Wednesday, August 21, 2002
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Wednesday, August 21, 2002 |
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Love of things Disney brings futuristic transport vehicle to Tyrone back yard By JOHN THOMPSON
Fans of Disney no longer need to make the long drive to Orlando to get a Mickey Mouse fix. Instead, a short trek to Tyrone reveals a part of the Magic Kingdom's history that true Disney fans will adore. Last week, Tyrone's Chip Young had a portion of the original monorail that ran from Disney's hotels to the land of the mouse delivered to his home. "I go to Disney World about three or four times a year, and I just love it. I saw the monorail was up for auction on Disney's Web site," he said. The portion of the monorail that Young bought has nearly one million miles on it and is still operable. "You could hook it up to 600 volts of DC current and 2,000 amps and it would run," he said. Young's portion of the monorail weighs 30,000 pounds and is 40 feet long. The Disney fan paid $20,000 for his little slice of the Magic Kingdom and isn't quite sure what he will do with the futuristic transportation mode. "I'm going to build a platform for it, and I would like to also display it in some of the parades," he said. Young's monorail is the Mark IV edition, which made its debut in 1971 at the park. The only other portions of the original monorail still in existence were purchased by the city of Las Vegas. The Mark IV was replaced in 1995, and the rest of the original cars that weren't sold to Young or Las Vegas have been destroyed.
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