Tweet

---

January, 1952

---

One of the greatest problems met with in mining is the transport of the mined material from the working face to the shaft bottom and thence to the surface. This problem, from some points of view, was acutest when human power only was available; it can still be acute even with present-day forms of motive power, especially when the working places are a considerable distance from the pit bottom and gradients are variable.

The descriptions of mining operations undertaken during the Greek, Roman or prior civilisations in no way indicate the forms of transport used for removing the mined material to the surface. It can only be assumed, that as at a later date, the material was carried by human beings.

Human transport

In the earliest days of coal mining, only surface deposits were mined, the mineral being obtained by means of small drifts or adits driven into the outcrop. With little knowledge of ventilation and lack of power for pumping, the extent of such adits was limited and the distances which the mined material had to be transported were comparatively small. In these conditions the obvious form of transport was to bear or carry the mineral on the backs of women or children (Fig. 1). The feelings of the women doing this work are perhaps best described by a bearer of the 18th century who "wished the back of the first woman had been broken who first undertook to carry coals." The bearers either carried the material in their hands or in baskets, similar to creels, borne on their backs.

As the adits extended inbye, so did the problems of transport increase, and in addition to the continued use of bearers, barrows (Fig. 2) and sledges were introduced as well as baskets known as bateaus (Fig. 3), which were carried on the shoulders or hung from the neck. This method was adopted in Pliny's time, for he states "the fragments are carried on workmen's shoulders; night and day each passes the material to his neighbour, only the last of them seeing the daylight." Agricola (1556), referring to the mining of metals in Germany, states that earth, rock, and the mineral substances are hauled out of the shaft in buckets or baskets or hide buckets, they are drawn out of tunnels in wheelbarrows or open trucks and from both they are sometimes carried in trays." In a very early English mining lease, mention is made of the fact that the lessees of the mine were bound to work the mine as far as they could be wrought by five barrowmen; it is known that in 1492, wheelbarrows were used in the Northern coalfields to carry the coals to the pit bottom, where they were then emptied into the corves preparatory to being drawn up the shaft. The baskets previously mentioned were frequently fitted with runners and were drawn by boys or women. Details are also given in an account of the "Sheffield Coal Pyttes," dated 1579, of the wage sheets at the Barsyth Pitt and the Depe Pitt. These records include the wages "payed to ye barrower" which amounted to 1s. 11d, and 1s. 10d. at the respective pits.

Although records show that by 1602 "bearing" had been done away with in Pembrokeshire, a pay packet of a Northern coal mine, dated 1675, states that 2 bearers were paid 7½d. per day. Despite the heavy toil involved and the continued enlightenment of society in general, the use of women for "bearing" coal still continued, no doubt because of the lack of other employment and of the economic circumstances which made such a supply of cheap labour available. Attention was drawn to the continued use of women by Mr. Robert Bold in 1808 in his "view of the Coal Trade of Scotland," in which he remarks on the severity of the toil performed by the female coal bearers in the collieries there. Dr. Holland (Fossil Fuel), mentions that in 1835 women were still to be found working in the mines of Staffordshire and Shropshire. In Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, South Wales and Scotland, women and children were still employed up to 1842 in "hurrying" the coal wagons or sledges (Fig. 4). In Scotland, "bearing" still existed, the women carrying the coal in creels, or in large pieces, to the shaft bottom and even up ladders to the surface (Fig. 5). In 1843, Lord Ashley's Act finally abolished the employment of women and girls underground and the bearing system came to an end.

In the early history of mining, especially in metalliferous mines, on account of the lack of suitable means to deal with the hard rocks, the amount of excavation to make the roadways was reduced to a minimum. The roadways had a cross-section similar to that shown in Fig. 6; some examples of this type of roadway can still be seen in some of the very old coal mines of Scotland and the 15th- and 16th-century tin mines of Cornwall. Roads of this kind facilitated the carrying of creels or baskets on the backs of the bearers and their construction entailed a minimum of excavation; in many cases, the roadway was so low that the mined material had to be pulled out on leather hides — the forerunner of sledge haulage.

