Yokohama Dreamland Monorail
| Yokohama Dreamland Monorail | |
|---|---|
A section of track from the Dreamland Monorail in 2004
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| Overview | |
| Other name(s) | Dream Development Dreamland Line |
| Native name | ドリームランドモノレール |
| Type | monorail |
| Status | abandoned |
| Locale | Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Termini |
Yokohama Dreamland Ōfuna Station |
| Stations | 2 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | May 1966 |
| Closed | September 1967 |
| Operator(s) | Dream Transport |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 5.3 km (3.3 mi) |
| Electrification | 1500 V |
The Yokohama Dreamland Monorail (ドリームランドモノレール?), formally the Dream Development Dreamland Line (ドリーム開発ドリームランド線? Dorĩmu Kaihatsu Dorĩmurando Sen) was a monorail connecting the Yokohama Dreamland amusement park to Ōfuna Station in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan. Operational for barely over a year between May 1966 and September 1967, various attempts to restart or rebuild the line continued for 35 years, until it was finally decommissioned in 2002.
Opened in August 1964, Yokohama Dreamland was Japan's first large-scale, modern amusement park and an instant hit. Due to its inconvenient location far from the nearest station, plans were soon drawn up to connect it to Ofuna Station by monorail, and a mere two years later, in May 1966, the Yokohama Dreamland Monorail was opened to the public, offering an 8-minute ride from train station to the park. Despite a steep fare (at the time) of ¥170, the line was initially a hit, and with significant population growth in the area plans were soon made to add an intermediate station and extend the line to Mutsuai Station on the Odakyu Enoshima Line.
However, cracks soon started appearing in the monorail beam. As the developers had been unable to buy the necessary land along the original route, the route of the monorail had been changed, resulting in steep grades of as much as 100‰ (10%). The monorail vehicles were altered to cope with the high grades, increasing their weight, but the strength of the beam was not increased to match. It soon became clear that the beam was simply not strong enough to withstand these additional stresses safely, and in September 1967, the service was suspended after operating for only one year and four months.
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