loading coke

[jim currie]

this looks like a hard way to load coke , from the photo i assume that the men on the ground level shovel the coke on to the hanging platforms then the men on the platform shovel it into the cars.
Jim

[Bigsteel]

kind of a strange setup there,but i guess im used to the hillside ovens of WV,cool pic nonetheless though.--josh

[MasonJar]

It's hard to believe (in 2009) how much work got done "in the old days" by a guy and a shovel. I find it difficult sometimes even to think about how much work it was to stoke a hand-fired coal burning steamer (8 tons shovelled in a shift...!). Then think about the construction of the transcontinental railways (UP/CP in the USA, CPR in Canada) - done by guys with shovels and horses with dump carts.

Andrew

[Steamtrains]

Wouldn't want to be in those guys' boots....

Bigsteel...You wouldn't happen to have pics of those "hillside" loaders, would you..? I'm thinking of putting up a copper smelter where the ore would be brought in "on high", and dumped into bins, which would later be dumped into the smelter....All downhill...

[tetters]

Looks like a dirty job. Can't imagine breathing that stuff in all day. :|

[LiveSteamer]

Now that is what you call manual labor. Sure was a good way to stay in shape. Great Photo.

[MountainMan]

Great photos! any idea where thewy were taken?

I've seen old Colorado photos of men with shovels clearing forty foot snow drifts the same way - lifting one shovel full at a time up to the next level so the next guy can lift it and so forth, until finally the last guy shovels it off to the side. Labor was cheap, shovels were available and there wasn't any other practical way to do what had to be done. I wonder how many calories a day it took to perform that kind of labor.

My grandfather was a double-bladed axe logger, and he averaged around 3,000 calories per meal.

[Bigsteel]

sorry gus,but the coke ovens i was speaking of are of the beehive type that were usually made into a hill by the mines,not a vertically oriented one like the copper mines in the west.but a great place to look is the habs site,i found this for you while i was there:http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?col...mem_YMp7::
here is a site full of the ovens i was talking about:http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.ancestry.com/coke2.html

and all that was just a quick search,i know there are alot more copper mines in there i just didnt know enough about them to use correct search terms.im sure you'll have better luck than me.--josh

[MountainMan]

These are not beehive, though; they are the "row" type commonly found in Colorado and other mining states.

[tomustang]

Now that's REAL work! I want to see people complain that $10/hr ain't enough now...

[Bigsteel]

MM,i knew they were not of a WV type but that is the one i was used too and had never seen other coke ovens like that.cool pic though --josh

[Steamtrains]

Bigsteel...Those pictures are great..!! I had a hunch I would have to use corrugated metal for the buildings, and your pictures confirmed that. Also, the section of how the "pieces" fit together will be very helpful...
I'll follow up with some "searching" of my own.

MM...That's a great pic of those coke ovens....As I understand it, coke was used in copper smelting to help remove impurities from the copper melt. I might have to find a spot for a row of those ovens...Thanks for the heads-up..!!

[MountainMan]

My pleasure.

[jim currie]

Great photos! any idea where thewy were taken?

I've seen old Colorado photos of men with shovels clearing forty foot snow drifts the same way - lifting one shovel full at a time up to the next level so the next guy can lift it and so forth, until finally the last guy shovels it off to the side. Labor was cheap, shovels were available and there wasn't any other practical way to do what had to be done. I wonder how many calories a day it took to perform that kind of labor.

My grandfather was a double-bladed axe logger, and he averaged around 3,000 calories per meal.

faintly written on the back in pencil it looks like Las Animas with a question mark. where are the ovens in your photo from ?

Steam Trains in browns park(moffat county0 Colorado there are two or three beehive coke ovens that they used in a copper smelter there have a pic some where will look for it .
Jim

[MountainMan]

Are you sure you're ready for this?

Cokedale, Colorado.