The miners definitely worked in some harsh, unforgiving conditions. Many of those same conditions would be outlawed today, I would think. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment.
Just stumbled across this channel. Seems I've finally found a perfect thing to watch whilst chilling out, thank for recording and uploading this bro! stay safe in those caves
Really cool series of videos. I happened to mention to Justin the reason so many ore carts are missing their wheels; you can find them for sale on Ebay for up to $1200! That's an incentive to steal them. Don't you find it a bit unusualy that there isn't any kind of memorial or recognition of the three miners whose bodies are still in the mine? When a ship sinks trapping members of the crew there are organizations that push to have it classified as sacred and not to be dived upon. It's not that I'd not want you to explore this mine but I just thought it a little strange. I assume the rescue team determined that the miners were not trapped in an opening but were killed by the collapse itself. Kind of hard to imagine they would have given up if they thought they were still alive. They could live 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, about one minute without oxygen, and no time without space between the back and the floor of the mine. Great video, thank you.
+Dave Beckley Interesting observation about the ore cart wheels, Dave! I had never really thought of that before. But it makes sense. Regarding the lack of a memorial at the mine for the three entombed miners, keep in mind that when a Navy ship sinks at sea, the people working onboard the ship were doing so in service of our country. That’s why there is probably such a push to have such a site memorialized, etc. Miners were killed in mines all the time (probably less frequently nowadays than back in the late 1800s and early 1900s), so it was just an occupational hazard, I guess. That’s probably explains the lack of a memorial plaque at this mine. Of course, there could’ve been a plaque at one time but it has since been removed or stolen.
Thanks for sharing your exploration of the mine, love looking at the artifacts and equipment the miners once used. Always look forward to your videos and keep up the great work!
We were glad to finally get the entire mine documented and explored after this trip. Quite an amazing place with a tragic history. Thanks for taking the time to watch, Kevin. Really appreciate your support.
That mine is epic, well documented! I have driven a "Mucker" last year, we had a chance to visit a local teaching mine. I see a scraper working too, we had a go at loading the ore cart full of rocks with the mucker then pushing the cart and dumping it down so the scraper could pull the rocks out! One thing, they make hell of a lot of noise, ear protection on at all times, worked using air.
Great stuff! Sounds like that would be a cool experience! So you are saying that object I call a "slusher" is really called a "scraper?" One of these days I'll get all this mining equipment terminology down correct. The problem is that down here we seldom see any of it in these abandoned mines. Previous explorers have looted most of it.
Thanks, John! We were glad to finally complete the entire exploration and documentation of this mine with this last final installment in the series. Took a few months, but definitely worth it. Nice to hear that you enjoyed the video. Thank you!
+frogbg661 Thank you so much for that! I appreciate your support and interest. Hearing from fans like you makes all of these treks into these sometimes god-awful, deserted, dangerous places worthwhile. Thanks again!
Thanks Frank, Paul and Justin, usual good video. Good underground vision. Interesting artifacts, especially the 2 muckers, as I know them as, or slushers as you called them, and the other abandoned gear, brought back memories. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole video series.
Thanks for checking-in, Garry! Glad to hear you enjoyed all three parts in this series. This was a great mine to document and explore even though it took a couple trips to do so. We enjoyed it, too.
Thanks, man! Glad to hear you enjoyed this video. Remember, I upload new content on the 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month. Stay tuned, keep watching, and keep commenting. Thanks!
Yeah, it's quite common to find the miners' names and dates at the end of a tunnel and elsewhere in an abandoned mine. Seeing and documenting their graffiti is one of the best things about doing this.
+Lane Frank Certainly glad to hear that my channel is your "go to" place on TH-cam! I really appreciate that. Thank you for watching, and thanks for your ongoing support and interest in these videos.
As your well aware the muckers are eimco overshot rail muckers , they operate on compressed air and they work as follows . A miner drills and blasts a working face in a heading , after the blast the miner runs the mucker in and ore cars are brought to him by a car tender . The miner runs the mucker into the muck pile just like you would a normal front end loader and scoops up a dipper full . With a flick of his wrist o. The large or second handle the dipper runs up over the mucker and ejects the muck into the waiting ore car behind the mucker . The small handle up front on the mucker is the tram lever it moves the mucker forward or back depending on which way the handle is moved " self explanatory " if your looking at it . There is a step located on the operators side that the miner rides on . This is why you always can tell a drift that was run with a mucker as opposed to a slusher because of a mucker was used the rail will always favor the right side of the drift ". For clearance
Love the videos! I have only explored dawn mine and the surrounding exploratory tunnels in the Alta dena foothills. Would love to get out there and see some of these mines you explore!
Yes, the Dawn Mine. I thought I read a few months ago that they were sealing that mine. Or that the entire area was now off-limits or something like that. I never made it over to that one.
The batteries were probably for a loco to haul the trucks out. What you called a mucker we called a bogger. An ore truck would be coupled up behind it and it would run on air. It was used to clean up any ore that was spilled onto the tracks from the chute. It would scoop it up and then throw it over its back and into the truck behind. That is why it has a plate on the side to stand on while you operated it.
