Rainbow Caverns Mine Train , April 1959
It seems like it's been a while since I've posted any Mine Train photos from Disneyland. Today's examples are from April, 1959, so... pre-"Nature's Wonderland". At this point it was still the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train, but not for much longer.
The RCMT debuted on July 2, 1956, but three years later it still looks neat and tidy and well-maintained. The Rainbow Ridge residents had civic pride! Of course things always look better on a bright shiny day, under a flawless blue sky. The "Last Chance Saloon" sure is pink! Maybe it was supposed to look like "faded red"? As usual there is virtually no line for this ride, one of my "most missed of all time" attractions.
Next we have to photos, taken mere moments apart as our photographer passed through the Rainbow Desert. There's the time portal from Star Trek TOS, through which we can see an old-time stagecoach! What the heck? I've always loved the tiny pueblos atop the mesa (or is it a butte?) to the left, even though the perspective trick doesn't really work. Who cares! It's still great.
Now the Stagecoach has been replaced by the Disneyland & Santa Fe Railroad... gotta love the original yellow passenger cars. It was clever of the Imagineers to give folks aboard the DLRR a sneak preview of the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train ride. Check out the assortment of succulents, cacti, and other desert plants. Ya know, the desert’s a dry place, and full of some pretty mean varmints. Gotta be careful of sidewinders, wild pigs, and even mountain lions. But the desert’s got her beauty, too. Notice our friend the coyote peeking out of that little cave at the base of that cliff. Maybe he's Cliff the Coyote?
19 comments:
Major-
What a great way to start a Wednesday - or any day, for that matter-!
One thing missing, however... The yeller streaks a-runnin’ through them sandstone cliffs are called ‘coconino.’ The red, we call them ‘supai.’
Thanks, Major.
In the first photo, when we were there in 1975 I seem to recall the Mine Train facing the other direction. Leaving the station, traveling from left to right. And we entered the Caverns first, before going through the desert. Am I totally crazy (don't answer), or does that make sense?
In the third photo, there's a roof of some structure hiding in the upper right corner. I have no idea which way we're facing here, but is that the top of the Fantasyland Skyway Chalet?
Thanks for the return to the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train, Major.
@ JB-
Yes you are - but it's not the answer to your question, or is it... And yes again - it's the top of the Fantasyland Skyway Chalet.
That’s a really cool shot with the stage coach framed in the portal like that. Blink and you’d miss it!
They painted the saloon pink to match the elephants the customers are seeing.
That little coyote might also be known as "Rocky," among his close and personal desert friends.
You never know what you’re gonna see through the Guardian of Forever. In this case, we are seeing vintage Disneyland, circa 1959.
Whatever his name is, that coyote is sure a wily one.
JB, not saying your memory is playing tricks on you, but I don’t know why they would have run the trains the opposite direction. The show scenes - particularly the flat “rocks in shadow” in Rainbow Caverns - were designed to be viewed running clockwise. And they would have had to physically lift the locomotive and put it on the other end of the train since the attraction didn’t have a turntable unless they were running it backwards.
Darn you, Melissa! Beat me to the pink elephants joke. I hope you wake up in a tree.
“The name’s Don. Don Coyote.”
Everyone focuses on the Mine Train as a tourist attraction, but overlook the fact that it was designed to haul mineral ore, and the failure of the gold seam forced a change to hauling rich visitors while yammering on about wildlife and colored sandstone. Some of the “hard facts” of the founding of America meant the citizens of Rainbow Ridge had to re-tool their economy from extraction to entertainment. Much like an animatronic version of Knott’s Calico.
The Guardian shot is as perfect as they come. The wide variety of real cacti and Joshua Trees blend with the animatronic vegetation to provide an acceptable substitute desert, viewed I think from another stagecoach, judging by the dirt road in front of us. The Chalet makes a guest appearance in both photos.
JB, in your memory, does Spock have a beard?
Disney and Warner Bros. made a deal, Cliff coyote spent alternate weekends in the Disney desert, while the Roadrunner consulted for Plymouth.
Thanks Major!
JG
JG, your comment to JB made me laugh out loud. I had a mouthful of peanut butter sammich that nearly found itself on the monitor and keyboard. Thank you - greatly appreciated this morning.
Nanook, if I ever get another dog, “Coconino” would be a swell name for him.
JB, nope, as far as I am aware, the Mine Train always went to our left, with the Rainbow Caverns scene being the “grand finale” before returning to Rainbow Ridge. And I do think that structure to the extreme right is the top of the Skyway Chalet!
Nanook, are you sure that it isn’t the mini-Rocket to the Moon that used to be there?
Melissa, yes, I think that was a fortuitous shot with the Stagecoach. I should have made the connection, of course pink elephants live in pink saloons.
TokyoMagic!, “Rocky”? He’s a coyote, not a squirrel!
Chuck, I’d like to jump through that portal in jerky slo-mo, only to emerge in 1959 Frontierland. I hope I don’t get run over by a Stagecoach! And maybe I’d get in trouble for standing in the middle of the Rainbow Desert. I’d just tell them that I fell out of my train. IT HAPPENS. Maybe JB saw some Mine Train slides that were scanned backwards? I’m glad I’ve never done anything like that.
