In the process of trying to lay out where the “other than main” tracks and other features will go on the Slate Creek, the mill site has once again come to the forefront of my late night research. I’m going to have to build a relatively small mill, because a relatively large one would take up the better part of my basement, and I have a railroad doing that already!
I’ve been studying some of the photos and maps that I can find of some of the mines and mills on the Gilpin Tram, and for purposes of this discussion, take a look at this particular one:
http://gilpintram.com/meade.html
This is presumably the Meade mill, but the map calls it the Gunnell Gold Co… maybe one of the M&M’s is a Meade? In any case, look at the photo, and then the building map.
1.) There’s a water wheel in the middle of the building, and a stamp battery on each side, 20 stamps each. The water wheel would be on the correct axis to run the machinery… BUT … there’s a notation of “Engine, 40HP” in the middle as well. Dual power?
2.) Note the large ore bins in the back of the structure, where you’d expect them… except for two things: First, the building is not a downhill arrangement like most mills you see (which for me is good) but that means the ore is behind, but not above the stamp battery, which is supposed to be a gravity fed affair. Second, the siding is at the front of the building … which brings me to the title… somehow these gondolas full of ore come in, and are left on the siding… the ore then somehow makes it to the bins, and thence into the stamps… the final product then goes back out to the siding and is hauled away, presumably in sacks or something. Only thing is, there doesn’t appear to be any unloading apparatus, and no mechanism for transporting ore to the bins once unloaded… and no room in the roof to get it above the stamps! Given the “foot of hill” markings, it does not appear there’s much room behind the building for anything, and between the map and the photo, there’s certainly no rail access back there.
So, how does a mill like this work?
Oh, and this is in “General” as I wasn’t sure whether it fit into Prototype, Modelling, or Operations!
*** Update: I did find this map: http://gilpintram.com/map-nblackhawk.html which explains things partially. It looks as if the C&S is actually dual gauge at the place where the photo was taken, and that there’s a 2’ gauge siding that comes in from what would be the right hand side of the photo, to the back of the site. On closer inspection, the map in the first link above shows what might be this siding coming in, and providing at least a partial explanation for the odd shape of the back of the building. Looking in the picture, though, and assuming it’d have to be above the level of the flume that turns the water wheel (which is also on the map) it’s still really hard to see where it is… regardless, there’s still not a lot of room to dump ore into, especially if the bins were set up to feed the stamps directly. Anyone know for certain, or have other examples of this kind of thing, maybe with better photos?