budweiser, Michelob,
and Busch Bavarian beers. The most striking visual aspect of the
trip for us monorail fans, was the section of the track where
the monorail used the same support pylons for the tracks entering
and exiting the building. Great pictures were available to those
who did not mind waiting for two trains to pass, one above the
other. I can imagine monorail fans trying to decide which park
to visit. "Hmmmm, animals or beer?" Well, tough luck
kids, the beer monorail is no more. [And I hadn't even written
about it yet!] You'll have to visit Tampa if you want to ride
a Busch Gardens monorail these days. With the park's new addition,
as well as the added attraction of the best coasters in the Southeast,
many people will be doing just that.