Show U S coal cos CO S mine mi ne near kemmerer wyoma byomin ng by C V GOULD the property of the united states coal coa company is situated at conroy about four miles southwest of kemmerer wyoming and consists of more than 2000 acres of coal lands which constitute one of the largest deposits of coal in the world for the same surface area the coal is of cretaceous age and there are at least eleven large veins on the property some of which are very thick the aggregate thickness of coal being from to feet it is estimated that the Mi mining laing Elig engineer ineer salt L lake ake city property contains tons of coal the largist vein is eighty four feet in ill thickness measured from floor to roof at right angles to the dip this vein which is now being developed is the lowest one of the series and is all clean coal from floor to roof with the exception of gt ak 4 1 MI 0 f P MN fa Q P NA ja jr A kd ti AW surface plant of the me U S coal co conroy wyoming three small binders each about one inch in thickness the veins all outcrop on the surface of the property and dip in ill a westerly direction at an angle of 0 about 18 degrees the coal is classified by the united states geological survey as and an 1 I analysis by mr harms of salt lake city of a sample of the coal is as under moisture 1064 volatile matter fixed carbon ash sulphur B T U B T U dry coal two slopes have been driven in the vein at full dip for a distan distance ce of 1000 feet from the surface and at the bottom of the slope entries are turned off on each side at right angles to the slope A pillar feet wide is left on oil each side to protect the slope and beyond this rooms are turned off up the pitch at right angles to the entries these uphill rooms roans are driven at a pitch slightly greater than the pitch of the vein so that when steel chutes are laid on the floor the coal after being mined and shot down will slide down the chutes into the mine cars standing in the necks of the rooms surface equipment the surface equipment at the mine is entirely of steel and of the most modern construction the main tipple structure feet long by 25 feet wide is covered with corrugated steel and connected to the mine entrance by a steel bridge feet long it is the intention in the future to operate the slope by a double track by means of which the loaded cars will be hoisted up the slope as the empty cars descend the empty and loaded cars using both tracks alternately in this way the load will be partially balanced and the time required f for or a round trip will be practically cut in half and in order to provide for this method of hoisting the steel approach to the tipple has three tracks laid on it for the full length one in the center for the loaded cars and an empty car track on each side the method of operation is as follows A trip of loaded cars after it has passed the knuckle is unhitched and the cars uncoupled the cars then gravitate on to the middle track and along the steel bridge for a distance of feet to the bottom of a chain car haul dogs spaced every thirty feet on the chain engage automatically with an angle projection on the bottom of the cars and carry the cars singly to the top of the incline which has sufficient elevation so that after the cars have passed over the dump and been emptied they will gravitate back to the mine mouth on either of the outside tracks depending on which side they are required for the next empty trip of cars the empty and loaded car tracks at the knuckle of the slope are all on the same level which obviates the necessity of lifting the hoisting rope from the level of one track to the other when the trip descends the slope the car haul feeds the loaded cars at regular intervals to the dump passing over on the way an eight ton track scale with quick weighing dial where they are weighed before passing on to the phillips crossover cross over dump which is of a specially large design the dump has an elevation of 37 2 feet above railroad track level the coal is dumped into a steel hopper the bottom of which forms a reciprocating table and feeds the coal out through an opening in one side of the hopper slowly and regularly to the shaker screens the hopper and screens are carried on a separate structure in order to reduce the vibration in the main structure to a minimum the shaker screens which are in two sections are of the reciprocating type and carried on rollers the first or upper section is 30 feet long by 8 feet wide and the lower section is 22 feet long by 8 feet wide the first seventeen feet of the upper screen is double decked the upper tipper deck being provided with 2 inch round hole perforations in order to make thorough separation of the smaller elzea 0 of f coal which are screened on the lower deck the screens are so arranged that four different sizes of coal can be made at the same time and crossover cross over chutes are provided for loading the vailous sizes on different tracks or so that they may be mixed as desired veil plates for loading mine run coal are also provided an ottumwa boxcar box car loader has been installed for loading the lump coal into boxcars box cars the power for operating the car haul and shaker screens is supplied by a double cylinder 10 inch by 12 inch engine installed A ISM U 8 coal co tipple ripple conroy wyoming in a steel frame and corrugated steel engine house below the tipple this engine operates through a belt drive a countershaft on the screen structure from which the various machinery is driven A clutch to throw the car haul out of operation is provided and all the machinery on the tipple is under control from the main floor of the