Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, July 17, 1980
Here are three more photos of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, as taken by Lou Perry, and scanned and shared with us by his daughter Sue B.
It can be difficult to capture a speeding runaway mine train as it careened along the tracks, a millisecond could make the difference between a clear shot and a blur.
The main queue structure looks appropriately weathered and grungy. The miners loved to spit a lot, which actually helped preserve the old wood. Try it the next time you are fixing your deck! The hoodoos in the background look great during the day, but when lit at night, they are especially impressive.
That darn train passes too fast! I'm going to suggest that they slow the roller coaster way down. Make it more like an old-west Peoplemover. I'm sure all the guests will appreciate my regard for their safety.
There are three more Big Thunder phtotos from Lou and Sue, coming up soon. THANK YOU, Lou and Sue!
17 comments:
Major-
These images easily capture why this is such a beloved attraction.
Thanks to Lou and Sue.
I can see Sue in that first pic! Okay, probably not. But I can see the Matterhorn playing hide-and-seek with us behind that tree.
Thanks Lou, Sue, and Major!
Spit made from chewin' tobacky and red-eye; either it'll preserve the wood... or dissolve it into cellulose goo. (Better test it out before trying it on your deck.)
In typical Lou fashion, he gives us an establishing shot of the queue building, then provides detailed pics of the Train amongst the theming. I wonder if he got all the views in a single cycle of the ride, or if it took 2 or 3 Train trips?
I like the 3rd pic best. A motion-blur action shot of the Train careening into the cavern.
Tokyo!, Don't be silly. The Matterhorn is in Switzerland, and these shots were clearly taken in the American Southwest.
Thank you, Sue and Lou, and Major.
Them haunted trains sure do move!
That's a more respectible way of preserving the wood than what they did to weather the roofs in Storybook Land!
I'be only ridden the WFW version, so I'd be all turned around at Disneyland!
Get pics, Lou and Sue!
Since I was in the Park the same day, I had to zoom in on these photos to see if my head popped up anywhere....and no....but possibly I'm in another July 17 1980 photo...a very special milestone day....and where is that button I got?! And all the other stuff? Hmmm...who knows....I do enjoy that Big Thunder is the same look/vibe/etc. that it's been for now....47 years! To me: it's the "new addition to Frontierland"....but I look back at this day...in year 25 of Disneyland...and think: so this is almost twice as old as things like Peter Pan were on this same day....and of course I think I rode every single ride in the course of the around the clock day....watching the sun come up was actually pretty cool....and people went home: only the die hards were there at 4am....So it was wonderfully desolate...I don't remember much that day, however I took loads of photos: all gone of course....Major: you would have had a field day with my albums.....nothing like Lou....but I think I was a mini-Lou. Capturing the unusual, and not the usual. Thanks to Lou and Sue and Major. These photos make me crave a good box of popcorn....called "BuPopz"....coming soon....
Major, you are on to something with the Old West PeopleMover idea. It would be like the old Mine Train except slower. It could go through the Davy Crockett Arcade, the Shooting Gallery, and the Pendleton Store. Maybe they could name the trains like they do for the subs: Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill, Shane, etc.
Lou Perry’s pics never disappoint. I can envision him standing for several ride cycles waiting for the perfect view.
Thanks Lou, Sue, and Major for these views. I’m going out now to preserve my deck.
JG
Choo-choo-choo from Lou & Sue & the Major, too! Ptoo! Ptoo! (That's the sound of the miners' spit hitting the cuspidor.) I love how you can feel the motion of the train just from seeing its angle as it banks around the curve in the picture. Big Thunder will never feel old to me because it was the shiny new thing people were talking about on my first visit to the Magic Kingdom. Funny how that works - time is a harsh mistress.
Big thanks to everyone who made these memories possible today.
JG, for extra slow motion, maybe they could make it more like the Rainbow Ridge Pack Mules! They'd have to name the mules, anyway: Pecos Bill, Yukon Dan, Bob Chapek, Jr., etc. Throw in a couple of mule-drawn carts for accessibility and a cast-iron poop-scooping robot, and you're all set. They can sell Funko Pops of the poop robot in the Pioneer Mercantile.
Nanook, it’s a good coaster, and even good for many people who typically don’t ride coasters!
TokyoMagic!, ha ha, it is too bad that we can’t see Sue in these. I’m assuming she wasn’t with her dad on that trip.
JB, dang I love chewing tobacky! So delicious. Now I’m trying to remember, but I don’t think any of Lou’s photos are from on board the ride. I think maybe the third photo is my favorite of today’s batch too!
Stu29573, wait, how did they weather the roofs in Storybook Land?? Is there something I don’t know? Did they use horse urine or something awful??
Bu, ha, I would love it if I happened to have some slides with you in them! Unfortunately, slide from the 1980s aren’t super common. We might have to cross our fingers and hope that Lou Perry got you. I can’t believe that Big Thunder is almost 50 years old, yikes. Seems impossible. I would assume that anyone at the park at 4 AM had to be there. Why else would a sane person be there?? I do love the idea of seeing the park nearly empty, and have seen it that way very late when most of the crowds have gone. It’s kind of amazing.
JG, YES, and Old West Peoplemover. I love it! Imagine it going through haunted mines! My gosh I want that ride. Maybe too scary for the kiddies though, Disneyland can never go too scary. I have no doubt that you are right about Lou standing patiently waiting for just the right shot.
Melissa, ha ha, “Ptoo! Ptoo!”, I knew what you were going for. Plus I love to spit at a cuspidor, or a small pet if a cuspidor is not available. Maybe youre right, Big Thunder will always feel like the “new ride” to us!
Melissa, they should find the cutest pack mule with the meanest disposition and name it Josh D’Amaro. I love how he presents himself as "your pal", but he's as cold-blooded as any suit out there.
From what I've read, horse urine would have been an improvement. But you're very close...
^ Cat pee?
Stu29 573, you not telling me what they used is probably worse than just telling me! You can use euphemisms!
JB, is cat pee worse than horse pee?? At this point my mind has gone places I didn't want it to go.
I was working that day, on the Submarine Voyage. And I do still have my commemorative button. Bu, maybe we crossed paths...
Thanks Lou and Sue and Major for the photos & the post.
-DW
Is it any kind of bodily secretion? Is it grosser than a breadbox?
A bunch of cousins I haven't seen in a long time came to my mother's birthday party over the weekend, and the subject of our Grandpa's cuspidor came up. Nobody seems to know what happened to it after he died. We're starting to suspect it may have been buried with him.
Let’s just say the modeling team was relieved when they figured out how to weather the roofs and leave it at that.
Melissa, rather than a Funko Pop it would probably be a poopcorn bucket.
And with that, I think I’d better scat.
Chuck, I think you gave the #1 answer.
Nope, unfortunately I wasn't at DL, on this trip. And yes, my dad probably patiently waited to get the "right" shot.
I LOVE BTMRR! I find myself laughing almost the entire time, as this ride tickles my tummy. Now that I'm older, I physically can't handle bigger roller coasters, but this one is perfect and not too hard on the ol' body. I can't help but start smiling now -- looking at the 1st and 3rd shots. :oD
Regarding 7/17/80, there are still over 100 scans of my dad's pics in Major's arsenal, for future posts. Plus, I'm sure there are even more in my dad's collection, that I still need to scan from this date. Keep watching, and hopefully one of you will appear in one of these pictures!
Thank you so much for all your fun comments. And thank you, Major.
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