Houston’s Weird Disney Subway

31 Comments

1. Congratulations! You reached 100k subs!

2. Nice video. Thank you.
   I like all kinds of transit and vehicles.
   You have a lovely voice.

3. The subway people mover at IAH is now inadequate and in need of replacement. If Houston Metro ever gets around to putting a rail-based connection service to the airport, the subway mover will have to be replaced for a transit stop to serve any useful purpose.

4. It took them three years to build a mile of track and they found out it was broken after 13 years? Why did it take them so long then if they did crap work anyway. China mogs the crap out of us on this so hard its insane.

5. Of the ones in your video, I've only ridden the terminal D one at Detroit. I liked it. Unfortunately, if you are input sensitive, make sure you know that there's a tunnel between terminals C and D that assaults you with darkened lights and loud music. (Don't get me wrong, I normally love Motown but that space was overwhelming for me.) I only discovered when I got home and visited the airport website that there's a switch next to the tunnel entrance that you can press to turn it off for 5 minutes, letting you walk through the tunnel in peace.

6. It would be so rad if you did a vid about my hometown Memphis! Unfortunately our trolley is replaced with a trolley bus for the time being, due to braking issues, but maybe when it is back online it would make for a cool video. I think they were testing with some of the san diego lightrail cars a few years back. The system used to have quite a few lines, but now we only have one 🙁 I will say it's pretty cool that only trolleys and the trolley bus (and pedestrians) are allowed on a large section of main street. Memphis is the only city in Tennessee with any kind of lightrail/trolley system that's active. It will be cool when Nashville gets their subway, but who knows when that will happen. I think if the city could get the trolley back online and upgrade it, possibly get a few more lines back up it could really transform back into an urban paradise. I really hope to see this happen in my lifetime.

7. I use it on occasion. It’s old, dated, bounces you around but gets you there. Fun to use.

8. My basement train as a kid was a Lionel. One day, I decided to add a subway line to my layout! I didn't add another level of track, I simply made cardboard models of the roofs that you find over subway entrances in many cities. I positioned them around my layout. Neat, eh? 😄

9. I love how a monorail is said to have one rail even though it has separate contact rails, but a metro has three rails even though one is only a contact rail. Basically what I'm saying is that all monorails have three rails.

10. Nic B roll!! I always enjoy riding the IAH people mover when I’m there. I stay at the Marriott hotel occasionally and I have gone to the basement to run the length of the hallway, racing the train. It goes faster than my running speed on the straight stretches, but with curves and stations, I can catch up… for a short while.

11. My understanding is that Bombardier bought not just the WEDWay patents, but also all of the existing equipment, facilities and employees, and continued to operate it out of Orlando while it was in operation.

12. Incredible video dude!! I’ve been trying to find an excuse to fly through IAH to check this thing out. 😂

13. This thing is so small and comfy feeling lol

14. Thanks once again, Thom, for this video. The Walter Elias Disney subway (WEDway) is new to me. As far as I know, the only other US subway built with private funds was the M&O subway in Fort Worth, that connected Leonard's Department Store with its parking lot using surplus Washington, DC streetcars.

    Somewhere in my archives I documented the original Senate Subway, which ran on a single rail with a console supporting it from the power collection system on the roof. The last time I rode it, the dual rail replacement was also running, in a much nicer area than the original utility tunnel.

    The area near the US Capitol has several layers of railroads. Streetcars ran on the surface. Beneath the street are several subways for both Houses of Congress. Then there are the tunnel from Union Station to Virginia and the Metro transit tunnels. Until at least the 1980s there was a horsecar station at the northeast of the property.

15. Interesting story. Way back just after IAH opened I flew to IAH to see the new terminal (was working for an airline at the time), and took the train..one of the first in the country. Fast forward about 20 years and I now lived in Houston and was working at CO at IAH and we took this all the time as an airport IT tech (no other way to get between A-B-C terminals at the time). We called it "MR. TOADS WILD RIDE" ! I don't remember if we knew it was a Disney product or no and had no idea it was different from the original one I had taken way back. We got stuck on it a few times outside of stations, but usually was a pretty good way to go.

16. People Mover is a fun ride! LOVE it! Great historical connection. This was a great video!

17. The Houston Subway reminds me somewhat of the Capitol Subway. Only public and more liminal spacey.

18. Shanghai Pudong airport people mover is based on Shanghai metro train, not rubber tired people mover

19. Cool video
    JFK Airport also has a Airtrain But it isnt as interesting but its fully elevated which is cool.
    When will you make a video when riding the f and m trains On 53rd And 63rd?

20. Always interesting 😊

21. I remember riding this as a kid! The carpet all around it kind of weirded me out

22. 7:16 I thought Tampa in Florida was the first Airport to get a transit system.

23. Unfortunate that such peak urbanism in the US is at airports. The places that are literally for leaving an urban center.

24. Nice to see Atlanta-Hartsfield's "PlaneTrain" there in the beginning!
    Viewing tip: if you ride beyond Concourse D to Concourse E, you'll pass the maintenance and storage yard; it will be on your right. The view isn't as good as it was years ago since they removed the immediately adjacent track and trains now diverge to the left more, but it's still pretty nifty.

25. I’ve been on both the Senate subway and the IAH one many times and had no idea they were basically the same thing, nor did I know about the Disney connection! Fascinating stuff.

26. Lots of DEN footage in the video haha, nothing that the illuminati didn't want us to see though 🤣 IYKYK. DEN is one of those airports where you have to use the people mover to access the concourses, even the foot bridge to concourse A is now closed along with its security screening, though the lower level of it is still in use as that is the path you have to take to get to customs when arriving on international flights (and why all international flights to DEN have to use concourse A)

27. I am from Houston and I love this little train.

28. Very cool @TrainsAreAwesome! That the Miami SkyTrain was mentioned and shown here, since Miami is my home city. Though I live in the suburbs, I do travel to MIA when I fly to other destinations. Yes, the Skytrain is super helpful for traveling between gates, and yes, It's weird to go to the Roof for it. But I actually like it because you can get a huge vantage point for planespotting there, usually on the northern two runways, and it's still cool. Also, you can make the walk, but your feet will be hurting, and with a lot of luggage, I wouldn't do it, but maybe it's me getting older and having health issues. Great Video, Thom!

29. Just came from watching technology connections take on it years ago sweet

30. Probably the only fun thing to do on a layover at the George Bush Intergalactic Spaceport 😂

31. As someone who occasionally flies into IAH (Bush Intercontinental), I can say that the airside (post-security) people mover isn't that much better than the basement subway. It's why I'm always hoping my flight lands at C Terminal so I'm not dealing with either system (C Terminal is where Houston METRO's 102 and 500 buses board; there are plans to move METRO's bus stop to E Terminal at the east end of the airport), which is why I prefer flying into the people-mover free Hobby Airport.

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