Whew im really late for this one but well after all im here. Nice video its always interesting to watch these. Glad your content hasnt changed for the worst. You guys are the best
There have been a few changes here over the years such as branching out into unusual places instead of focusing solely on abandoned mines. But that’s about it. Glad to have your support here! Thanks!
@1:55 or so . that is a scraper Frank . the slusher is the deal with 2 or more drums on them with handles on brake bands . a tugger is a device that looks sort of like a slusher but has one drum . smaller ones are used for lowering and raising sled type buckets on wooden slides to move gear in and out of your stope. bigger tuggers will lower sections of scoops and even jumbos or longhole drills into 'captive' stopes .
Hey, I'm a new fan to your channel and I think it's great the way you guys are documenting a small part of America's collective history. This mine looks like your in there between shifts. The old one holier at 500ft is not something you see everyday. lol. Oh, one and last thing . Dont go back to Horton mine. You sure don't want to see or hear that french ghost get mad cause you came back a third time after the last warning . That was like something out of a Scooby-Doo cartoon. I'd pulled a "Zoinks ! " and left a dust shaped image in the air. Don't go back, even for a Scooby snack. '
Thanks for taking the time to comment and watch! I appreciate your support. As you mentioned, it often does look the miners walked away a day or two ago when we are inside these abandoned mines. But the mines have really been abandoned for decades if not longer. Glad to have you along for the adventures, so welcome aboard! Just so you know, I upload a new video on the 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month. Stay tuned!
Mucker, rocker shovel, there's a few terms for them. They're fully powered by compressed air. The platform on the left side is where the operator could stand. Those things sell for $5-10k in working order; I suspect the ones you found would be operable with some hose replacements and a lube job. I'm not really sure that this mine used trammers. The drifts appear to have been pretty short, so tramming cars by hand wouldn't be impractical. With how many levels we saw here, moving trammers between them would have been a pain in the ass. Heavy equipment like that is rarely pulled back up a shaft, so I don't think any were actually used. Lord only knows what those batteries were for, given as muckers are air-powered. Maybe for cap lamp charging underground?
+Porty1119 Don't know if you noticed or not, but the one mucker had its platform missing where the miner would have stood. It seemed like the one mucker was in much better condition than the other one was.
That's a double drum slusher and its scraper bucket. It's used by drilling a hole in the working face after a round has been blasted or most times the miner would drill two blast holes deeper than the other holes in a round . After the blast was shot the miner would place a plug and feather wedge in the one or two remaining deeper holes and attach a snatch block or pulley if you will . Then one cable from the return side of the slusher would be run around the block and dragged back to be attached to the rear of the slusher bucket , the drag cable would be attached to the bail or front of the bucket . An air hose would be attached to the slusher and the miner would begin mucking or " slushing out his round " The slickers you saw are called " diggers " by the miners The cage you saw by the second mucked is what's known as a pickle boat or skip . There used for hoisting materials up a raise using a single drum air tugger . Basically a single drum version of a double drum slusher .
We also found a hatchet in this mine, too, I think. I have never found a pickaxe before as far as I can remember, so finding that one was a first. It's great to be able to document these old artifacts that are left laying around underground. Thanks for watching!
Frank, again, excellent. I am curious whether you have ever looked at the rail that is exposed for a manufacturer and a manufacturing date. Railroad rail is always dated on the side, perhaps mine rail is too. It looks something like this: IIII 1956, which wd indicate April 1956. If this was done in the same manner, it wd be interesting. I've found railroad rail still used in sidings back to the 1890's. Glad for Paul: No bats!
Thanks for the comment, Stan! I will have to remember to look for rail manufacturer markings on ore cart tracks next time I come across some. I never knew the rails would be marked that way. Thanks for the information!
Love these vids. As someone who is severely claustrophobic I love being able to watch you guys explore these mines without having to participate lol xD
I am going to explore a nearby mine, I heard rumors about how someone was lost in there and never came out. I cannot find no documentation on the mine. Thank you for inspiring me to do so, don't worry I got proper gear and friends.
Seeing those names on the rungs was pretty cool. Couldn't pass that up and not put it in the video. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment! I appreciate your support!
I'm going to answer a question on Frank's behalf that seems to come up regularly, as asked again below: He is NOT going back to the Horton mine. Additionally, he has my permission NOT to go back. Thank you.
I absolutely love your videos, such a comfy yet an interesting hobby. It's a shame there's not many mines like this in my country, otherwise I'd be inspired to give exploring a go as well. Do you have any plans on exploring more 'haunted' mines?
+Yare Yare Daze kong Thanks for your comment, and thanks for watching, too! No, I have no plans to explore any known "haunted" mines. What country are you from?
Exploring Abandoned Mines Thanks for replying! I'm from Finland myself, I've been looking up some abandoned locations to satisfy my craving, we'll see how that goes. Until then, I'll be looking forward to your next video!
