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Diesel mine locomotives

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Posted by Redore on Friday, July 30, 2010 4:45 PM

Oliver Mining (U S Steel) started using diesel switchers in their Minnesota open pit iron mines in 1940 with an Alco HH-1000 (no. 900.)

http://www.missabe.com/cms/gallery/v/Oliver+Mining/Diesel+Roster/oim900.jpg.html

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Posted by samfp1943 on Thursday, July 22, 2010 6:27 PM

IN South East Missouri, They mine various forms of Calsite Rock-[ Calcium Carbonate]. The mines down there mine on something like a 200ft face+,- (height) in about 50' 'shelves' w/ pilars for roof suipports. All equipment underground is diesel powered, even the pick-ups had diesel engines installed ( lots of three/four cylinder GM industrial power units). were retro fitted by the mine's mechanical shops

     I used to make powder deliveries with 45'/13'6" dry vans, and Freightluiner COE. It was something like 8 to 10 miles back to the storage area for my delivery from the entrance.  Coal mines ( really, big ones) as was stated, use diesels to power some of the more mobile transporters and diggers.   In my limited experiences, diesels seemd to be no problem underground, and were maintained to keep their emissions clean.

 

 


 

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Posted by erikem on Monday, July 19, 2010 10:06 PM

peterjenkinson1956

as for exhaust fumes  there are 3 x main problems with using diesels underground....particulates  ie  unburnt fuel    carbon monoxide  and oxides of nitrogen

 

Since diesels are almost always running in lean-burn mode, carbon monoxide emissions are inherently much lower than a spark ignited mixture engine (e.g. gasolene engine). This is why most navies switched to diesels for submarine use around the start of WW1. Having said that, it would be a really bad idea to assume that will never produce carbon monoxide.

- Erik

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Posted by peterjenkinson1956 on Sunday, July 18, 2010 6:56 PM

 

modern mines are getting away from rail transport underground due to its lack of flexability

a little history....   when horses were being replaced in the 60,s in coal mines   a method of hauling gear around the mine was to use tracks and to replace the horses small diesel locos were used to move the equipment

small diesel powered buggies were used to take the men working underground to the work face were used   these buggies could carry approx 14 men and went quite fast...  a mine i worked at had 14 miles of track to reach the working face from the mine entrance

these vehicles are now being replaced with diesel powered vehicles for hauling equipment ( a lot heavier )  and 4 x 4 vehicles are now used in mines to transport the men

 

as for exhaust fumes  there are 3 x main problems with using diesels underground....particulates  ie  unburnt fuel    carbon monoxide  and oxides of nitrogen

to control these wet or dry scrubbers are used and the diesels are checked / serviced each week   as well as daily / shiftly emission checks on the exhausts

the diesels dooooooo  give of fumes and these fumes are diluted to a safe level by the mine main ventilation....  a typical coal mine may have multiple ventilation fans with a capacity of 350 cubic / M per second    the diesels are rated by hourse power as to the ventilation required to be underground....  for example a small diesel ( man transporter ) may req 4 cu M  of air....  a large diesel may req 16 cu M   of air   

 

so it is easy to see that diesels can be used safely underground by calculating the air quantity  and allowing only the number of diesels into that air split to keep the emissions to a safe level

no coal mining expert....  only 29 years experience underground....  peter

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Posted by GDRMCo on Saturday, July 10, 2010 6:55 PM

 For all those that think diesels underground wont work then you've got to realise that the ventilation system is designed to handle diesel powered equipment. I worked in an underground gold mine in central Australia and EVERYTHING was diesel. We had haul trucks running up and down the decline, boggers, light vehicles, jumbos and the things I worked on, diamond drilling rigs. Every other mine I or my father have worked on has had diesel vehicles and theres not many that I know of that dont.

In regards to whats mined underground, just about every mineral you can think of is mined underground!

ML

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Posted by DSO17 on Saturday, July 10, 2010 6:11 PM

IRB Souther Engineer
What type of things did underground mines mine (maybe this is a stupid question). I know gold and coal but I can't think of anything else. 

 

     Bethlehem Steel's Grace Mine, served by the Reading RR, was an underground iron ore mine.

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general mine question
Posted by IRB Souther Engineer on Saturday, July 10, 2010 3:40 PM

What type of things did underground mines mine (maybe this is a stupid question). I know gold and coal but I can't think of anything else. 

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Posted by carnej1 on Friday, July 9, 2010 11:27 AM

ndbprr
so your not true satement is in regard to my understanding or your vast knowledge of mining operations? Recent devopments not withstanding most coal mines are not going to have the latest and greatest equipment. Unless you have some facts as to who has switched to diesel. Particuate filtering may solve smoke in a mine but CO generation would be my.concern if I were a miner.

