Refurbished Train Moved, Rockwork Painted at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Shannen Ace

Orange rock formations on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, with safety cones and green trees under a partly cloudy sky.

Refurbished Train Moved, Rockwork Painted at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Crews continue to work on the fake rocks of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and have moved the refurbished train.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Construction

A wooden fence and white gate in front of a rustic building under construction, with workers and trees in the background.
Picture from earlier this month

Earlier this month, WDWNT saw a refurbished Big Thunder Mountain Railroad train near the loading area of the roller-coaster. A few days later, crew members added clearance envelopes to the train cars for testing. The train is no longer sitting in the same spot, so it may have been moved to a different part of the track.

A cream metal building seen behind trees and a wooden fence under a blue sky with scattered clouds.

Near Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, we took a look at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’s new vehicle barn. This is where vehicles will be stored and maintained. Scaffolding is gone from the barn’s exterior, and we can now see yellow railings inside. There are also new elements on the tops of the four openings — these could be new doors, or some other feature.

Construction workers in safety gear build a wooden structure for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad under a canopy, tools nearby.

On the actual ride, we saw crew members working under a tent across a bridge. The tent was previously laying on the ground next to the track and building, but there are now shades clipped up in that space.

A section of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad track is exposed above a damaged, partially collapsed rock structure with visible rebar.

A hole in the rockwork where the track cruves into the mountain has been covered in new steel mesh. The supports behind the mesh were recently painted white. The next step will be to fill in the hole with new concrete and then paint it to match the rest of the faux rock.

A wooden bridge under construction on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, surrounded by orange rocks and trees in the background.

Some rockwork has already been redone on another section near the track, but this section has not been repainted yet. The group of white rocks is visible past the bridge.

Orange rock formations on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, with safety cones and green trees under a partly cloudy sky.

Another large hole was only recently torn open, and then quickly covered. Since the hole was covered again, it has now been repainted. The rock structure in the background of this photo was gray in our last update, but it is now reddish-brown. More details may be added to make it look more worn and realistic.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is scheduled to reopen in 2026 with “a little bit of new magic.” Watch our POV video of the ride below.

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