And the three miners who were buried alive in the 1950s collapse! Yeah, this was a pretty sweet mine to document. Lots of history there -- some of it tragic.
me and my 2 brothers used to explore underneath nechells power station in birmingham england the tunnels were amazing and very scary i always carried 2 torches because if you got lost down there you would end up a skeleton ! its redundant now but the tunnels are still there though , its been re - developed now into a kind of theme park called star city . keep up the good work lads
it's Always nice to find a lot of artifacts,it seems a not so long abandoned mine,because of the electrician cab and the modern equipment or do i see it wrong?another very nice vid yhx frank and relatives! ;)
+rs agarwaen I only carry the water that fills up my Camelback. I think that's less than 2 liters. If I know we will be going somewhere for an extended period of time, then I might throw in a few extra bottles of water. I always have tons of extra batteries. I usually carry around six or eight extra batteries. The Fenix brand of lights are very good. I did some reviews and demonstrations of lights made by the ThruNite company, and they were almost as equally good.
I found an old friction primer on a mine road in New Mexico, and was handling it just like that until Gail told me what the damn thing was. I buried it once I found out!
+Dirk Diggler The blasting caps were not removed from the mine. Instead, we moved them to a very remote part of the mine where they most likely will not be found by anybody else who might venture down there and use them for nefarious purposes.
You never disappoint Frank, I truly love your videos! I was wondering, do you ever remove any of the artifacts? Maybe to donate to a museum...? Anyway, thanks again for taking us along on your very cool explorations! Take care and be safe!!
No, we don't remove artifacts. None of us were up to the challenge of hauling one of those muckers 600 feet up the inclined shaft. haha Seriously, I suppose a mining museum would be interested in some of the stuff we find, but they'd have to find a way to get the stuff out of the mine.
I wonder how the miners used to bring these huge things including the big tank you shown, into inside this mine?! They bring it in parts & assemble here?
Hey, Muhammad! Yes, the miners sometimes would take large equipment down into the mine in pieces and reassemble them down there. Some of those tanks, if they are old enough, are put together with metal rivets. I would almost bet that the metal rivets were installed down in the mine. But who knows!
@@AbandonedMines11 thank you for the clarification my dear. If we could find any autobiography something like that from old miners, probably we may know more from right?! Have you ever had a try that way?
That's a mighty lot o' tunnel! The 400 level was a deadly mess, I assume it caught the ass-end of the 300 cave-in/collapse. The slicker was sadly spooky, knowing that someone wore it down there once upon a time, & that 3 of those someones are sill down there somewhere, never to be found or see the light of day again.
We thought the same thing regarding the collapses on the 400-Level. Not sure how big of a shockwave the 300-Level collapse would've made, but it must've been big considering that they never were able to dig out or locate the three crushed miners. Another reason why we think the 400-Level collapses were caused by the 300-Level collapse was because the 400-Level collapsed area was directly below where the 300-Level collapse occurred. Everything lines up.
Indeed, pretty strong indicator of probable cause. Re 3 miners: as grisly as it sounds, better to be suddenly crushed by massive weight of rock collapse than forced to endure gradual suffocation while still conscious. Rest in Peace, Old Timers.
what camera do you use? doesn't seem like you have crazy lighting yet these shafts you shoot are illuminated quite well. these videos continue to get better. awesome stuff. stay safe...
+Maria Paula Hey, Maria! Thanks for commenting! Yes, the entire inclined shaft is around 600 feet long. In most minds with shaft like this, they would dig a horizontal level every 100 feet or so off of the shaft.
About ten years ago, this mine was surveyed for a possible open-pit operation. Looks like that never came to fruition. I think most of these mines would be too difficult and too expensive to start back up when all the OSHA and EPA regulations are considered.
Finding miners' graffiti and artwork is always a bonus. Those guys never probably imagined that their writings and drawings so deep underground like that would ever see the light of day to an international audience. Isn't technology great? haha Thanks, Moe, for watching and commenting!
Wow cool next time you need me to come with you. Nothing like having me with you I am a blind guy so no battery's needed. I explore something similar abandoned industrial sites but this cooler. Be safe bro
Nice explore guys. Damn if it doesn't look like they just walked away. I can see leaving the slushers and muckers but your slickers. Just seems odd. The fuse with the caps is odd as well. Interesting mine to say the least. You guys stay safe as always.
At 7;28 the baskets look very much like the stretcher carried on the early Huey medevac chopper from Korea (and MASH!) were they left over after an incident?
Awesome video! Super appreciative that you put the effort in to do this! P.S. Your buddy isn't too smart smoking a cigarette down there with such thin O2 as it is.. lol
Nah, we're not artifact hunters. To be quite honest, all of the valuable artifacts were removed decades ago when these mines first became abandoned in the 1950s or thereabouts. What we come across is the leftover junk. Regardless, I enjoy filming it so others can see it. Once in a while, however, I'll find a mine that has had little foot traffic (Wicked Wash Mine, Earl Wage Mine, etc.). Those two examples had a lot of nice artifacts in them!
