Springfield Monorail

The Springfield Monorail was a short lived solar powered transport system in Springfield.

Workers[]

Homer Simpson (Driver)
Lenny Leonard (Driver)
Mr. Smithers (Manager)
Carl Carlson (Night cleaner)
Lyle Lanley (Founder)

History[]

Thanks to a fine Mr. Burns had to pay for illegally dumping radioactive waste in a playground, Springfield came in possession of $3,000,000 (though Mayor Quimby pocketed 1,000,000). A town meeting was held to decide what to do with the money. A man named Lyle Lanley suggested using it to build one of his monorails. This plan won out over Marge Simpson's proposal to use the $2,000,000 to fix Main Street instead. Though there were some concerned about the practicality of a monorail in Springfield, Lanley skirted around their questions. Homer Simpson became the conductor of the Monorail, chosen at random after an "extensive 3 week training course" (actually consisting of the meaning of the monorail's name; mono= one, rail= rail).

However, Lanley soon ran into several problems with his plans. Neither Marge and Lisa fell for his charms. They were deeply suspicious of his intentions because he evaded any questions about the monorail's safety. Marge decided to question Lanley about his intentions and discovers his scam through his notebook. After coming up with a convincing alibi to let him think she knows nothing, she immediately drives to North Haverbrook to see what a monorail had done for their town. She arrived to see the town in ruins and everyone in denial about it. The only resident willing to talk to her was Sebastian Cobb. He reveals the town devastated by the accident because of how Lanley deliberately cut every corner possible, ignored his suggestions in making the monorail stable by using stable materials and then skipped town with all of the leftover money. The result: the monorail crashed almost instantly. Because of him, the town lost it's investors and residents moved away immediately.

On the day of the maiden voyage, Lyle Lanley escaped from Springfield with the money he'd 'saved' from cost-cutting and of which Lisa tried to stop him. Soon after, the monorail lost control, unable to stop because it's believed it's solar power system and had no storage or shutoff (The monorail stopped very briefly once, due to an eclipse.) Marge and Lisa headed to the control center to try an use the braking system to stop the monorail. Upon entering, they discovered that Lanley deliberately destroyed the braking system upon realizing that they were on to him. Undauted, Cobb called Homer and suggested he use an anchor to stop the monorail. He obliged by used the letter 'M' on the sign 'Monorail', and anchored the monorail to a giant plaster donut. Thus, Homer and Marge are hailed heroes for saving the passengers.

Lyle Lanley was later attacked by an angry mob from North Haverbrook when his escape plane touched down there briefly. The Springfield Monorail was demolished, but the station was not, and it is currently now in ruins and a target for vandals. The abandoned station has became a popular tourist destination site.

In "The Old Blue Mayor She Ain't What She Used to Be", in an effort to "go green" and increase tourism, Mayor Quimby approved a reclamation project to build a skyline park atop the monorail’s ruins. The repurposing of the remaining monorail track pieces into a garden walkway officially named the Skypark-Line, however, met with disaster on its opening day. The monorail’s electricity to power the park’s "no smoking signs" had not been disconnected from the tracks, causing the monorail cars, still housed in the abandoned Station B, to begin moving again. The monorail subsequently destroyed most of the refurbished pathway and injured several people before permanently coming to a stop via careening off the edge of a removed part of the track, destroying a Leonard Nimoy statue as it crashed to the ground below. This incident was a contributing factor in Quimby losing re-election.

Behind the Laughter[]

According to the true logo of the Springfield Monorail, it was originally created for the 1964 World Fair.

In Other Simpsons Media[]

The Simpsons Hit and Run

Monorailsimpsons — Simpsons Hit and Run design.

The station is accessible in Level Two and Five, and the front car of the monorail is a secret vehicle in Level Two. There's also a collector card in the station in Level 5.

The Simpsons Tapped Out Players became able to build their own monorail as part of an event that started on August 11th 2015. The event combined aspects of both "Marge vs. the Monorail" and "Trash of the Titans". Lyle Lanley also made an appearance.