Dear Forum,
I would like to start a discussion on underground mine and industrial railways. The subject has always fascinated me. Unfortunately, it is really tough to get any real information on the subject.
I have learned that many modern underground mines have abandoned underground rail haulage in favor of "trackless" mining where rubber-tired vehicles called LHDs (Load-Haul-Dump) are used. In other mines, especially coal mines, conveyor belts are used.
However, there are a few underground mines that continue to use rail. One such mine that I’m particularly aware of is the Original Sixteen to One mine in Allegheny, CA (Near Grass Valley/Nevada City).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DZDQysk2XA
But how many underground mines are still using rail haulage? I’d love if we could locate and inventory them. Are there any new mines planned that would use rail?
It’d be nice to have a discussion about this. I have tried to find a forum or "e-group" on the subject but have turned up nothing.
Regards,
Fred M. Cain
Well whaddyaknow, a question right up my alley.
There are still numerous mines using track hualage underground. It does depend on the ore body itself, its geological setting, grade of the ore and type of mining selected. As an example VMS deposits, Volcanic Massive Sulphides are rich in nickel, copper, lead, cobalt, zinc .and are thick massive deep deposits. In the old days this would be mined with a two man shrinkage or cut and fill type Mining method which means smaller outputs of tonnage but many stopes in different locations and levels. This was all track hauled. As mechanization became normal, Long Hole Drilling, Scooptrams, Jumbo Drills, all rubber tired Diesel mobile vehicles, became normal. This allowed for huge blasting typically of 15,000 to 50,000 tons at a time. Blasted and broken ore was hauled away in drawpoints down below by Scooptrams. Rail methods did not work.
Gold Mines chasing small veins must keep dilution down and cannot do these massive blasts because it would make the grade uneconomical. Almost all of them still use underground rail still, multiple small stopes.
I will continue this on later tonight. I'm at work and have 2 classes right now.
There are numerous industrial railroads that vary in size from one loco operating on a short spur, such as a scrap yard, to a fleet of locos operating on an in-plant trackage system, such as a steel mill.
Many of these operations use locomotives that once belonged to Class I railroads. Quite a few still use Alco and Fairbank-Morse products albiet they are heavily modified.
Since neither GE or EMD no longer make industrial switchers, a number of small scale producers have popped up. Republic Locomotive, Tractive Power and Brookville are good examples.
There are a couple of (above ground) mining RRs in the Upper Peninsular of Michigan that I'm aware of. They run from "limestone" quarries to great lake ports. Look for Port Inland and Port Dolomite on Google Earth. The former used to be electric, the latter is isolated from any other RR cnnections.
Dear "Miningman",
It’s kind of a puzzle to me why so many mines have abandoned the use of rail. A while back I sent an e-mail to a mining equipment company asking about this and the response I got back was that there are actually “plenty of mines using rail”. He even suggested that there are some new mines coming online that will be employing rail haulage.
The use of underground trucks demands much larger diameter drifts and tunnels. Plus, if those trucks are diesel-powered, they need much better ventilation. So, those two features would seem to be costs that would not be incurred by rail. So, what’s the advantage really? Is it just flexibility? If “time is money” then flexibility might be money, too.
But another thing I’ve wondered about. Could it be that labor union rules in underground mines add extra costs where rail is used? A post on a mining group a few years ago suggested that rail is mostly used “in the smaller mines”. Could that be because smaller mines are not unionized? Is it possible that by going with underground trucks, mining companies can dispense with a union craft that maintains the track? I don’t know, I’m just wondering, that’s all.
The Original Sixteen To One mine is non-union but that might just be a coincidence.
Here is an interesting article on the subject of rail although I think it might be foreign:
https://www.e-mj.com/features/opportunities-and-challenges-of-rail-haulage-systems-in-current-mining-operations/
And here is another promising article but I have not been able to open and access it without an account. Can anybody access this article? It might make an interesting read.
https://mining-report.de/english/advantages-and-applications-of-rail-haulage-systems-in-underground-hard-rock-mining-operations/
When I was in the Navy in the 1970s and stationed at Norfolk, Virginia the base had a large in-house railroad. Originally using GE 44 tonner locomotives, around 1977 they bought a Fairbanks-Morse loco which was considered newsworthy. A good idea as at the time they were retiring submarines of WW2 vintage that all had FM engines so there was always an ample supply of parts. Sailors would think that the system was abandoned and would park on the tracks and get thier cars demolished. No, it was not abandoned but the newer piers didn't have rails. Just inside one of the gates was a yard filled with old, gray painted boxcars. the rumour was that they were portable missile launchers, sort of like a bunch of Lionel cars. No one I knew ever verified that but it was fun to think about.