Well I appreciate your videos what you guys do is awesome keep up the good videos. I'm new to the channel do you ever explore mines in san diego county
Started out filming the mines back in 2008 and 2009 or so in San Diego County. Those old, shakey, awful videos are still on my channel. Back then, I would never enter the mines -- too scared, if you can believe that! haha
+eduardo m-v It is amazing all of the timbering that can be found down in some of these abandoned mines. What's even more amazing is how they got it all down there in the first place! Thanks for leaving your comment!
Great video! Did you make three trips to this mine to make the three videos? At about 4:12 on level 500. Something just past the sign about authorize persons! What was It? Blue and white boxes??? I may of ask before, But do you think any of the collapses in any of the mines you have been in! Where made by the mine owners. To keep people out! These three videos are about under 40 minutes! How many hours in the mine did this involve? Well please keep this up! But be safe! And as all ways Thanks for taking US along!!!!
+Lee Grubb Only two trips were required to document the entire mine, Lee. We probably spent a total of seven or eight hours or so in the mine. Those blue and white boxes you mentioned were batteries that were probably used in trammers. Thank you for watching the video, commenting, and asking some questions. I appreciate it!
This particular three-part series has got to be one of the most fascinating ones I've seen yet! The amount of ground covered here was stunning!
+MysticExile111 Thank you for your kind comment! I appreciate it very much. Your support is also greatly appreciated
That mine is huge! I can only imagine how hard it was spending long days working down at that 500 level.
The miners definitely worked in some harsh, unforgiving conditions. Many of those same conditions would be outlawed today, I would think. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment.
TrailRecon That Jeep life. Love your videos
From what I found out the 500 lv was incorporated in 1981, when the mine was under new management. It would soon be abandoned in 1984.
Just stumbled across this channel. Seems I've finally found a perfect thing to watch whilst chilling out, thank for recording and uploading this bro! stay safe in those caves
+chiller stones Glad you found my channel! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look around. I appreciate you taking the time to comment as well.
That 500 level was amazing! I love those ore chutes in a line. Great video!
+Mines of the West No packrat tour guides in this one, unfortunately. LOL
Really cool series of videos. I happened to mention to Justin the reason so many ore carts are missing their wheels; you can find them for sale on Ebay for up to $1200! That's an incentive to steal them. Don't you find it a bit unusualy that there isn't any kind of memorial or recognition of the three miners whose bodies are still in the mine? When a ship sinks trapping members of the crew there are organizations that push to have it classified as sacred and not to be dived upon. It's not that I'd not want you to explore this mine but I just thought it a little strange. I assume the rescue team determined that the miners were not trapped in an opening but were killed by the collapse itself. Kind of hard to imagine they would have given up if they thought they were still alive. They could live 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, about one minute without oxygen, and no time without space between the back and the floor of the mine.
Great video, thank you.
+Dave Beckley Interesting observation about the ore cart wheels, Dave! I had never really thought of that before. But it makes sense. Regarding the lack of a memorial at the mine for the three entombed miners, keep in mind that when a Navy ship sinks at sea, the people working onboard the ship were doing so in service of our country. That’s why there is probably such a push to have such a site memorialized, etc. Miners were killed in mines all the time (probably less frequently nowadays than back in the late 1800s and early 1900s), so it was just an occupational hazard, I guess. That’s probably explains the lack of a memorial plaque at this mine. Of course, there could’ve been a plaque at one time but it has since been removed or stolen.
I don't know why I find these videos so fascinating. But they're fun to watch. Kind of makes me want to explore.
Thanks for sharing your exploration of the mine, love looking at the artifacts and equipment the miners once used. Always look forward to your videos and keep up the great work!
Thanks for your comments! Hearing from enthusiastic viewers like you makes doing all this exploring worthwhile. I appreciate your support.
Thanks again for taking us along. That's quite extensive.
We were glad to finally get the entire mine documented and explored after this trip. Quite an amazing place with a tragic history. Thanks for taking the time to watch, Kevin. Really appreciate your support.
Great footage again Frank! Stoked every time I see an update. Ya'll be safe. Garrett
+gmoneypower Thanks, Garrett!
Thanks for the great tour Frank! Some pretty cool stuff down there!
+Rob Farrow Thanks, Rob!
That mine is epic, well documented! I have driven a "Mucker" last year, we had a chance to visit a local teaching mine. I see a scraper working too, we had a go at loading the ore cart full of rocks with the mucker then pushing the cart and dumping it down so the scraper could pull the rocks out! One thing, they make hell of a lot of noise, ear protection on at all times, worked using air.
Great stuff! Sounds like that would be a cool experience! So you are saying that object I call a "slusher" is really called a "scraper?"
One of these days I'll get all this mining equipment terminology down correct. The problem is that down here we seldom see any of it in these abandoned mines. Previous explorers have looted most of it.