Your understanding...

I do not need to be a mining professional to look up the fact that diesel powered equipment is common in underground mining and tunneling operations, particularly in metals mining.Diesel powered Load-haul-dump units and the like have been in common use for a long time (as far back as the 1970's) and you only need to look at the websites of the major mining equipment producers (Joy Global, Caterpillar, Bucyrus, etc.) to see the amount of underground equipment offered with diesel powerplants..

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/pubs/pdfs/camde.pdf

As far as rail mounted equipment there may well be more trolley pole and battery powered units but that doesn't mean that Diesels are considered an unproven and exceptionally hazardous technology in an underground environment..

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Posted by ndbprr on Friday, July 9, 2010 6:30 AM
so your not true satement is in regard to my understanding or your vast knowledge of mining operations? Recent devopments not withstanding most coal mines are not going to have the latest and greatest equipment. Unless you have some facts as to who has switched to diesel. Particuate filtering may solve smoke in a mine but CO generation would be my.concern if I were a miner.
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Posted by carnej1 on Thursday, July 8, 2010 11:13 AM

ndbprr
All mine engines of which I am aware are electric, either battery or trolley. The last place in the world you would want an exhaust problem would be a mine.

 

Not true.

 A lot of diesel powered equipment is used in underground mining, including locomotives and other rail mounted machinery. Brookville locomotive offers most of it's mining equipment with the option of diesel, battery, or electric trolley pole power:

http://www.brookvilleequipment.com/

There are much stricter emissions standards on diesels for use underground but with special exhaust particulate filters and modern mine ventilation, they are the most common powerplant for many types of underground vehicles, for instance, load-haul-dump units which are one of the most widely used methods of moving material from the mine's working face:

http://www.bucyrus.com/mining-equipment/room-pillar/utility-vehicles/lhds.aspx

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Thursday, July 8, 2010 10:08 AM

Slightly off-topic but similarly, the various locomotives used for M/W service by the NYCTA are conventional diesel-electrics, no dual-powers.  This isn't as bad as it seems since a fair amount of the system is on elevated structure or in open cuts.

http://www.nycsubway.org/cars/locomotives.html

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Posted by ndbprr on Thursday, July 8, 2010 5:54 AM
well you really have two situations you are asking about. Underground mines are electric and started usingthat power possibly in the late 1800s. Surface or strip mines probably close to the dates railroads dieselized. Kennecot Copper used electric engines for bringing copper ore out of their huge open pit mine so it does vary.
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Posted by IRB Souther Engineer on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 6:39 PM

Okay, well when did battery powered locos become common?

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Posted by vsmith on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 6:18 PM

IRB Souther Engineer

What about above ground.

Probaly about the same time as the first automobile's were cannibalised into railtrucks and maintanence cars, I have photos of old gas powered Brookeville Critters and some othe rare makes that go back to the mid to late 1920's.

Most of the early gas critters were actually contractor locomotives used on construction sites, these then very soon found their way to various industrial applications.

Most all mining critters were either battery or overhead electric, the earliest overheads go back to before the turn of the century and were an offshoot of 19th century trolley technology.

Diesels become more common after WW2, they were around before but mostly on large loco's after the war, diesel motors started finding wider applications in industrial locomotives.

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Posted by tomikawaTT on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 6:18 PM

IRB Souther Engineer

What about above ground.

Can't place a beginning date, but I can offer a snapshot.

In the late 1950s I was 'minefanning' some collieries in a dying coal field in Kyushu, Japan.  One of the smallest, run by three couples and a (friendly, but very dirty) dog, had a line-haul of about a kilometer from the mine adit to the crusher-sorter.  The motive power was a 4 wheel diesel 'critter' thet had obviously seen long, hard use and minimal maintenance.

The largest active mine had extensive above-ground workings.  There, the motive power was the same both below and above ground - battery powered motors.

At just about the same time the Kiso Forest Railway was replacing the last of their wood burning steam locos with similar, but somewhat larger, diesel 'critters.'  The wood was too valuable to burn to make steam, and the conversion to oil would have cost almost as much as the same tractive effort in replacement diesels.

Chuck

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Posted by IRB Souther Engineer on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 5:54 PM

What about above ground.

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Posted by ndbprr on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 5:44 PM
All mine engines of which I am aware are electric, either battery or trolley. The last place in the world you would want an exhaust problem would be a mine.
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Diesel mine locomotives
Posted by IRB Souther Engineer on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 4:33 PM

When did diesel mine locomotives come onto the railroading scene?

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