SEATTLE -- It took a large crane, a super-sized tow truck and lots of patience, but the two mashed monorail trains in downtown Seattle were slowly freed.

Video: Crews Take Crucial Step After Monorail Crash

A small crowd of spectators stood in a freezing rain to watch and cheer as the trains slowly began to move.

Ed Phelan and others brought out their digital cameras for what has become an unexpected tourist attraction

Phelan works in a building that overlooks the wrecked cars and has watched the cars sit on the tracks for days. "It's nothing like walking up and seeing it like this," he said.

On Saturday night, the blue and red trains sideswiped each other on a narrow section of track just yards from the Westlake Center station. Eighty people onboard had to be evacuated and two were injured.

Three nights later, police shut down the streets near Fifth Avenue and Olive Way as enormous cranes and cherry picker moved in to survey the damage and try to figure out some way of pulling the wrecked trains apart.

"Because they are pushed together one is leaning against the other, but they figure as soon as they separate them, they will go and bounce back to their original positions." said Perry Cooper with the Seattle monorail.

Now the massive tow truck is slowly dragging the cars to a terminus at the Seattle Center where they will look over the cars to see if the damage is cosmetic or more serious.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels toured the scene Monday night and has his fingers crossed the trains will be back up and running soon. "Its very, very important as a transportation link but even more important as a symbol of the city," Nickels said.

Workers and engineers hope to complete the job sometime today so repairs can begin. This is the first time both the Red and Blue trains have been involved in an accident. In the past one has always been available to tow the other.