Yes, takes a while to learn it all. A big old lump to take to the surface. Must admit I would like to have that old winch! :)
Thanks for another awesome video fellas! That was definitely a huge mine. Take care.... john
Thanks, John! We were glad to finally complete the entire exploration and documentation of this mine with this last final installment in the series. Took a few months, but definitely worth it. Nice to hear that you enjoyed the video. Thank you!
Thanks, John! I appreciate you sharing my videos. And thanks, too, for taking the time to comment. Love hearing from you guys.
I get excited when I see a notification of a new video from you guys. You take me to places I would never go. Thanks for another great video.Be safe.
No problem, Edward! Glad to have you following along with us in the videos. Thanks!
As always, automatic thumbs up as soon as your video starts playing. They are always good. 👍
+frogbg661 Thank you so much for that! I appreciate your support and interest. Hearing from fans like you makes all of these treks into these sometimes god-awful, deserted, dangerous places worthwhile. Thanks again!
Thanks for taking me to another dangerous mine. Thanks guys. Love this kind of stuff.
Always stoked to hear when someone is really enjoying the videos. Thanks, Stan!
Man, what a great mine. Seems really big compared to most of the mines you've explored. Thanks!
Thanks for watching! Yes, this is one of the bigger mines we've been in. Was definitely a great place to document on video.
Wow some serious timbering in that section of the mine. Great artifacts too!!!!
3:48 an old Pepsi can on the rafter. Appeared well preserved. I wish I knew if it is unopened. Great Video!
Unfortunately none of us picked up the Pepsi can. I would bet, though, it was opened and empty.
Thanks Frank, Paul and Justin, usual good video. Good underground vision. Interesting artifacts, especially the 2 muckers, as I know them as, or slushers as you called them, and the other abandoned gear, brought back memories. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole video series.
Thanks for checking-in, Garry! Glad to hear you enjoyed all three parts in this series. This was a great mine to document and explore even though it took a couple trips to do so. We enjoyed it, too.
Thank you, Garry.
Thirty seconds into the vid, I'm so geared up for the rest of it. This is one channel I definitely always look to see new stuff from :)
Thanks, man! Glad to hear you enjoyed this video. Remember, I upload new content on the 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month. Stay tuned, keep watching, and keep commenting. Thanks!
Very nice mucker and tools. Just plan awesome video.... again
Good work/fun. Cheers, Mark
+Mark Beeunas Right on, Mark! Thanks for dropping by, taking a look, and leaving a comment. I love it!
God stuff Fank👍 There's alot of good history still down there. Great find frank😎
Thanks again, Joshua!
Yes, some cool stuff to see. Thanks for sharing
GOOD job on video , I seen in the old mines the miner's sign their names with their acetylene lanterns looks totally cool .
Yeah, it's quite common to find the miners' names and dates at the end of a tunnel and elsewhere in an abandoned mine. Seeing and documenting their graffiti is one of the best things about doing this.
Always great videos. Consistently my "go to' place on TH-cam.
+Lane Frank Certainly glad to hear that my channel is your "go to" place on TH-cam! I really appreciate that. Thank you for watching, and thanks for your ongoing support and interest in these videos.
Great Video as always, thank you !!
Thank you for your comment!
+Exploring Abandoned Mines great video but I wonder what you guys search for some diamond or corpse ?
This was a really cool video. I loved seeing all of the equipment and tools.
As your well aware the muckers are eimco overshot rail muckers , they operate on compressed air and they work as follows . A miner drills and blasts a working face in a heading , after the blast the miner runs the mucker in and ore cars are brought to him by a car tender . The miner runs the mucker into the muck pile just like you would a normal front end loader and scoops up a dipper full . With a flick of his wrist o. The large or second handle the dipper runs up over the mucker and ejects the muck into the waiting ore car behind the mucker . The small handle up front on the mucker is the tram lever it moves the mucker forward or back depending on which way the handle is moved " self explanatory " if your looking at it . There is a step located on the operators side that the miner rides on . This is why you always can tell a drift that was run with a mucker as opposed to a slusher because of a mucker was used the rail will always favor the right side of the drift ". For clearance
Love the videos! I have only explored dawn mine and the surrounding exploratory tunnels in the Alta dena foothills. Would love to get out there and see some of these mines you explore!
Yes, the Dawn Mine. I thought I read a few months ago that they were sealing that mine. Or that the entire area was now off-limits or something like that. I never made it over to that one.
That does not look like a fun toilet to use!!! So close to 100,000, proud of you man!
The batteries were probably for a loco to haul the trucks out. What you called a mucker we called a bogger. An ore truck would be coupled up behind it and it would run on air. It was used to clean up any ore that was spilled onto the tracks from the chute. It would scoop it up and then throw it over its back and into the truck behind. That is why it has a plate on the side to stand on while you operated it.
Good one ,,lots to see in this one,thanks for the adventure!!!
Whew im really late for this one but well after all im here. Nice video its always interesting to watch these. Glad your content hasnt changed for the worst. You guys are the best
There have been a few changes here over the years such as branching out into unusual places instead of focusing solely on abandoned mines. But that’s about it. Glad to have your support here! Thanks!