tipple and is operated by the dumpman the hoist engine is placed in a steel house immediately underneath the tipple approach and in line with the slope it is a first motion double cylinder double drum reverse motion hoisting engine the cylinders are 20 inch by 36 inch and the drums 72 inch in diameter double drums are provided for operating the double track in the slope and are furnished with clutches in order to hoist from different levels when necessary power house the power house is a steel frame ture 86 feet long by 45 feet wide covered with corrugated steel it is situ sit abed just north of the tipple and slack coal is delivered in front of the boilers boiled by a conveyor running from scraper a 3 ack ni hopper under the screens and when occasion arises boiler fuel may also be un ull loaded directly out of railroad cars standing on the slack track which runs parallel with the boiler house and at an elevation such that the coal will run down chutes in front of the boilers the power house is divided by a steel partition into two portions one 54 feet long and the other 32 feet the larger portion is the boiler house in which three 72 inch by 18 feet return tubular boilers are install installed el the working pressure is lbs ibs per square inch and the boilers are rated at horsepower each feed water pumps in duplicate are provided and it is the intention to install an open type feed water heater in which the exhaust steam from the feed pumps and the electric generator will be utilized the only water available for boiler purposes is that pumped out of the mine this water although perfectly clear is very hard and forms scale rapidly in the boilers as it contains over forty f four our grains of solids per 1000 gallons in order to obviate this difficulty a water softening of a capacity of 2500 gallons of softened water per par hour has been installed in the boiler house the chemicals used are lime and soda ash the softener works automatically only needing attention 0 once nee a day when the chemical tank is charged tins this method of treatment has been absolutely successful and the boilers after fifteen months use are in as good a condition as when installed and no scale has formed forme whereas with the untreated water the spaces between the tubes would have be in a few e come almost filled up with scale months time in order that it may be possible to pump out ot of the mine during one shift only and to provide storage at all times a steel water tank of gallons capacity has been erected near the mine entrance which gives sufficient head for all purposes electric power A k w direct current electric generator is installed in the smaller division of the power house and supplies current at volts for pumping and coal cutting machinery below ground and for surface lighting the generator is a direct connected ridgway unit current is supplied to the mine by two 0 M cables rubber insulated and double braided the cables are suspended by special insulators fastened to wooden plugs driven in the side of the sope slope current is distributed to each side of the mine from the bottom of the slope and for each division double pole switches and fuses enclosed in iron boxes are provided at this point A part of town U S coal co conroy wyoming all the water in the mine drains into a large sump from which it is pumped direct into the storage tank at the surface by an electric triplex portable mine pump the plungers are 51 inch diameter with an 8 inch stroke but liners are placed in the stuffing boxes so that at some future time by removing them 7 inch diameter plungers can be used and by installing a larger delivery line a much larger amount of water can be handled and from a greater depth at the present time all the water the mine makes in twenty four hours can be pumped out each day in from five to six hours for mining the coal two electric undercutting machines are in use a goodman breast machine for the entries and a goodman short wall machine for the rooms the mine cars are built of wood and are of very substantial construction weighing about pounds each and holding from 3 to 4 tons of coal the mine is ventilated by a ai foot stevens mine fan fail belt driven by a single 10 inch by 12 inch chuse engine the fan fail is at present blowing the air into the mine but it is intended in the future to make the fan fail reversible by the addition of an chimney and the necessary doors the exhaust from the fan engine is led into the storage tank in order to keep the water from freezing during the cold winter weather other mine buildings constructed of wood are a large barn warehouse blacksmiths shop and bathhouse bath house A fireproof powder magazine of sufficient size to hold a carload of powder has been built on a site dugout dug out of the side of a hill at a safe distance from all other buildings the mine is connected to the main line of the oregon short line railroad by a spur track one and three quarter miles long running from moyer junction ample siding accommodation is provided at the mine there being four loading tracks which pass under the tipple a through track for switching purposes and a long tall tail track for the storage of empty cars the town is prettily situated close to but out of sight of the mine and consists of a number of cottages for the married men store large boarding house pool hall and union hall the latter also being used as a school house the houses and other buildings are all well constructed with stone foundations and pains were taken by following the bungalow of architecture tec ture and by varying the design to give the town a very attractive appearance |