Press Releases


Source: AMF Press Release

Letterhead

 

AMF MONORAIL WORLD'S FAIR CONSTRUCTION FACT SHEET

A. FOUNDATIONS (Station and Track-Supporting Pylons)

    1. Pilings - 48,000 lineal feet (9 miles)
    2. Concrete - 1400 cubic yards
    3. Steel Reinforcing Rods - 85 tons
    4. 3-inch Diameter Anchor Bolts - 448

B. TRACK

    1. Structural Steel -2000 tons
    2. High Strength Bolts - 15,000
    3. Weld - 110,000 lineal feet (21 miles)

C. STATION

    1. Structural Steel - 385 tons
    2. Concrete Flooring - 4100 square feet
    3. Roofing and Siding - 25,000 square feet
    4. Plastic Paneling - 11,500 square feet

The station is one hundred sixty-six feet long, fifty-two feet wide and rises to a height of eighty feet at its highest point. Escalators bring passengers to and from the loading platform, over forty feet above the ground. Trains are loaded and unloaded simultaneously.

D. CARS

    1. Width - 8' 3"
    2. Height - 9' 6"
    3. Length - 45' (over-all - coupled)

Fourteen red and white air-conditioned cars will operate continuously over the highly automated system. they will be coupled into seven two-car trains. Each car has a capacity of forty passengers; eighty passengers per train. Seating is on a center-aisle plan with all passengers facing the sides of the car. Large fixed windows afford unobstructed views in every direction and are especially formulated to permit color photography from within the car without affecting the color balance of any photo.

E. MISCELLANEOUS

    1. Paint - 1200 gallons
    2. Power Railing - 48,000 lineal feet (9 miles)
    3. Electric Wire - 350,000 lineal feet (66 miles)
    4. 1-1/2 inch Diameter Power Cable - 18000 lineal feet
    5. Power Consumption during Operation - 750 KW

Letterhead

 

CONDENSATION

$5,000,000 AMF MONORAIL, SET FOR NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR:

15,000,000 VISITORS TO TAKE RIDE 40 FEET IN AIR

More than 15,000,000 visitors to the New York World's Fair are expected to soar forty feet above ground to enjoy the panoramic view of the Fair's exciting Lake Amusement Area from a ride on the AMF Monorail being constructed at a cost of $5,000,000. Marking the entry of American Machine & Foundry Company into the revolutionary new field of monorail transportation, the Fair project will combine the best features of closed loop and scenic ride systems.

The monorail at the Fair is primarily designed as a truly unique entertainment feature for sight-seers, one that is bound to be a real conversation piece. Millions of riders cannot help but appreciate the tremendous potential of the monorail in helping to solve the ever-increasing problems in mass transportation here and abroad. Monorail, running above existing traffic, is one of the most practical and economical solutions to this problem.

AMF's Monorail at the Fair will have seven two-car trains, each train ninety feet long, operating on two parallel closed 4,000 foot loops. Three trains on one loop will travel one way and four on the other loop will move in the opposite direction. Trains will be automatically controlled. The AMF World's Fair Monorail is this country's first air-conditioned monorail installation. Capacity of each train will be 80 passengers. Each car will have an attendant and points of interest will be described during the ride.

Automatic controls will incorporate both electrical and electronic principles in each train. This system will govern train arrival and departure in the station and open doors for passengers leaving and entering the monorail cars.

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Walter Dorwin Teague Associates designed the AMF Monorail cars and coordinated the industrial design of the World's Fair system.

The AMF Monorail station, of contemporary design, will be located in the heart of the Fair's bustling Lake Amusement Area, near the continental Circus and the Florida Pavilion. Primarily of structural steel, sheathed in fiberglas panels, the station will have three 100 foot long platforms. There will be a center platform for passengers boarding trains on both tracks, with an outside platform for debarking passengers, making possible the safe and simultaneous loading and unloading of two trains. Escalators will take monorail riders to and from station platforms.

The AMF Monorail circles the entire Lake Amusement Area affording passengers a spectacular view of the Fair, including a bird's-eye view of the elaborate Texas Pavilions and Music Hall.

Monorails similar to the AMF installation at the Fair have been operated with notable success at Santa's Village in Lake Arrowhead, California, and at the Los Angeles County Fair. Since AMF's recent announcement of its emergence in the monorail transportation field, the Company has sparked the municipal interest of Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Chicago, Sacramento, Long Beach, Las Vegas, Palm Springs and many other cities. Atlantic City's Steel Pier and the Palisades (N.J.) Amusement Park are among leading amusement areas in the nation where monorail is being given consideration.

AMF, well known for its pioneering in the field of automated equipment, ingenious tools and launching systems for Titan and Atlas missiles, would seem to be the logical company to build monorails anywhere they are needed, and it would appear that they are needed everywhere.

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Source: AMF Press Release

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AMF to Market SAFEGE Monorail System

In addition to designing and building the World's Fair Monorail system, AMF has also been licensed to market the suspended SAFEGE - Transport high speed monorail system in the United States. SAFEGE - Transport (Societe Anonyme Francaise de Gestion et d'Enterprises) is a consortium of 18 leading French companies, including Renault, Michelin Rubber, prominent French banks, construction companies and metal fabricating firms.

Requiring a minimum of rights-of-way, the AMF/SAFEGE suspended system consists of two tracks or treadways enclosed within a box beam, supported on either or both sides of pylons which can be erected alongside highways or on existing thruway and turnpike divider strips.

Utilizing the "third dimension", the airspace over congested areas, along super highways and expressways, the monorail has many other advantages. It is safe, fast and almost noiseless. It provides air-conditioning and little or no vibration. Its high-strength support beams are narrow and do not interfere with motor or pedestrian traffic, nor with general visiblility. The running track is covered so there are no hazards from the weather. Finally, the savings in initial construction costs are considerable, since it is estimated that a monorail costs $1.5 million per mile compared to $10 to $12 million a mile for subways.

 

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