There used to be a business district just outside the main gate with a lot of crummy bars and so forth. There was a small train yard there that I was told was strictly for bringing coal to the ships when they burned coal but that was long abandoned and torn out then the business district was completly done away with in about 1978.
In Hamilton, Ontario there are steel plants with thier own in-house railroads that move the torpedo cars around the plant. It's a very elaborate system but is strictly private. Nearby is Canadian Steel Car that builds freight cars and they have thier own system as well. The Canadian National is the nearest railroad with connections crossing Burlington street in many places.
Well, it wasn’t mining exactly, but I vaguely recall reading an article in TRAINS Magazine many years ago (1980s?) about some very strange railways on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Some were steam, some were animal powered and a few people even used private vehicles to get around kind of like a personal automobile on rails. It was really intriguing. Does anybody remember that?
Here is a URL to a map I found online:
http://www.tramz.com/mx/yu/yum.html
Yikes! That’s quite a spider web of rails! Many of those lines might have still been in use back around 1980 but I strongly suspect they’re all gone today.
Regards
Fred M Cain
Have an ancestor who was a design engineer. Best I remember he stated that each mine was different. A lot of mines in West VA started mining at the entrance and proceed in. You have slope, height, twists and turns, how much spoil to remove for the run your removal type requires.
He stated that guage of track was the first starting point that often depended of side clearances. Remember Utilities into the mine(s) might limit clearances both side and top. Ability to buy the necessary locomotives for your clearances. Coal seams are fickel and no matter how much geo tech work done prediction of coal seams in exact scince. Straight seams I imagine are good for coveyors.
Probably as the mining company goes into the seam(s) it may have to change method of extraction? Diesels in deep mines might be precluded due to inadequate ventilation?
Blue Streak,
I don’t think there are any underground coal mines in the U.S. that are still using rail haulage. I learned a few years ago that the “Shoemaker Mine” run by Consol Energy in West Virginia was the last.
http://www.timesleaderonline.com/news/business/2010/01/shoemaker-mine-banks-on-future/
I think, but do not know, that there might still be a couple of coal mines in West Virginia that use rail haulage to move men and equipment around in the mine – but not the coal itself.
Having said this there MIGHT be a very few anthracite mines in PA using rail. Anthracite mining is a little bit more like hard rock mining.
There are hard rock mines throughout North America using rail but I don’t know where they are.
Many years ago I knew a guy who worked in the huge San Manuel underground mine north of Tucson, AZ. I think he was a track worker or something. I seem to remember him telling me that the ore cars were pulled by electric locomotives and the rail system was equipped with an automatic block signal system. That mine has since closed and I’m not sure if it will ever reopen or not.
Another large underground copper mine was the Magma mine at Superior, AZ. When I was in high school I found out that the Magma Arizona Railroad that served the mine was still using steam. I couldn’t believe it! Several times a week, they’d run down to the SP interchange at Magma Junction. I talked my dad into driving us out there one fine Saturday. When we arrived, we were disappointed to learn that they had just bought an Alco Diesel (or was it a Baldwin) and the steamer had been sidelined and used as only a back up. They showed us the loc but we did not get to see it under steam. Not sure if it ever steamed again or not.
But as we drove away, I looked up on the side of the mountain to see a whole trainload of ore cars pulled by some kind of a small locomotive trundle out onto a trestle then dump the load of ore. I almost found that more interesting that the steam locomotive.
The Magma mine closed years ago but lately there was a grandiose plan to reopen it as “America’s largest underground copper mine”. But I’m not completely sure that ever happened. If it does happen then they might use rail haulage. Their website suggests as much. Rechristened the “Resolution Mine”, here is a URL to their website.
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-arizona-copper-mine/
There’s a video on there and if you skip to near the end of it, there is a scene showing trains and locomotives. Interesting. So, I wonder if this mine is operating in 2019?
Regard,
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