Tailings Pile: (Satellite)
Depot: (Satellite)
Roger Holmes posted three pictures with the comment: "Here are three from Toluca. The third one I believe is from 1908." I keep discovering more and more places in Illinois that used to mine coal.
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| Andy Zukowski posted BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF RAILROAD DEPOT, TOLUCA, ILLINOIS. 1908 Photo by C.U. Williams Mike Landers: Santa Fe Logo next to the Depot ? David Kennedy: Mike Landers I think it's a garden. I can see why the railroad area in Toluca today is so big. I wonder if this photo was taken from the coal mine? |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on David's comment I think it was taken from the tailings pile. Looking at the tall, skinny water tower in this photo posted by Roger Holmes, the tipple was west of the view point of Andy's photo. |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on David's comment In fact, taking a closer look at another photo posted by Roger, I can see the railroad water tower and depot east of the tipple and the tailings pile is south of the depot. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ILLRRHISTORYBUFFS/permalink/2226927264200094/ |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Andy's post I think BNSF has a couple of signal boxes setting on the location of the garden. https://www.google.com/.../@41.0003862.../data=!3m1!1e3... |
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| Roger Kujawa posted Shaft 1 Toluca Coal Mine. Toluca, Illinois. |
The first sod was turned to sink shaft #1 on February 9, 1893. The third (lowest), and best, vein was 512 feet deep and averaged 28" thick. When the mine was closed in 1924, some of the "entries" were over two miles long. A stable for 40-50 mules and a blacksmith shop were also built underground. "Coal cars were hoisted to the surface by 110 hp steam driven engine. It took an average of 15-16 seconds to draw a load of coal to the surface. The boiler room housed six boilers of 100 hp each. These furnished power to operate the hoist, ventilating fan, and water pumps." [Arendell, pp 1-4]
I know the term "slag" is used for the waste created by a blast furnace. It would be poured into ladle cars and taken out onto a slag heap to be poured down the side. It turns out slag also refers to the shale that is removed along with the coal to provide a working height for the mules (and the men?) because the coal seams were so thin along the Illinois River. Many towns viewed their slag heaps or "jumbos" as a liability because kids liked to climb them. Toluca worked with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to turn their 500' high slag heap into an asset and invite kids, and others, to climb it.
The reason some towns preserved their jumbos is because they viewed them as memorials to the men who were killed in the mines. Because the veins were so thin, they removed all of the coal and the surrounding rock and allowed the roof to collapse behind them. This was the "longwall" method of mining. Today they have sophisticated, hydraulically driven shields to keep the roof from collapsing along the working face. Back then the bracing was much more primitive and people did get killed. [Tribune]
The population of the town peaked at 2,503. When the mine closed, it lost 2/3 to 3/4 of its population. [MyWebTimes]
Update: It is not part of the coal mine, but it is an interesting aspect of the BNSF/Santa Fe. This signal tower will soon be replaced by a new one to support PTC.
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| Roger Holmes posted Probably one of the better photos that I have been able to get with a train and the cantilever in Toluca today (Saturday Dec. 23, 2017)..Quite a bit of traffic in both directions. Over a dozen trains in 3 1/2 hours. © Roger A. Holmes. |
Mark Baker shared several photos with the comment: "At "Big Jumbo" slag pile in Toluca, Illinois 4/8/19."
Below are four of them.
Dennis DeBruler I thought longwall mining was a rather recent development. I see from the photo of the sign that it was in use before 1905.
Nick Koba Jr. long wall mining was being done in the 1860's in the Braiwood ,Illinois area ; I believe it stared in England long before that.
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| William A. Shaffer posted An Open Door (Photo by William A. Shaffer) The phrase "Lead Us Not Into Temptation" always comes to mind in situations like this one! And then I think, "What could one photograph hurt?" One photograph leads to three or four and next thing you know, I'm through the door! |
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| William A. Shaffer posted Behind that Open Door (Photo by William A. Shaffer) If you are wondering what was behind that Open Door, here is a photo. It is the Hoisting Engineer's Station. Though the photo appears to be well lit, it was actually very dark. I had to put my camera on a tripod and use a slow shutter speed to get this image. I had never seen any machinery like this and it was especially of interest to me because my grandfather, James P. Shaffer, Sr., had been one of the Hoisting Engineers at the Donk Bros. Mine in Troy, IL. |
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| Andy Zukowski posted Shaft NO.2 at Toluca, Illinois. C. 1910 |
A different exposure and photo credit.
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| Andy Zukowski posted "Shaft No. 2 Toluca,Illinois. C.1910–Toluca was a coal mining town which had 2 mines, the other was by the depot. Photo by C.U. Williams |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Andy's post The Illinois records don't show the location of the two different shafts. https://wikiimage.isgs.illinois.edu/ilmines/webfiles/topo-mines/la-rose.pdf |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Andy's post But the other Illinois map shows that all of the shafts were south of the tracks in the "industrial area." |
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| Andy Zukowski posted Shaft NO.1 in Toluca, Illinois. 1908 photo by C.U. Williams Justin West: So was Shaft No. 2 nearby? I know it fed a JUMBO of its own...or was it the same as the one pictured in the background on the right? Dennis DeBruler: Justin West See my comments on Andy's other post. It appears they were close to each other and both of them were south of the tracks close to the Jumbo. |
Bonus
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| Larry Foht posted A.T. & Santa Fe Wreck Toluca Illinois Larry Foht collection : |
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