From where it stood, the Champion hoist we were looking at appeared out of place with the rest of the mine’s surface plant. Its location along the road put it almost smack dab in the middle from the C and D shafts (the No.2 and No.3), and rather far from either. It also sits at a right angle to the rock house ruins that remain from those shafts, an oddity defined by the fact that hoists are usually in line with the shafts they serve. But all these peculiarities can be explained away mainly by the nature of the topography that surrounds the building. The Champion Mine sits along a steep slope, dropping from the highlands above Painesdale down to the marshy banks of the Pilgrim River in the neighboring valley. This slope becomes decidedly less steep as you head south along the lode, which is why the D and E shafts could keep their standard in-line hoists. The C shaft, however, faced a particular steep incline that couldn’t serve a standard oriented hoist building.
The building was built therefore on the nearest patch of flat land, which happens to be the spot we were standing on now. Hoist cables exiting the building were simply ran along the ground northward for a spell before being turned westward towards the neighboring C shaft. While unorthodox, the system was actually not unusual. Mine companies worked with the topography they had, and some times this meant some not linear thinking in surface plant design.
This design also meant that the building’s business end is hidden from view at the building’s perceived backside. So we took a walk around to its back to have a look for ourselves…
It was a view that we weren’t accustomed to, considering most of the hoist building’s we’ve found haven’t even had walls. As for those structures that miraculously still had their walls, this forward wall was almost always destroyed – an unfortunate side effect of the hoist’s removal and scrapping at the building’s end of life. The most amazing part of it all was the presence of both cable openings in the facade – the top one and the bottom one. These openings allowed egress of the hoist cables which in the case of most Copper Country hoists meant an upper set and a lower set – one for each of the shafts two hoisting compartments.
Here’s a closer look at what I’m talking about. Here’s the same view as above, but this time I’ve outlined the rough location of the hoist drum itself. As was common the hoist drum was conically shaped, which meant that its diameter decreased as it moved towards the outside. I’m not particularly sure why this was done, though it would have meant that at a mine’s upper levels the skips would move much faster at the same drum rotation then the lower levels. This conical design is the reason why the slit in the upper cable opening (the wooden surround is known as a skirt) features that angled extension.
In addition to their conical shape, hoist drums were also usually wound with cable at both ends, one clockwise and the other counter-clockwise. This meant that cable would spool off the drum in two spots, one at the top left and another at the bottom right. As the drum was turned in either direction, one line would be let out while the other was simultaneously wound up. Each of those lines would be attached to its own skip, which in turn would run along its own skip road in its own compartment in the shaft. The skips would run in balance, with one coming up to the surface with rock while the other heads down into the mine empty. Both would be moved by the same hoist, from the same drum.
This is why hoist buildings have two slips for cables, a feature the image above showcases perfectly. In this case the upper skirt has been left intact, but the lower once was been filled in with modern concrete block. Though filled, the opening’s elaborate sandstone arch still remains to mark the slits old location.
Here’s a closer look at that upper cable opening and skirt. Like the lower opening this one is adorned with that sandstone arch as well. The cable would start at the far left of the slit, and work its way right-ward as the attached skip was lowered deeper into the earth.
Down below we have the lower cable opening, though in this case the skirt has been replaced by concrete block. While cable on the upper slit would move to the right, cable in this opening would move the opposite direction at the same time. What’s interesting here is how you can also see the hoist building’s original concrete foundation wall. It takes a step down into the opening – steps we used back at the Trimountain’s Hoist to enter the structure.
Up at the top of the building we find another large opening. This one features a wooden platform attached to its front side; a platform adorned with several ceramic insulators. Those insulators no doubt were there to connect electric lines, and the whole platform was probably some type of electrical hook-up point for the equipment inside. I wonder if the steam hoist that was originally housed within was replaced by an electric model at some point and that’s why these hook-ups exist out here. I’m not sure though, but it sure looks more robust then a simple power line hook-up.
Leaving the hoist building behind for a second, we headed out to the neighboring woods in search of the cable stand remains and weren’t disappointed. A pair stood right up alongside the building at the edge of the tree line, with several more visible further in the woods. THe topography here dropped rather precariously into a steep ravine, which was no doubt why the building had to be placed out here in the first place. From this angle it all made perfect sense.
very cool write up and pictures, Its great to imagine a time when this place was busy
Ok, this may seem to be a silly question, but I don’t have the background like you guys do about this mine stuff. It always seems that when they scrapped out an old hoist they always knocked down one of the walls of the building to make it easier to get out. But what about when they originally built the hoist buildings? Did they put the hoist in place first and then build around it? Or did they put up the building first and put the hoist in one part at a time?
Jim — at Quincy, at least, they like to emphasize how their gigantic steam hoist at the #2 shaft was brought in one part at a time through a small loading door in the back of the hoist building. The building was built several years before the hoist was ready. Not sure if that was the standard, but it certainly was possible. Of course, when it came to scrapping, there was no incentive to be so careful (and take so much time), so down went the walls.
Is the hoist still in the building?
Better yet, do you know who owns the building? Possibly you could contact them to get a look around inside? You have my curiosity now….
The other neat thing is the windows on the left and right of the building are at different elevations. It makes me think they weren’t there for windows at first.
So interesting , years ago us kids spent alot of time in this structure, playing frisbee, staying out of the rain and in winter again used it to meet up hang out and just be kids, at that time everything was open and accesible , friends and I often talk about the (It Building) as we called it, dangerous yes it was becouse of the massive holes in the floor but alot of what I believe good lessons of life where learned there just hanging out all the time,
the conical section of the drum would allow for greater torque when accellerating a loaded skip up the incline shaft. The greater torque was not needed to decelerate the skip, or accelerating the empty skip back down.
Also the electric “hookup” could be for out going power to another location from a steam powered generator within the building too.
My guess about the two windows at different elevations is: door (on the left), window (on the right). Notice how the one on the left is right at the level of the foundation — I’ve seen lots of doors exactly at that location on hoist ruins.
Hi, hope everyone had a great holiday season. Like the new look!
John is correct about the torque differential. Cylindro-conical drum hoists were designed to give the steam hoist a mechanical advantage especially when operating in balance. The loaded skip wound be winding ON the small diameter while the empty skip would be winding OFF the large diameter. There was an energy “credit” for the weight of the empty skip. These hoist were most efficient when hoisting from one level. Example, the big hoist at Quincy would have been at its highest efficiency if all hoisting was done from its design 10,000 foot level. This was not done in most Copper Country shafts due to the nature of the lodes. But the cylindro-conical drums were still the “modern” state of the art choice for steam applications. Some of C&H’s single compartment shafts came to be equipped with conical drums. Then I have seen some photos of balanced hoists that could best be describes as double-conical with only a few inches of “cylindro”. The torque and control characteristics of the electric motor made the cylindro-conical drum unnecessary in most cases.
All of the steam hoists were built at least twice. Once in the manufacture’s erecting hall, and the second time at the mine. The Nordberg plant in Milwaukee was landlocked so every hoist left by rail and all the pieces had to fit railroad clearance specs which made it easy to get the hoist through the “back door”.
Dave,
It could be but usually you don’t want to approach a hoist on thee business end. I had wondered if they were there for the sinking arrangement (two small single drums). I haven’t seen the mezzanine floor inside though so i could be out in left field!
Joe — I can definitely see what you mean about not approaching a hoist from the front. But many of the big hoists I’ve seen which have standing walls (Victoria, Trimountain #4, etc.) have a doorway in exactly that location. They also have doors elsewhere, of course, so perhaps it served some secondary purpose.