"The Minor Details of Big Thunder"

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad dates back to the wild and woolly boom town days when every prospector west of the Rockies was looking for gold. The following is the tall tale heard tell by one of those prospectors who got it second hand from old Sam, the last of the Big Thunder Miners:

Yes sir, it is 1840, and around these parts, things got prit' near quiet as the hangin' tree on Sunday after the Big Thunder Mine tapped out. One day there ain't none richer, the next, even a ghost wouldn't have much innerst in her.

Off he went, a headin' fer the mine, Seems like that old ghost mine came to life for Sam. He swears the rusted winch engine was a pumpin' and a wheezin' and just when he was thinkin' he must have bats in his belfry, there was bats! Then he sat up to see what he could see in the dark, and there was pools of rainbow water and waterfalls, and plenty of them rocks the schoolmarm calls "stalactites and stalagmites."

That ore car finally squealed to a stop right smack dab in the middle of Big Thunder Town. Sam just sat up, brushed off the dust and said, "I ain't had this much of a whoop and a holler since the Grub Grang hit town. I just barely got out with my hide!"

Sam's amazing ghost story was told and retold over the years, and because of it, no one was ever brave enough to even set foot near the mine-until the day a bold young Imagineer heard the tale.

He thought it might be fun to take a ride on old Big Thunder himself, and sure enough, he did, and the train ride turned out to be so much fun he decided to officially reopen the mine. Folks soon heard the news about Big Thunder and began to arrive there to take their own wild ride on the legendary runaway train.