On July 2, 1956, the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train opened up at Disneyland. It operated until 1959, when it was rebuilt as Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland, which opened on June 12, 1960. Knott’s Calico Mine Ride also opened in 1960.
The original Rainbow Caverns featured seven colorful waterfalls that glowed as the water hit the pools below. You can see a similar effect on the first lift hill of Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. 270,000 gallons of water were used. Imagineer Claude Coats was responsible for the beautiful sights along the railroad.
The cars were black, green and blue, the track was 1,700 feet long and the ride ran seven minutes. The track was 30 inches wide and each train was pulled by a small gold-trimmed locomotive.
The train opened as part of the Living Desert, based on one of Disney’s True-Life Adventure nature films. The attraction featured a ride through the desert, with cacti that looked like living creatures and balancing rocks that thrilled an 8-year-old Tony Baxter. The Living Desert was also host to other attractions like the Conestoga Wagons, Stagecoaches and Pack Mules. When Rainbow Caverns Mine Train became Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland, the Conestoga Wagons and Stagecoaches went to Yesterland, where Werner Weiss wrote fascinating articles about them. The ride culminated in the aforementioned Rainbow Caverns.
When Walt Disney brought Marc Davis over from Disney Animation to inject some humor into the Jungle Cruise and Rainbow Caverns Mine Train, the Jungle Cruise just needed some scenes redone. The Mine Train underwent an eight-month-long overhaul, installing the little town of Rainbow Ridge, a whole new berm around the ride, Cascade Peak and Big Thunder Falls, the Twin Sisters Falls (they’re always babblin’!), the Devil’s Paint Pots geysers and Old Unfaithful, among many other things.
The most important addition was the animatronic animals, many in humorous scenes designed by the great Marc Davis. There were over 200 animals created for the attraction.
According to Werner Weiss over at Yesterland, you could hear different sounds emanating from Rainbow Ridge, like music from the saloon and screams from the dentist’s office. I’m sure some Disney audio collector has cleaned up audio from Rainbow Ridge.
Like the Calico Mine Ride, these cars featured a jump seat that you could pull down after the door closed. I found this fascinating as a small child. The ride closed when I was ten and I remember parts of it vividly.
Dallas McKennon did the old prospector-type narration. He also voiced Gumby on television! You could hear him again when Big Thunder opened. He did the safety spiel.
After leaving Rainbow Ridge, the first place you would see was Beaver Valley, where beavers were building a dam and marmots, which went on to live in a Nature’s Wonderland mine car for years after Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened, whistled at the pretty ladies on board. The train next went under Big Thunder Falls, which inspired the name of the coaster that replaced it. The train then passed the aforementioned Twin Sisters Falls.
A fan favorite part came next: Bear Country. Not Bear Country, the land, which sat near this Bear Country from 1972 to 1977. Bears swam, caught fish, and scratched themselves on trees, among other amusing vignettes. The jumping fish from this scene were still jumping the last time I looked.
Next came a pair of fighting deer. They were on the right side of the track, but, according to Tony Baxter, the Pack Mules balked at seeing deer fighting, so they were moved to the left side of the track and replaced with a nice, calm owl. The train then passed through Natural Arch Bridge. That arch lasted all the way until the building of Galaxy’s Edge. The yellow streaks were called Coconino, the red Supai.
As we enter the desert scenes, wild pigs had treed a bobcat on top of a cactus. This is the entrance to the cactus forest, where the cacti are in odd shapes resembling animals and people to an even greater extent than before, including some shaped like short people with really big noses. Next came the Devil’s Paint Pots, bubbling pots of mud, colorful, with geysers in between. Old Unfaithful shot up into the sky, barely sprinkling the guests on board.
Dinosaur bones, the precursor to the finale of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, appeared next. Then came a coyote, “the voice of the desert,” followed by balancing rocks, and then my favorite part, the mountain lion over the tunnel.
Next came the dazzling Rainbow Caverns, with colorful falls on either side, stalactites, stalagmites, Geyser Grotto and the Witch’s Cauldron. After that impressive show, the little train returned to Rainbow Ridge. Werner at Yesterland says that if you boarded the train around 8:50 p.m. the train would stop in the desert so passengers could have a private viewing of the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks.
The Nature’s Wonderland redo cost $1.8 million, about $20.5 million today. It closed on January 2, 1977 to make way for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. My mom could ride Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland but not Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Same for small children. I love a good coaster but don’t like that Disney takes out something everyone can enjoy and replaces it with something only some people can do. Like America Sings with Splash Mountain and Adventure Thru Inner Space with Star Tours. And I love me some Star Tours.
Rainbow Ridge remains, and parts of the old ride can still be seen from Big Thunder Trail. Cascade Peak was demolished in 1998 due to poor upkeep in the late ’90s. The locomotive with the marmots in the cars sat on the edge of the Rivers of America for years, then was donated to the Carolwood Pacific Railroad Society, a great organization. It was lovingly restored and is now on display in a building next to Walt’s Barn in Griffith Park, Los Angeles.
Carolwood Event at Garner Holt Productions
Speaking of Carolwood, they’re doing a fundraiser with Garner Holt on October 3 that will include programming about Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland and a tour of the Garner Holt facilities in Redlands, CA.
The evening includes a scrumptious dinner, a tour of Garner Holt’s headquarters and appearances and panels featuring Imagineers who worked on Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland. This five-hour event is a must for every Disney fan!
Hope to see you there!