I like/love watching your videos, they are awesome. Thank you for making them. Cheers
Loving it as usual. Keep exploring and keep safe. Greetings from England!!
+Dominic Owen Glad to hear it, Dominic! Thank you for commenting.
What an amazing mine!! I'm getting caught up going to watch the next one now!! Nice work as always, keep em coming :D
Yeah, it was a real blast getting to document this one considering the entombed miners that are still there. Glad you liked it!
@1:55 or so . that is a scraper Frank . the slusher is the deal with 2 or more drums on them with handles on brake bands .
a tugger is a device that looks sort of like a slusher but has one drum . smaller ones are used for lowering and raising sled type buckets on wooden slides to move gear in and out of your stope. bigger tuggers will lower sections of scoops and even jumbos or longhole drills into 'captive' stopes .
Thanks for the information! One of these days I'll get it all down correctly! haha
Awesome I always wonder how they drilled those stopes? maybe by hanging the drill from a counter sunk eyelets
Hey, I'm a new fan to your channel and I think it's great the way you guys are documenting a small part of America's collective history. This mine looks like your in there between shifts. The old one holier at 500ft is not something you see everyday. lol. Oh, one and last thing . Dont go back to Horton mine. You sure don't want to see or hear that french ghost get mad cause you came back a third time after the last warning . That was like something out of a Scooby-Doo cartoon. I'd pulled a "Zoinks ! " and left a dust shaped image in the air. Don't go back, even for a Scooby snack.
'
Thanks for taking the time to comment and watch! I appreciate your support. As you mentioned, it often does look the miners walked away a day or two ago when we are inside these abandoned mines. But the mines have really been abandoned for decades if not longer. Glad to have you along for the adventures, so welcome aboard! Just so you know, I upload a new video on the 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month. Stay tuned!
Another great video, as always.
I love this channel. Can't wait for the next video!
Thanks, bruh! The next video will be uploaded at midnight on August 10th. I upload new content on the 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month.
Wow! you still working on youtube. I'm impressed
+hai nguyen manh As of mid July, my TH-cam channel has been here for 10 years exactly!
Mucker, rocker shovel, there's a few terms for them. They're fully powered by compressed air. The platform on the left side is where the operator could stand. Those things sell for $5-10k in working order; I suspect the ones you found would be operable with some hose replacements and a lube job.
I'm not really sure that this mine used trammers. The drifts appear to have been pretty short, so tramming cars by hand wouldn't be impractical. With how many levels we saw here, moving trammers between them would have been a pain in the ass. Heavy equipment like that is rarely pulled back up a shaft, so I don't think any were actually used. Lord only knows what those batteries were for, given as muckers are air-powered. Maybe for cap lamp charging underground?
+Porty1119 Don't know if you noticed or not, but the one mucker had its platform missing where the miner would have stood. It seemed like the one mucker was in much better condition than the other one was.
Another great video thanks.
+kevin kidd Hey, Kevin! Thank you for commenting. I really do appreciate it.
That's a double drum slusher and its scraper bucket. It's used by drilling a hole in the working face after a round has been blasted or most times the miner would drill two blast holes deeper than the other holes in a round . After the blast was shot the miner would place a plug and feather wedge in the one or two remaining deeper holes and attach a snatch block or pulley if you will . Then one cable from the return side of the slusher would be run around the block and dragged back to be attached to the rear of the slusher bucket , the drag cable would be attached to the bail or front of the bucket . An air hose would be attached to the slusher and the miner would begin mucking or " slushing out his round "
The slickers you saw are called " diggers " by the miners
The cage you saw by the second mucked is what's known as a pickle boat or skip . There used for hoisting materials up a raise using a single drum air tugger . Basically a single drum version of a double drum slusher .
thanks for the info and response
Love your videos! So awesome!
+Shannon Williams Thank you for your comment, Shannon!
I'm so jealous of how you guys found an old pickaxe, I've always wanted to find one in a mine, great video!
We also found a hatchet in this mine, too, I think. I have never found a pickaxe before as far as I can remember, so finding that one was a first. It's great to be able to document these old artifacts that are left laying around underground. Thanks for watching!
good stuff as usual
Right on, brother! Thanks!
Frank, again, excellent. I am curious whether you have ever looked at the rail that is exposed for a manufacturer and a manufacturing date. Railroad rail is always dated on the side, perhaps mine rail is too. It looks something like this: IIII 1956, which wd indicate April 1956. If this was done in the same manner, it wd be interesting. I've found railroad rail still used in sidings back to the 1890's. Glad for Paul: No bats!
Thanks for the comment, Stan! I will have to remember to look for rail manufacturer markings on ore cart tracks next time I come across some. I never knew the rails would be marked that way. Thanks for the information!
Love these vids. As someone who is severely claustrophobic I love being able to watch you guys explore these mines without having to participate lol xD
+Strelok 762 Glad you are able to participate by following along in the video. Thanks for your comment!
