FORD WAY OF MINING COAL,THE Part 2
Description
The original catalog description provided by the Ford Motor Company reads as follows: Coal chute loading railroad hopper. “Each car holds about 50 tons of coal.” “To aid in the gigantic manufacturing program.” Freight train of coal cars travels through countryside, onto industrial siding. “A great industry stirs its mighty fires.” Blast furnaces, molten metal. “And the universe is benefited.” Workers outside industrial plant. “The End.” “This process of loading coal cars is very interesting and is known as ‘Bulling Coal.’” “Each of these cars holds approximately two tons of coal.” “Coal is handled as a perishable product -- no cars, no coal -- and the mine doesn’t work. To avoid this, the company purchased 1,000 hoppers.” Loaded coal hoppers. “On the way to the tipple the coal is carefully weighed at the scale house.” “In the tipple the coal is separated into three grades and slate is removed.” “The cars are run under the tipple on three separate tracks and each receives a different size coal.” “These mines are mostly drift mines, being tunneled into the side of the mountain. A vein often extends through the mountain, looking very much like the icing in a layer cake.” Coal vein. “Electric ventilators keep the miners supplied with fresh air.” Ventilating machinery. “A man car takes the men to their work up a 67 degree slope.” Miners get aboard hand-car. “As these mines are worked they are divided into rooms, the walls left standing acting as the roof support. Going into the mine.” Mine cars entering mine. “Unloading mining machinery and ‘sumping up.’ The machines are run by electricity.” “The mining machine by a lateral motion cuts a ‘kerf’ 6 feet deep under the face of the coal at the level of the floor.” Mining machine in operation. “The fine dust formed from the cutting is called ‘Bug Dust.’” [1923]
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