Nature's Wonderland Model: Construction update

"The mine train model will never be complete, as long as there is something to change, modify, or improve".

--(A play on Walt's famous quote).

That is certainly true here. If you have watched my last video of my NWRR model, you will notice that there is a "little less" on the model; but going less creates more in the end. As part of a major effort to create a much more higher quality model, areas are being removed, modified, or improved to match my ever improving skills as a model maker and to fulfill my never ending need for accuracy.

The most obvious effect of this effort is the absence of the Rainbow Ridge town. On the currently flat sheet of plywood will appear a brand new town that is part of a major expansion. This will include many more buildings that will represent the load/unload area, the Pack Mule area, Mineral hall, and part of Casa de Fritos. These brand new scratchbuilt buildings will be much more accurate and will have 3 times the detail that it's predecessors that I built as a sophomore in high school had.

As a result of the new Rainbow Ridge expansion, Rainbow Caverns got scaled down considerably. The new version of the caverns are housed in a more compact "show building" and will soon feature UV LED's.

In keeping with the push for more detail and accuracy, Cascade Peak will get a major facelift that will include adjustments to the waterfalls and more cliffs that will reflect what the real mountain formation had.

Plans are in the works for operating geysers and bubbling mud pots and nearby, a static display of the Santa Fe & Disneyland railroad will appear on the backstretch of the layout.

My original intent was to have the layout finished earlier this year, but since I'm undertaking this major rebuild, finishing has been pushed back to late 2010, early 2011. That's if everything goes well and I can get every single little detail that I want.

First vigorous use of YouTube annotations

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Mine
• Train
• thru
• through
• Natures
• wonderland
• model
• miniature
• homemade
• disneyland
• 1960
• attraction
• walt
• disney
• imagineering
• Rainbow
• Caverns
• Big
• Thunder
• Mountain

[Blu923the2nd]

Can I ask how you made the train? x)

[STNautilus]

@Blu923the2nd Bachmann porter with a new superstructure on top and scratchbuilt car castings.

[SuperTerribad]

i never even knew about this ride. was this a ride before thundermountain? and was it kind of a slow pace ride? if so i think thundermountain would be better anyways.

[STNautilus]

Yes, it came before Big Thunder Mountain. It did move slower than Big Thunder, but it was far more superior in terms of detail, scope, Animatronics, and special effects. A true Disneyland attraction, along the lines of Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion, than a roller coaster.

[rollerghost615]

Amazing. :)

[jonleadbetter]

I wish this ride was still around, but if you go to Frontierland near Big Thunder Mountain you can see whats left of this original ride, you just have to look where you wouldnt expect it, oh and you can see one of the original trains if you ride the Mark Twain River Boat!!!

[zac613]

so i've always wondered about the little cavern that use to be across from "Devil's PaintPots". what was the cavern used for? is the rumor true about how they wanted the front engaine to come apart from the rest of the train and head into that cavern and meet up w/ the train in Rainbow Caverns?

[garrypig]

0:43 hidden Mickey!

[clone3x6]

What I would do to ride this ride....

[Thoralmir]

You know, you remind me of Walt and his model train obsession. He was constantly trying to improve it, trying to get the little figurines to move, ect. He was never satisfied with what he had, he was always trying to do better. Of course, that mid-life crisis obsession eventually evolved into Disneyland.

[jimeronimo]

Hey there. That's looking really cool. Any chance for tutorials on how to make that type of terrain?

[STNautilus]

Well, yeah it has been modified (definitely not your stock porter). The train has been the same in every video and I thought you were referring to when I was going to modify it again.