I am going to explore a nearby mine, I heard rumors about how someone was lost in there and never came out. I cannot find no documentation on the mine. Thank you for inspiring me to do so, don't worry I got proper gear and friends.
You're so brave, these videos are amazing
The Ballad of Billy Baker never heard of that book? Nah just kidding.
Great video and narrative.
Seeing those names on the rungs was pretty cool. Couldn't pass that up and not put it in the video. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment! I appreciate your support!
I'm going to answer a question on Frank's behalf that seems to come up regularly, as asked again below: He is NOT going back to the Horton mine. Additionally, he has my permission NOT to go back. Thank you.
I keep trying to talk him into it... I think you're right though.
Because of the chain and the radio voice encounter? I can't say I blame him for not going back. I do wish he would try the Waldeck mine one more time.
exelent Frank nice job 👌
Really cool findings
Wow amazing job guys
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS MAN 👌👌👌💪💪💪
Thanks for watching!
Really nice mine!
mucker is really cool to look at
05:22 "SMOKEING" HAHA
Was there a long time no one below? ^^ great Video
Damn, so much to explore.
very nice
good vídeo 😉 greetings from Chile
+Elfranc16 Lz Thanks!
I absolutely love your videos, such a comfy yet an interesting hobby. It's a shame there's not many mines like this in my country, otherwise I'd be inspired to give exploring a go as well. Do you have any plans on exploring more 'haunted' mines?
+Yare Yare Daze kong Thanks for your comment, and thanks for watching, too! No, I have no plans to explore any known "haunted" mines. What country are you from?
Exploring Abandoned Mines Thanks for replying! I'm from Finland myself, I've been looking up some abandoned locations to satisfy my craving, we'll see how that goes. Until then, I'll be looking forward to your next video!
It's cool how it's still standing and it haven't all caved in so the mine isn't accessible, that gun you goin in thy box did you take that.
the amount of work there wow
And the three miners who were buried alive in the 1950s collapse! Yeah, this was a pretty sweet mine to document. Lots of history there -- some of it tragic.
me and my 2 brothers used to explore underneath nechells power station in birmingham england the tunnels were amazing and very scary i always carried 2 torches because if you got lost down there you would end up a skeleton ! its redundant now but the tunnels are still there though , its been re - developed now into a kind of theme park called star city .
keep up the good work lads
it's Always nice to find a lot of artifacts,it seems a not so long abandoned mine,because of the electrician cab and the modern equipment or do i see it wrong?another very nice vid yhx frank and relatives! ;)
spooky looking mine for sure!
GREAT AVATAR!
exploring abonded mines how much food,drink and batteries you take?and what lambs you recommend?
+rs agarwaen I only carry the water that fills up my Camelback. I think that's less than 2 liters. If I know we will be going somewhere for an extended period of time, then I might throw in a few extra bottles of water. I always have tons of extra batteries. I usually carry around six or eight extra batteries. The Fenix brand of lights are very good. I did some reviews and demonstrations of lights made by the ThruNite company, and they were almost as equally good.
i like how that one guy was handling the old blasting cap.
I found an old friction primer on a mine road in New Mexico, and was handling it just like that until Gail told me what the damn thing was. I buried it once I found out!
Why bury it? Serious question.
mobiltec
I thought they just made an electrical spark, but I also have no experience with them. Thanks for the response.
and smoking! i'm not sure but you might be in violation of Federal law if your caught with a/some caps!
+Dirk Diggler The blasting caps were not removed from the mine. Instead, we moved them to a very remote part of the mine where they most likely will not be found by anybody else who might venture down there and use them for nefarious purposes.
That's like the mines from until dawn
Good video one day I would visit a mine
You never disappoint Frank, I truly love your videos! I was wondering, do you ever remove any of the artifacts? Maybe to donate to a museum...? Anyway, thanks again for taking us along on your very cool explorations! Take care and be safe!!
No, we don't remove artifacts. None of us were up to the challenge of hauling one of those muckers 600 feet up the inclined shaft. haha Seriously, I suppose a mining museum would be interested in some of the stuff we find, but they'd have to find a way to get the stuff out of the mine.
I wonder how the miners used to bring these huge things including the big tank you shown, into inside this mine?! They bring it in parts & assemble here?
Hey, Muhammad! Yes, the miners sometimes would take large equipment down into the mine in pieces and reassemble them down there. Some of those tanks, if they are old enough, are put together with metal rivets. I would almost bet that the metal rivets were installed down in the mine. But who knows!
@@AbandonedMines11 thank you for the clarification my dear.
If we could find any autobiography something like that from old miners, probably we may know more from right?! Have you ever had a try that way?
I like this guys videos very interesting
That's a mighty lot o' tunnel! The 400 level was a deadly mess, I assume it caught the ass-end of the 300 cave-in/collapse. The slicker was sadly spooky, knowing that someone wore it down there once upon a time, & that 3 of those someones are sill down there somewhere, never to be found or see the light of day again.
