(Seattle Monorail honks horn)
[MEGAN CHING] It definitely has challenges
to maintain a legacy system.
(scrubbing brush)
These trains are 60 years old.
Each train has over a million miles on it.
[TRAIN OPERATOR] 1,365,048 miles.
[MEGAN CHING] So they've traveled a long way.
They've carried millions and millions of people.
Every day our technicians work through this checklist,
just making sure that the train is safe and ready to go.
And then they do more thorough inspections of different components of the train
based on the frequencies that are outlined in our maintenance plan.
Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually
to make sure that the train is safe for operation.
We have 64 tires on each train.
What's visible right now is the guide tires, which run
along the side of the beam.
And then beyond that,
you'll see on the top side of the beam there are two large load tires.
They ride on the top of the beam, just like a car drives on the road.
Our engineers spent a lot of time looking at tires and making sure that
tire pressure is correct.
So right over here, we're looking at the package.
So this is like the equivalent of the transmission to your vehicle,
just like your maybe manual vehicle has different gears,
our train has different gears, or different points, as we call them.
So we operate in first point and then you go a little faster
and you go in a second point and then you go in a third point.
A lot of the design
intent from 1962 is still absolutely reflected here,
but some of the components like the package have been upgraded over time,
especially as new technology becomes available.
(fast-paced and upbeat music)
These are the original trains, absolutely...
Granted, you know,
seat cushions have been replaced and, you know, things get replaced over time.
But these are the original trains.
They have never been taken off of the guideeways.
At Seattle Monorail Services,
we have about 30 employees that work here and
our folks come from all over the country, all over the world, honestly.
We have folks that have come from Ethiopia, from Sudan,
from the Philippines, as well as people
local like me that grew up here.
(train announcement bell)
It's a family feeling.
Funny.
This is my husband talking.
It's a family affair.
There's kind of a saying, we don't work at the monorail.
We work for the monorail.
And I think our staff has really embraced that.
We recognize that it takes a lot of hard work to keep the system running.
And we're just so proud that the system is celebrating 60 years.
It's a huge milestone for the system, and we're excited to see it continue to run.
(monorail horn honks)