Wandering Seattle - The Alweg Monorail

Wandering Seattle_The Alweg Monorail

Wandering Seattle – The Alweg Monorail: The 1962 World’s Fair or Century 21 Exposition, which it was billed back in the day, was opened via the airwaves by President Kennedy on the east coast to a crowd of 12,000 people in the stadium on the fairgrounds. This was not only done because of the opening being on Easter weekend but also to telegraph the technology of the time. JFK said in his opening speech,

“This manner of opening the fair is in keeping with the exposition’s space age theme. Literally we are reaching out through space on the new ocean to a star which we have never seen, to intercept sound in the form of radio waves already ten thousand years old, to start the fair…I am confident that as this sound from outer space is utilized to open the fair, the fair in turn will open the doors to further scientific gains by letting all see what has been accomplished today.”

Welcome to the Future

One of the cornerstone attractions of the fair was a new transportation system that linked the fairgrounds to downtown. The Seattle monorail. Construction began 11 months before the fair at a cost of $3.5 million. Designed and operated by the Alweg Rapid Transit Company during the fair, it was purchased by the City of Seattle in 1965 for $600,000. At a cost of 50 cents per trip, fairgoers rushed to trains and the monorail was a huge hit. As a result, Alweg recuperated their constructions costs and were well into the black by the end of the fair. Although talk at the time was that the monorail system would be expanded throughout the city post-fair, the plans never came to fruition.

Today, one-way fares are $2.50 for adults and $1.25 for children 5-12, seniors, disabled and US military. Trains depart every 10 minutes and it is a great way to travel to and from the Seattle Center where you can visit a few other of Seattle’s popular places; The Space Needle, Museum of Pop Culture, Pacific Science Center, Chihuly Garden and Glass, Key Arena, Memorial Stadium, the Theatre District, and many gardens to name just a few. It is the arts and entertainment heart of the city and is a must on every visit. Visit our post on Wandering Seattle for our top 10 things not to miss.

The Alweg Monorail by the Numbers

8,000,000 – enthusiastic fair going riders in the first 6 months of operation
2,000,000 – yearly riders today
700 – volts DC, which is supplied to the trains through contact rails on each beam
70 – the length of each pre-stressed concrete beams
68 – y-shaped columns supporting pairs of concrete beams, which span the columns
64 – tires on each train
- 16 – load-carrying tires ride on top of the beam
- 48 – guide tires run along the sides of the beam for alignment purposes
45 – max speed
30 – height of the highest columns
10 – minutes between train departures
2 – trains, one blue and one red
1 – mile of track

The Seattle Monorail was the nation’s first full-scale commercial monorail system and has been in operation ever since the fair back in 1962, but if the name sounds familiar you are not wrong. Another daily operating monorail system opened at a little park in Southern California a few years early. In 1959, the Disneyland/Alweg Monorail was dedicated by another Washington DC dignitary, this time it was Richard Nixon. The attraction’s path weaved throughout Tomorrowland but in 1961 the route was extended to include a stop at the Disneyland Hotel which allowed these trains to travel 2 1/2 miles above the guests below on the ‘Highway in the Sky”.

Monorail Hours of Operation

Monday-Friday: 7:30am-11:00pm
Saturday & Sunday: 8:30am-11:00pm

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Seattle Center