We thought the same thing regarding the collapses on the 400-Level. Not sure how big of a shockwave the 300-Level collapse would've made, but it must've been big considering that they never were able to dig out or locate the three crushed miners. Another reason why we think the 400-Level collapses were caused by the 300-Level collapse was because the 400-Level collapsed area was directly below where the 300-Level collapse occurred. Everything lines up.
Indeed, pretty strong indicator of probable cause. Re 3 miners: as grisly as it sounds, better to be suddenly crushed by massive weight of rock collapse than forced to endure gradual suffocation while still conscious. Rest in Peace, Old Timers.
what camera do you use? doesn't seem like you have crazy lighting yet these shafts you shoot are illuminated quite well. these videos continue to get better. awesome stuff. stay safe...
ever explore any mines in other countries? love your channel
No, I haven't gotten to any other countries. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. I appreciate your support!
how did they cut out the ore chutes? have you guys ever shimmyd up or down one of them?
Wow that's awesome!
This was a big mine!
+Maria Paula Hey, Maria! Thanks for commenting! Yes, the entire inclined shaft is around 600 feet long. In most minds with shaft like this, they would dig a horizontal level every 100 feet or so off of the shaft.
+Exploring Abandoned Mines Yes!!!! Jajajaajaha it was amazing! How you can live this experiences without fear!?
Looks like you could just start that mine right back up. Do you think it would be profitable to open any of these mines you go in to?
About ten years ago, this mine was surveyed for a possible open-pit operation. Looks like that never came to fruition. I think most of these mines would be too difficult and too expensive to start back up when all the OSHA and EPA regulations are considered.
Well, you guys go through such a dangerous journey just to let us watch....I sincerely admire u guys now :o
hey man you comeback to the mine horton? very good video
Go back to the Horton Mine please!
no. just no
that nice you show the miners graffiti . great show brother
Finding miners' graffiti and artwork is always a bonus. Those guys never probably imagined that their writings and drawings so deep underground like that would ever see the light of day to an international audience. Isn't technology great? haha Thanks, Moe, for watching and commenting!
Wow cool next time you need me to come with you. Nothing like having me with you I am a blind guy so no battery's needed. I explore something similar abandoned industrial sites but this cooler. Be safe bro
Nice explore guys. Damn if it doesn't look like they just walked away. I can see leaving the slushers and muckers but your slickers. Just seems odd. The fuse with the caps is odd as well. Interesting mine to say the least. You guys stay safe as always.
At 7;28 the baskets look very much like the stretcher carried on the early Huey medevac chopper from Korea (and MASH!) were they left over after an incident?
They were probably just left over from when the mine was an operation. We were surprised to find them in there.
Awesome video! Super appreciative that you put the effort in to do this!
P.S. Your buddy isn't too smart smoking a cigarette down there with such thin O2 as it is.. lol
I'm new to the channel but have you explored any mines in the riverside CA area like the Alice mine or the calzona mines?
we should do the horton mine
Been there twice
nice to see this mine and how untouched it is, thanks :)
does Justin have a youtube?
+nielsen145 yes, Justin's channel is TheVelvetRocketTV. He and Chuck focus primarily on abandoned mines in Northern California.
thx :), i love to see more mines or see the same again, with a different setting ;)
3:48 a vintage Pepsi can!
lolol
another bad ass video, do you ever keep stuff you come across or is that frowned upon
Nah, we're not artifact hunters. To be quite honest, all of the valuable artifacts were removed decades ago when these mines first became abandoned in the 1950s or thereabouts. What we come across is the leftover junk. Regardless, I enjoy filming it so others can see it. Once in a while, however, I'll find a mine that has had little foot traffic (Wicked Wash Mine, Earl Wage Mine, etc.). Those two examples had a lot of nice artifacts in them!
Well I appreciate your videos what you guys do is awesome keep up the good videos. I'm new to the channel do you ever explore mines in san diego county
Started out filming the mines back in 2008 and 2009 or so in San Diego County. Those old, shakey, awful videos are still on my channel. Back then, I would never enter the mines -- too scared, if you can believe that! haha
lots of very good wood, I reckon you can make a log cabin with all that
+eduardo m-v It is amazing all of the timbering that can be found down in some of these abandoned mines. What's even more amazing is how they got it all down there in the first place! Thanks for leaving your comment!
I know you've said it before somewhere, but what lights do you use?
+Alex939 I use three Fenix lights. Awesome flashlights!
please do a Khaza Dum exploration!!!!
Great video! Did you make three trips to this mine to make the three videos? At about 4:12 on level 500. Something just past the sign about authorize persons! What was It? Blue and white boxes??? I may of ask before, But do you think any of the collapses in any of the mines you have been in! Where made by the mine owners. To keep people out!
These three videos are about under 40 minutes! How many hours in the mine did this involve?
Well please keep this up! But be safe! And as all ways Thanks for taking US along!!!!
+Lee Grubb Only two trips were required to document the entire mine, Lee. We probably spent a total of seven or eight hours or so in the mine. Those blue and white boxes you mentioned were batteries that were probably used in trammers. Thank you for watching the video, commenting, and asking some questions. I appreciate it!