Old Mine train tracks

[passholder]

Are those the old tracks that are there across from BTMR where that tunnel is that seems to go to nowhere, there is a tunnel with tracks in it. Or are those just decoration for the tracks that go around the shores of the river where the crashed train is that you see when on the boat rides or even when on the backside of PL/TS island?

Did the mine train go along the shore?

[RegionsBeyond]

The answer is, as far as I know, both are remenants of the Mine Train track. They might connect at some point, but both are original to the Nature's Wonderland Mine Train ride, but are now just decoration.

[evmo]

So are the tracks across the pond on the BTMR trail Right now theres mine cars on them but that used to be part of the ride too.

[Austin]

This sparks a good conversation point, I really think this space can be utilized to make a quality dark ride there, it seems that there is enough space from an ariel view. The best movies I can think of that MIGHT fit a frontier theme would be:
-The Lion King
-Bambi
-Snow White (Mining Part)
-Pochahauntus
-Brother Bear
-Home On The Range (Because this was a huge hit)


Most of these dont fit the theme to well, but I think Bambi with its Nature-esque theme MIGHT work, if done properly. The BIg Thunder Trail area has a very natural look with the pond there and what not. I Think it would be cool if a dark ride was buily starting on top (not in) the pond, like a sort of peir, but this is just a rough thought.

SO whats your opinion.

[gary94080]

is this what your talking about? would passengers ride in the yellow cars where the rocks are?

[Peoplemover Priit]

As far as I know it is all original stuff from the attraction. Man I wish that they would bring it back in the area that's left. Frontierland needs attraction and that is just empty space.

[Goover]

I would hate for a dark ride to tarnish the peaceful ambiance created by this railway tunnel and pond.

It really is a beautiful side of the park.

[gary94080]

This sparks a good conversation point, I really think this space can be utilized to make a quality dark ride there

I'd like to see something new there too.

I think part of the reason they haven't done much in that area is that it might be in the exclusion area for the fireworks displays. just like Toontown.

[AidensDaddy]

This sparks a good conversation point, I really think this space can be utilized to make a quality dark ride there, it seems that there is enough space from an ariel view. The best movies I can think of that MIGHT fit a frontier theme would be:
-The Lion King
-Bambi
-Snow White (Mining Part)
-Pochahauntus
-Brother Bear
-Home On The Range (Because this was a huge hit)


Most of these dont fit the theme to well, but I think Bambi with its Nature-esque theme MIGHT work, if done properly. The BIg Thunder Trail area has a very natural look with the pond there and what not. I Think it would be cool if a dark ride was buily starting on top (not in) the pond, like a sort of peir, but this is just a rough thought.

SO whats your opinion.

Uhm, its with the general consensus on here, (see the worst movie thread) that Home on the Range was one of the worst movies made. I don't see them doing a ride based on it, and if they did, it wouldn't last long.

I would hate for a dark ride to tarnish the peaceful ambiance created by this railway tunnel and pond.

It really is a beautiful side of the park.

Yes it is a beautiful side of the park. And as others have said, yes it is relics of the old mine train ride that used to be there before BTMR opened. Should they do something there? Perhaps. Could they, possibly not in my opinion, because of the Rivers of America. I don't think they could structurely put something there and be safe enough. I think they should at least put that cave with the "snoring bear" that used to be located where Splash Mountain is now, and was relocated to the back of the island before being removed.

Hey speaking of which, is that particular item on the Yesterland site?

[Skunkwerx]

Are those the old tracks that are there across from BTMR where that tunnel is that seems to go to nowhere, there is a tunnel with tracks in it. Or are those just decoration for the tracks that go around the shores of the river where the crashed train is that you see when on the boat rides or even when on the backside of PL/TS island?

Did the mine train go along the shore?

Here is a great thread from the past that can give you a lot of info related to the old tracks and attraction.

The Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland

[goofystitch]

The Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland has always intrigued me, especially since remnants of it are still visible. Personally, I would hate to see these aspects ever go away. As others have said, I'm not sure if there would be room for an attraction back there and if adding one means taking away the beautiful parts that are still there for us to enjoy, then I don't want another attraction there.

My boyfriend used to work at Disneyland and he went back there once. He said that most of the tracks are still back there. Obviously, they aren't functional and the earth has sort of reclaimed that land, meaning everything is overgrown and in his words "very creepy." Does anybody know anybody else who has been back there? Perhaps somebody who brought a camera with them?

[WestsideCM99]

Wow, the above article had some really cool pictures that helped answer some long asked questions..


-This looks like it is the tunnel on the backside of BTRR by the Village Haus where the old-time train locomotive is parked in front of, does anyone know if it still goes anywhere?



- And the tunnel that the train is coming out of is now the entrance to the BTRR maintenance bay?

Looking at the design drafts it looks like BTRR and the walkway connecting Fantasyland and Fronteirland is built over what used to be a pretty large body of water (Bear River). This is very interestink..

[techskip]

This image is from the thread cited previously... It shows the section in question on the left side (circled in red for some reason... wasn't me). One tunnel was behind the McDonalds cart, the other was directly above the pond.

[Nautilus]

Wow, the above article had some really cool pictures that helped answer some long asked questions..


-This looks like it is the tunnel on the backside of BTRR by the Village Haus where the old-time train locomotive is parked in front of, does anyone know if it still goes anywhere?



- And the tunnel that the train is coming out of is now the entrance to the BTRR maintenance bay?

Looking at the design drafts it looks like BTRR and the walkway connecting Fantasyland and Fronteirland is built over what used to be a pretty large body of water (Bear River). This is very interestink..

-That tunnel is in fact, not the maintenance spur line for the mine train, but rather there just for show. That tunnel isn't the one along the trail, but rather half buried at Big Thunder Ranch. The tunnel was really just a short-cut for CM’s to reach backstage, as evident in this blue print showing the tunnel|:



If you were to look at the larger format version of the photo, then you’ll notice that the tunnel scale is actually a little smaller than the train itself, which makes it impossible for it to be a spur line. The actual spur line the trains used switched inside the Rainbow Caverns (Ron Dominguez has a story in the ”E”-Ticket magazine about how he would derail a few trains because you couldn’t tell what position the switch was in the dark.). The trains were stored behind fantasyland, very close to where the Maintenance shed for the Big Thunder trains is now:



-Speaking of the Big Thunder Maintenance building, it occupies the exact spot where the Rainbow caverns building was, although it is not the same building. What rather interesting to know is that the entrance gate where the Big Thunder trains come on line is pretty much the exact spot where the Nature’s Wonderland trains came out of Rainbow Caverns and into Rainbow Ridge! Mineral Hall (which sold fluorescent rocks) is still there today, and shown in these two photos, illustrates this fact that trains from two different eras passed over this exact same spot into their respective load/unload areas.