The Mine Train & Rainbow Ridge, 1972
Today I'm making a rare foray into the 70's! 1972, to be precise. The photographer was quite enamored with The Mine Train and Nature's Wonderland, he took nearly a dozen photos from the ride. And about half of those were in Rainbow Ridge. Let's take a look, shall we?
This first shot is an odd angle... I can't tell if the photographer is aboard a second train next to the one that we can see, or what. Anyway, it's a nice POV shot, those of you who never had the pleasure of riding this classic attraction can get a nice feel for what it was like as you prepared to head through that tunnel. Meanwhile...
...a flock of mules returns home, like swallows returning to Capistrano. How do they do it? Those long ears probably helped them use a primitive form of echolocation. I never rode the Pack Mules, but MAN, do I wish I had!
From later in the day, here's a nice image of the Opera House and the Hardware Store. You can buy copper wash tubs, stove pipes, graters, saws, washboards, pots, pans, funnels, those hats that hold two cans of beer, and other essential items for your sod home.
OK, this one isn't so great, but I threw it in because I didn't want it to feel like it wasn't loved.
13 comments:
The light is so lovely and lends it an extra feel that's "just right" for the old west, mountain mining town vibe.
Mm. Wanna hang a ride. But on the pack mules or the train? Oh that's right. We could do both. Sweet.
Love your sense of humor, Maj. Only you would be reminded of the swallows of Capistrano by a bunch of mules. And sundries for me sod home hehe!
Now I gotta go play my washboard. Soon as I'm up to form on it, I'll accompany your humorous patter and we'll go to town. We'll be a rip-roarin' hit at the Opera House and rock the Ridge.
The mine train! I miss it! Gee, I probably need to stop saying that. It is ALWAYS nice to see pictures of it. Thank you, Major!
Oh, and I never rode the Pack Mules either, darn it! I rode on the burros at Knott's Berry Farm.....no comparison, I'm sure.
This was always one of the really great rides at DL. After running all over the place, doing this & that... it was always nice to sit down in the mine train and just take a relaxing ride through Natures Wonderland. Very nice pics.
Great shots major! They bring back wonderful memories of a classic and much-missed Disneyland ride.
Great shots as usual--I love seeing the little pieces of Disneyland I never got to see in person.
One thing I've never been clear on, in building Big Thunder Mountain did they re-use some of the buildings from Rainbow Ridge, or were all the originals torn down and they simply recreated the style. I've always wondered about that because the buildings I see in photos don't seem to match up in my mind to what I see on BTMRR.
thanks!
Brer Dan
You can revisit a ride on the Mine Train Thru Natures Woderland at Sorcerer's Workshop.org at:
http://sorcerersworkshop.org/minetrain.shtml
You may select either the realtime version with pauses between narration comments (and you get to hear the Mark Twain whistle!) or the edited version which just gives you the narration commentary.
Enjoy!
Hi Brer Dan, I don't know the answer to your question (I'll check my copy of "The Nickel Tour" when I get home though!)... my guess is that the original buildings were torn down (I assume that they were not in great shape) and as you say, the style of building was recreated.
Thanks Major! I'd read up on it a few different places (although not for a month or more, admittedly), but never saw a concrete answer. Some seemed to ASSUME they were the same, but the jury's still out.
Thanks much!
Brer Dan
Some of those buildings were saved and those are the same ones you see alongside Big Thunder today. There is an issue of "E" Ticket magazine that talks about how they were moved, but I would have to go digging through stuff to tell you exactly which issue. It might have been a last minute decision when they were demolishing Nature's Wonderland because if you look at the original artwork that was posted on the construction wall at the time, it shows geysers where the buildings ended up going.
Great shots!
It is yet another attraction that I wish I had been able to experience.
By the way, Major...I love Disneyland in the 70's and wouldn't mind seeing some more sometime. Of course, I love the 50's and 60's shots too. It's just the 80's and 90's that I can go without reliving!
Thanks, Tokyomagic! That's good enough confirmation for me. I LOVE that part of BTMRR with all the conversations and sounds coming from the buildings. It's nice to know they are indeed also a piece of history.
I'm also with Tokyo in loving the 70s shots!
Thanks, Major, for the blog.
Brer Dan
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