[Rumor] Wheelhouse closed off?

[PerformerInWaiting]

Today at Disneyland me and my dad asked if we were able to to go in the wheel house and a cast member said they wernt letting anyone up for saftey reasons. My dad asked if someone fell down the stairs but someone had fallen down a hole... For those who have ridden in the wheelhouse where would there be a hole in there? And is it big enough for a person to get caught or literally fall down it? Also for now the wheel house is closed indefinately.


OT- they also hav closed off haunted mansion and space for the overlay and they are blockin off the California letters

[Peoplemover Priit]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

I heard that someone was denied access a little while back. But I never knew why. I doubt it that someone fell down a hole though...

[techskip]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

I remember the stairs up to the wheelhouse were steep and that it was essentially a hole in the floor. There isn't a door or cover so it is possible someone fell down while not paying attention. Being up there was an amazing experience for our little ones.

[FI183]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

uhhhh I hate to sound stupid, but where and what is the wheelhouse?

[Druggas]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

uhhhh I hate to sound stupid, but where and what is the wheelhouse?

Where you pilot the Mark Twain.

[ttrocc7007]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

Where you pilot the Mark Twain.

Sort of...
The Twain like the Columbia are both on guide rails, so the person upstairs doesn't actually 'steer' the boat.
Likewise, the person upstairs doesn't start or stop the boat either. That's all done downstairs by the engineer who is also responsible for keeping the boiler filled with water, which is loaded on dockside by a nozzle that looks just like the kind at your local gas station. The hoses are convenuiently concealed beneath some of those 'packing cases' you see dockside toward the rear (paddle end) of the boat.
All stopping and starting is coordinated by the engineer and the first mate who signal one another via a series of bells, the switch for those is located under the handrail near to the boarding gate.
The person in the wheelhouse actually only presses the appropriate buttons to make the appropriate tape loops play, blows the steam whistle and rings the bell. They also make the boarding announcements.
Hopefully they also care enough about the 'magic' of the experience to the casual observer to turn the big wheel to make it appear that they are actually controlling the boat.

[Gino USMC]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

Sort of...
The Twain like the Columbia are both on guide rails, so the person upstairs doesn't actually 'steer' the boat.
Likewise, the person upstairs doesn't start or stop the boat either. That's all done downstairs by the engineer who is also responsible for keeping the boiler filled with water, which is loaded on dockside by a nozzle that looks just like the kind at your local gas station. The hoses are convenuiently concealed beneath some of those 'packing cases' you see dockside toward the rear (paddle end) of the boat.
All stopping and starting is coordinated by the engineer and the first mate who signal one another via a series of bells, the switch for those is located under the handrail near to the boarding gate.
The person in the wheelhouse actually only presses the appropriate buttons to make the appropriate tape loops play, blows the steam whistle and rings the bell. They also make the boarding announcements.
Hopefully they also care enough about the 'magic' of the experience to the casual observer to turn the big wheel to make it appear that they are actually controlling the boat.

Very interesting, thanks for the info.

[Steve DeGaetano]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

Likewise, the person upstairs doesn't start or stop the boat either. That's all done downstairs by the engineer who is also responsible for keeping the boiler filled with water, which is loaded on dockside by a nozzle that looks just like the kind at your local gas station...All stopping and starting is coordinated by the engineer and the first mate who signal one another via a series of bells, the switch for those is located under the handrail near to the boarding gate.
The person in the wheelhouse actually only presses the appropriate buttons to make the appropriate tape loops play, blows the steam whistle and rings the bell. They also make the boarding announcements.
Hopefully they also care enough about the 'magic' of the experience to the casual observer to turn the big wheel to make it appear that they are actually controlling the boat.

ttrocc, The engineer doesn't need to fill the boiler with water--the Mark Twain's boiler is called a "package" boiler, it it is basically self-operating. Water is injected into the boiler by an on-board pump.

The engineer controls both forward and backward motion, using a "Johnson bar," and he controls speed with a rudimentary throttle--a plate-sized wheel located near the ceiling of the cage at the stern.

I believe the pilot communicates with the engineer by bells from the pilot house, not the first mate: Two bells mean it's safe to proceed; three bells signal a request to stop. I don't believe there's a way for the engineer to communicate back to the pilot house.

[ttrocc7007]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

I believe the pilot communicates with the engineer by bells from the pilot house, not the first mate: Two bells mean it's safe to proceed; three bells signal a request to stop. I don't believe there's a way for the engineer to communicate back to the pilot house.

Hi Steve,
It's always a pleasure.
Next time you make it out our way, hop aboard and as the Twain nears the dock stand next to the boarding rail. Watch the first mate as he 'secretly' reaches under the railing just forward of the boarding bar and presses the button for the bell. Either that or YOU reach under (just DON'T PRESS THE BUTTON) and you'll feel them for yourself.
The engineer then responds with his own bell button to acknowledge the message was recieved.
See you on the Ward Kimball!

[Steve DeGaetano]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

Hi Steve,
It's always a pleasure.
Next time you make it out our way, hop aboard and as the Twain nears the dock stand next to the boarding rail. Watch the first mate as he 'secretly' reaches under the railing just forward of the boarding bar and presses the button for the bell. Either that or YOU reach under (just DON'T PRESS THE BUTTON) and you'll feel them for yourself.
The engineer then responds with his own bell button to acknowledge the message was recieved.
See you on the Ward Kimball!