Melissa, coyotes always love a good reference to Spanish literature!
JG, I’m sure many mining communities could only dream of being able to switch to becoming a scenic tourist attraction. Rainbow Ridge could have cornered the market in supai, but at the time people didn’t know what to do with it. I can’t help thinking how dumb luck factored into that second shot with the Stagecoach. I also wonder if the third shot could have been snapped during a subsequent ridethrough? I sure hope Disney never acquires another competing studio, they have enough as it is.
Chuck, I always thought Spock looked cool with his goatee. Just sayin’.
OK, so everybody says the Mine Train never went the other direction. And yes, Spock did have a beard; just so you know. But I'm (almost) positive we went through the Caverns before going through the desert because, when we started the train trip, it was almost nighttime. After going through the Cavern it was completely dark outside and the driver had to use his spotlight to illuminate the unusual cacti, geysers, etc.... IT'S A MYSTERY! (Or just my memory playing tricks... Nahhh, that never happens.)
JB, it sounds like I am joking, but could it just be that you rode the Mine Train at night or at dusk? I am unaware of the attraction ever starting with the Rainbow Caverns scene, but I suppose it's not impossible!
Major, it could easily be me mis-remembering things. As you know, when at Disneyland, one experiences sensory overload; so many sights and sounds in one day, they tend to get conflated. The thing that's nagging me is, I've been remembering it this way over the years, ever since that time. No biggie, though. I have other conflated Disneyland memories from '57 that I'll be writing about, and sharing slide scans.
@ JB-
As Michael Faraday once said... “Nothing is too wonderful to be true if it be consistent with the laws of nature.” So, who am I to argue-? I only wish we had indisputable proof of that great moment.
On a side note for coaster enthusiasts... I really did ride The Beast with the brakes 'off'. And let me tell you - that was an experience-!
JB, the first thing the train did after pulling out of Rainbow Ridge was go through a tunnel that opened up on the Beaver Valley scene. There was another tunnel after that scene that spit the train out on the bank of the Rivers of America. The track went under Big Thunder Falls and about halfway around Cascade Peak before hitting a third tunnel which led to the Bear Country scene (not to be confused with the land that in 1959 would have been the Indian Village and today is known as Critter Country). It then passed under a "Natural" Arch Bridge before circling the desert and finally entering Rainbow Caverns (see the map near the bottom of this article for reference)(https://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20210905/31897/mine-train-through-natures-wonderland-story-walt-disneys-forgotten-e-ticket?page=2).
You may be remembering emerging from one of the tunnels, and with the way the land was contoured and the fact that there was no (or very little) artificial lighting in Nature's Wonderland in comparison to Rainbow Ridge and the "town" area of Frontierland, even at dusk it was probably too dark to see much of anything without the spotlight.
And I hear you about conflating early Disneyland memories. My first trip was when I was 2½, and I have a very clear memory of riding a train with my grandparents, facing the direction of travel, looking to my left, and seeing the castle in the distance up on a hill through the bars in car window. I remember reviewing this memory when I was 24 (in the shower, of all places) and realizing that it made no sense; the castle isn't on a hill, isn't visible from the train, and if it were, it would be on the right side of the track if I were traveling forwards, not left, and the train windows (this was a 1971 trip, so the original cars were still running on occasion) weren't barred.
A year or two later, I took my wife on Casey Junior for the first time, riding in one of the animal cars, and then I suddenly saw the exact scene from my memory - a castle on a hill to the left of the train through the bars of the "window." The castle was a model, of course, but at 2½ I didn't pick up on that. It did, however, make a strong enough impression to stick with me all these years later.
Nanook, you really were lucky, especially as I'm sure that was long before those pesky ratcheting lap bars were even thought of being designed!
@ Andrew-
You are correct, sir-!
JB, I’m not sure I misremember things so much as I don’t remember things AT ALL. There’s a difference! I am always amazed at the details that Junior Gorillas seem to recall so vividly. Not the case for me.
Nanook, I feel like I missed something! How did “The Beast” come up? I once rode my bike with no shoes, is that just as cool as your experience?
Chuck, you sure did a good job of describing the basics of the Mine Train ride! Also thanks for the link to that article, when I am not so pooped I want to spend a bit more time going through it. I’ve always wished that I’d experienced the Mine Train at night, but sadly it never happened. There are stories (on “Yesterland”, for instance) of the trains coming to a stop in the Rainbow Desert so that guests could watch the fireworks from there. W O W. I love your memories of riding Casey Jr., along with the flash of deja vu years later when you were with your wife! Must have been amazing.
Andrew, lap bars are for weenies!
Nanook, if I recall correctly, they didn’t even have seats early on, you just held on to random pieces of metal. The good old days!
As a kid, was firmly convinced that Rainbow Ridge and the Moonliner rocket were at least formerly open to the public. Also that the jet pack guy and live jazz on the Mark Twain were everyday events we just happened to miss on all our visits, and Liberty Street and Edison Square were under construction like it said on the old souvenir map.
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