This week on scrapbook I feature more old photos of the Centennial No.2 from fellow explorer Paul Meier (thanks again Paul!). This time we leave the towering rock house behind and take a closer look at a few other of the structures to be found at the site, including the old Hoist House (of which only a single wall still remains). Here’s what Paul had to say about these particular pictures:
“…it was an overcast day (and) just as I was about to leave a breeze came up. There must have been some loose siding on the shaft house; the wind started some squeaking and thumping that sounded much like it did when she was in production when you could hear the cables and rock crushers. Sort of spooky. The next summer it was gone.”
No more truer words then that when it comes to the Copper Country. You never know when the structures and ruins we find here on CCE will be gone. In fact a great deal of items I’ve featured here on the site have already succumbed to progress, while many others have succumbed while I was “getting around” to photographing them. It’s a shame really, but the fact that people like Paul were out there getting these shots before all was lost helps ease the pain somewhat. The heritage of this region owes you big time.
To see all the photos (four in total), head on over to the scrapbook HERE. Scroll down and click on the images to get a larger view. Enjoy!
Paul ,
Nice pics from the last last breath of this mine and before all was demolished. thanks for sharing !
On pic # 3 marked as “recieving equipment” was this used as a portable hoist in mine shaft sinking and other uses ? was there a brake on this as well ? Just curious.
Bruce,
Reeving is an old term referring to passing a rope or cable through or around hoisting or rigging equipment. The machine shown was a “home built” apparatus used to handle hoisting cable. While it looks like a hoist, it is really just a big device to wind cable on or off wooden cable reels. I suspect there was some sort of brake to control slack and to prevent any “auto-spooling”. In the picture, the cable recovered from the Centennial #2 hoist is on the reel. The reel could be removed for storage. Reeving cable on or off the hoist drum is pretty straight forward. What I have always wondered about is the process used to swap ends of the cable, a practice that was done at least once during the working life of the cable. On a balanced hoist at least one cable would have to be pulled off the hoist and run on to a second reel to swap ends. The second cable could possibly be run around a sheave to the other side of the hoist drum – if there were no restrictions with the lay of the cable. Perhaps someone out there knows what was actually done.
C&H probably had two or more of these. Quincy had their “rope car” which was a railroad flat car equipped with frames and compressed air engines for two reels. There were sidings in front of all their shafthouses and the rope house was the old hoisthouse directly in front of the #2 shafthouse. There used to be a siding and loading dock there.
Paul ,
Thanks .
did the Q&TL RR “rope car” survive ? or was it scrapped ? I remember seeing a picuture of it from John Campbell.
Bruce,
Quincy’s rope car evidently was scrapped early, I can’t remember seeing it on the property in the late ’50′s and early ’60′s.
Paul, Im not sure what they did then, but we use a powered take-up spool, to take up the rope. We use a second reel to transfer to, then we run it though a tensioner to go back on the drum. I will try to get pictures if you want when we do our drum cuts here shortly. At the moment the hoist is going to be down for rebating of the drive motors.