tarboat's photos with the keyword: coal mine

A train of coal repositions whilst loading in the opencast mine at Jalainur. An empty spoil train waits for its turn.

Loading overburden at the Jalainur opencast coal mine in the Mongolian Autonomous Region.

Gothic colliery at Cheratte close to Liege. The first mine development here was in 1860 and the Malakow winding tower over the 170m deep No.1 shaft was completed in 1907. The adjacent buildings housed the baths and offices. Mining ended here in 1977 and the site was declared a historic monument in 1982, since when it has sat derelict and decaying.

First day on the lineside during the December 2008 trip and we decided to go to the Donghaikuang colliery system at Jixi as we had not been there before. There are not many trains to be seen on this line so we were lucky to get the loaded wagons being taken to the interchange during the afternoon. There was much debate as to whether the line was uphill away from the colliery at this point and we soon learned that it was downhill as the train coasted past with just steam showing from the brake pump exhaust. The Donghaikuang mine can be seen in the background.

The afternoon passenger service hurries through Colliery No.7 on the Pingdingshan Coal Railway.

Shunting the yard at Breza Colliery.

My first visit to China was in October 1992 and one of the highlights of the trip was the Jalainur opencast mine. The layout of the mine at that time was very different from today and the coal trains had to be hauled right out of the pit to reach the washery by the exchange sidings rather than the conveyor system from the low level unloading point now in use. Traffic was very heavy and slipping to a halt on the curves and gradients appeared to be a regular occurrence. Here a train that had set back after stalling is preparing to be banked out by the following working. The main power plant for the area can be seen on the horizon.

SY 1092 shunts at the loading bunkers of the Weizigou mine on the Nanpiao coal railway.

Sometimes you get double value in a photograph and this shot from the Jalainur opencast coal mine in the Mongolian Autonomous Region demonstrates a two tier approach.

62-363 at the washery of the Breza Colliery.

The message is clear at the top of the path down into the Jalainur opencast coal mine.

Pecking at a seam in the Pingzhuang opencast coal mine, Mongolian Autonomous Region.

Nos 9 and 13 on the line into the pit at Klenovic opencast mine, Serbia.

The deep mine at Breza, Bosnia-Herzegovina, was opened in 1907 and the shaft is now 475 metres deep. Production is significantly lower than before the civil war at around 16,000 tons per month with a workforce 650 underground.

Night work at the loading bunkers - Zenica Colliery, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Colliery soughs are well worth seeking out and this example probably dates from the early nineteenth century. Originally used as a drainage and tramming level with a tramroad to take the coal down to a yard by the nearby road. It served to drain, amongst others, Thornsett Hey Colliery and the splendidly named Cave Abdullam Pit, and the abandonment plans suggest that mining ceased here in 1886. The trademark ochreous silt that usually marks old coal workings is present in large quantities here along this stone arched section which comprises the first 167 yards of the 649 yard tunnel. Plenty of water still issues from the sough.