Well, we'll see! Not sure how a bell signal would get to the boat from the dock, but I'll ask around and see what I can come up with!

[mrfantasmic]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

It's on the boat's handrail.

[ttrocc7007]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

Well, we'll see! Not sure how a bell signal would get to the boat from the dock, but I'll ask around and see what I can come up with!

As Mr. Fantasmic points out it is on the handrail of the Twain itself, the First Mate is on board, not on the dock. Sorry if I was unclear!

[Bruce Bergman]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

Steve, TT - you are both right. The Pilot can bell signal the Engineer from the Wheelhouse for Go and Stop when it's clear - he's the lookout, since the Engineer can't see ahead of the ship. And he gets to trigger the taped spiels and make the boarding announcements, and work the radio to Park Operations.

(It would make sense for the Engineer to have another bell to signal back up to the wheelhouse, and put that bell where the Mate can hear at the dock also. I've heard response bells, but I've never really paid attention to where that one is located. So don't take that as gospel.)

The Mate can bell signal the Engineer from that 'hidden' button under the railing for Go and Stop while docking and departing. Not from the dock per se, if the Mate was standing on the dock he simply reaches over to the ship and pushes the button under the railing... (Does that make more sense?)

The Mate and Engineer have to coordinate when it's safe to place the mooring rope - remember the Columbia incident? It's rather important that they not apply too much stress to that mooring rope, the Twain can snap it just as easily.

The engineer doesn't fill the boiler directly, but he does keep an eye on the operations to make sure the automatic controls are working properly - there's a good old steam operated feed pump, and an electric backup. There are remote readouts in the Engineer's cabin for the burner and boiler operations. DAMHIKT. :blush:

--<< Bruce >>--

[Steve DeGaetano]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

As Mr. Fantasmic points out it is on the handrail of the Twain itself, the First Mate is on board, not on the dock. Sorry if I was unclear!

Oh, got it!

[ttrocc7007]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

(It would make sense for the Engineer to have another bell to signal back up to the wheelhouse, and put that bell where the Mate can hear at the dock also. I've heard response bells, but I've never really paid attention to where that one is located. --

You can be sure I'll be looking for it on my next visit!

[Steve DeGaetano]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

I've got a Mark Twain "SOP." Wish I was home to check it out!

[micromind]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

I believe that the Mark Twain does indeed need to be filled with water occasionally. The exhaust of the steam pistons is vented to the atmosphere. This is evident from the stacks above the 3rd level at the stern (back).

The water released as steam has to come from somewhere.

While it has a boiler to operate the steam pistons, thus providing propulsion, it also has a electrical generator on board. It's obviously powered by a piston engine, a few times I've gotten a slight whiff of the exhaust; it smelled a lot like some sort of bio-diesel.

It'd be interesting to see someday, it seems like a pretty good set-up.

Rob

[DISNEYJUNKIE]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

My hubby and I got to pilot the Mark Twain a few years ago and got a cool pilots certificate, I do remember going up the steep ladder/stairs and bumping my shin
really good but the pain was worth the trip.

[Bruce Bergman]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

I believe that the Mark Twain does indeed need to be filled with water occasionally. The exhaust of the steam pistons is vented to the atmosphere. This is evident from the stacks above the 3rd level at the stern (back).

The water released as steam has to come from somewhere.

Yes, there are two large tanks built into the hull under the main deck, you can see the two brass fill plugs on the floor behind the boiler. One for pre-treated boiler feed water, one for fuel. It smells different when burned in an engine, or in a Beckett flame retention burner (Twain) or in a steam-jet oil burner (Trains).

The fuel used to be red-dye "Off-Road #2 Diesel" or "#2 Distillate Fuel Oil" - which are essentially the same as normal Diesel Fuel. Now they use a bio-diesel blend.

While it has a boiler to operate the steam pistons, thus providing propulsion, it also has a electrical generator on board. It's obviously powered by a piston engine, a few times I've gotten a slight whiff of the exhaust; it smelled a lot like some sort of bio-diesel.

It'd be interesting to see someday, it seems like a pretty good set-up.

It's an 8KW (IIRC) Onan diesel engine electric plant like they use on big bus-conversion motorhomes, in a closet at the stern. They have a steam powered dynamo in the 'cage' behind the boiler, but they can't use it - for openers, it has had bad bearings for decades and the Steam Dept. can't get the funds allocated to fix it.

And the dynamo is far less efficient and uses a lot of steam, meaning they have to stop for boiler water and fuel in the afternoon - using the diesel light plant they can make it all day with no fuel or water stops.

So you get to hear the not authentic diesel electric plant droning away back there.

--<< Bruce >>--

[ttrocc7007]

Re: Wheelhouse closed off?

[QUOTE=Bruce Bergman;1055571560]
meaning they have to stop for boiler water and fuel in the afternoon
QUOTE]


As I pointed out in my original post, from time to time you can see the engineer scurry from his post to dig out the hose to refill the water. One CM pointed this out to me bacause I was confused thinking the thing was running on diesel. the nozzel grip is green just like the diesel nozzels you see at your local gas station.