The Calico Mine Train Ride at Knott's Berry Farm is turning 50 this month. The O.C. Register has an article detailing how Bud Hurlbut thought up, designed, built, and operated this wonderful attraction. (Also enjoy the video by our pal Mark Eades.) I hope the old mine is around long enough that I'll be able to take my grandchildren there someday..
I also hear, through the grapevine, that someone at Knott's is now working on the various visual effects inside the ride to bring them back online. Already, rocks are once again tumbling out of the ore chute! I hope the steaming mud pots will be next.
The photo above shows Bud putting the finishing touches on a scene in the ride in 1960. The photo is the only image I've ever seen of Walter and Cordelia Knott on the ride..
I've posted about this ride at least two times in the past, including early video footage and a great image of the colorful cavern scene. All of these images, including those in today's post and the historic images in the Register's slide show, come from the Knott's Berry Farm Collection, which is now part of the Orange County Archives.
I've been enjoying the "steampunk" phenomenon from afar for a while. Now I read in The Daily Titan that it all began with folks from my alma mater. Link over to read how Cal State Fullerton alumni Tim Powers, James Blaylock, and K.W. Jeter created this "Victorian meets high-tech" alternate universe. .
The article also notes that Powers' book On Stranger Tides has been optioned for the next "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie -- a franchise that also, of course, has its origins in Orange County.