Opening
Day! First Images, first impressions
Page Four of Six
Pictures and commentary
by Kim Pedersen (except where noted)
Las Vegas local, Karl Buiter, found this wonderful
vantage point for us in the Venetian parking lot. In the distance
you can see the Bally's S-curve and the Flamingo Hilton Station.
The Borg train is arriving at the Harrah's/Imperial Palace Station.
An elevated pedestrian walkway allows guests easy access to the
system at several of the stations.
The longest no-station track is from Harrah's/Imperial
Palace to the Convention Center, about two miles. Here we see
the Nextel train after it has negotiated a tight over-ninety degree
turn.
Koval Lane has a short stretch of monorail. The track
carefully wraps around a convention center and hotel , who's owners
fought the monorail tooth and nail. If you're in Vegas and happen
to see gondoliers inside an Italian-looking resort, ask the employees
and management where their monorail station is, snicker, snicker!
"Eeesa notta funny, meataball!"
On opening day there was a lot of road work being done
to Sands Avenue. I happen to think this will be one of the prettiest
stretches of the monorail line when the road work is finished,
because of the proximity of the very-green golf course of the
Wynn Resort (formerly the Desert Inn). The massive Wynn Resort
tower is seen here, due for completion in 2005.
One straddle bent helps the dual-tracked line move from Sands
Avenue to the parking lot of the Chamber of Commerce.
On the Chamber grounds there is a mid-point switch.
Frank Lloyd Wright would be proud of the builders, with all the
clean-line cantilever structures.
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