There have not always been machinery to mine coal. The earliest form
of mine machinery was carts and rail.
Coal was generally mined by pick and shovel with the use of a small breast auger or drill. The coal was undercut to allow
for a break-away point at the base of the coal face.
Dynamite was inserted into the holes and detonated. After the smoke cleared, the coal was loaded by hand into small wooden
cars then pushed by hand to the mouth of the entry
where a team of animals, usually horses, mules and even dogs would pull the loaded trip to the surface.
A unique collection of breast augers used in drilling coal.
Early cloth "hardhat" provided no protection to the miner.
A more modern version of the miners hardhat.
A nice collection of a miner's personal equipment.
A miner drills holes by hand for dynamite.
The "Shot Fireman" tamps the holes with dynamite.
After the coal has been "shot" down, workers move in to scale down loose rock from the mine roof and begin loading
the cars full of coal.
Miners puch a car of coal out to be picked up.
A team of drivers who drove the trips of coal cars to the surface.
A single horse pulling a trip of coal to the surface.
With modernization came machinery that replaced the horse.
As the coal was being loaded, roof support had to be installed to protect the workers and
livestock, here wooden timbers are used as roof support. They were cheap to buy easy to install and would pop and crack as
the weight of the mountain settled down on them letting the miner know the pending danger from the mountain above. These wooden
timbers would bend like matchsticks as the weight increased.
Today's mining is a lot different. The photos above show a miner using a roof bolting machine
or "pinner" as it is sometimes called. This machine drills holes in the mine roof then the operator inserts a metal bolt into
the hole and tightens it down, this pulls the different rock layers tightly together making it a more stronger bond.
In some cases, a "resin bolt" is used. This is a metal rod almost like rebar that is used with a chemical paste called resin.
The resin fills any cracks in the mine roof and hardens like concrete.
Short wall jacks or Mogile Roof Support (MRS) are occasionally used whith retreat mining or pillaring. This is a method of
mining where the square blocks left during regular mining is now removed, leaving nothing to hold the mountain up. The photo
at right shows the same type mining method using wooden post or "timber" for support. The weight of the mountain has already
began to crush the wooden post.
For more photos of Mine Machinery, click the photo below.