Animal haulage

As the regular transport of minerals ultimately got beyond the capabilities of human endeavour, animal power was adopted. One of the first references to the use of animals underground is contained in the details of a lawsuit of 1667, which stated that a rent of 15d. had to be paid yearly for every 21 corves of coal wrought, each corve not to exceed 10 packs; the defendant being required to find sufficient horses and drivers for drawing the coal to bank. In the Forest of Dean the use of pack horses for surface transport was carried on until 1668.

In a yearly bond, which came into the hands of the late Professor Henry Briggs, and made in 1763 between owners and miners, reference is made to "drivers of sledge horses." Again, Brand, in the latter part of the 18th century, refers to the fact that in thick seams the coals were drawn by horses from the hewers to the shaft in sledges, and in thinner seams in trams. He further illustrates the difference between a tram and a sledge by stating that the tram had four wheels but a sledge was without wheels. Before the civil war in the United States of America, slaves were often employed in carrying coals out of the bituminous seams in sacks or baskets. After the war, they were replaced by oxen pulling sledges and by 1870 mules were introduced. In some of the western States dogs were used to assist in the hauling of large barrows as shown in Fig. 7.

Tracks and wagons

German researches have established the fact that wooden tracks were used in the mines of the Hartz and Tyrol districts as early as the 12th century, although practically nothing is known as to their construction and design. In the 16th century a number of works on mining practice were published, the most important, of course, being Agricola's De Re Metallica (1556). The first known book illustrating a mining track was Der Ursprung Gemeynner published by Johan Haselberger about 1519-20. Fig. 8, taken from this work, illustrates what appears to be a small narrow-gauge four-wheel truck, being pushed by a miner the wheels rotating on a grooved wooden track. In this book mention is made of "treckwork" described as a haulage device consisting of a pathway of planks laid between the various galleries on which vehicles were moved in and out, and served to bring forth material."

The next reference to the use of track and mining trucks is found in the Cosmographiae Universales; in this book an illustration occurs of a miner pushing a four-wheeled truck along narrow-gauge track at the Leverthal silver mine. In the description of the practice carried out, reference is made to the trucks running on four small iron wheels (Fig. 9) and in a French edition, published in 1552, a further reference is made to the trucks running on tracks. As far as present records go, this appears to be the first mention of the use of iron wheels underground.

Further details become available in the De Re Metallica; Agricola not only illustrates, but gives a lucid description of the underground transport system in use at that time, i.e., in 1556. Fig. 10 shows the type of mine truck which was obviously designed to travel on a wooden track; the wheels of the trucks were not flanged, but to ensure that they did not leave the rails, each truck was fitted with a downward projecting prong which ran in the space existing between the rails.

In a description of the truck Agricola states "the open truck has a capacity half as large again as a wheelbarrow; it is about 4 ft. long and about 2½ ft. wide and deep; and since its shape is rectangular, it is bound with three rectangular iron bands, and besides these there are iron straps on all sides. Two small iron axles are fitted to the bottom, around the ends of which wooden rollers revolve on either side ; in order that the roller shall not fall off the immovable axles, there are small iron keys. A large blunt pin fixed to the bottom of the truck runs in a groove of a plank in such a way that the truck does not leave the beaten track. Holding the back part with his hands, the carrier pushes out the truck laden with excavated material, and pushes it back again empty." "Tramming" was evidently known in those days.

Further information of the transport systems of the period can be obtained from an exhibit in the Verkehrs und Baumuseum, Berlin, which shows a wooden wagon and part of the track used in the gold mines of Transylvania, now Roumania (Fig. 11). The track comprises rounded wooden bars laid on wooden sleepers, the gauge being about 48 cm. One of the most noticeable features is the movable point made from a rail pivoted at the apex of the legs and arranged so as to be capable of use whichever direction the wagons were running. Similar points are still in use in the Apostel Mines of Bond, Translyvania.

Although these transport developments occurred in Germany in the 15th and 16th centuries, the use of wagonways in collieries in this country did not occur until the early part of the 17th century and, when they did, took the form of a single plank. There is, however, a poem, "Christ's Kirk on the Green," frequently attributed to James I of Scotland (1395-1437), in which there is a reference to trams, "Beat on with barrow trams." It is felt, however, that this refers to the barrows which were used for transport underground and not to trams in the sense of the word as we know it today.

Shropshire, where the longwall method of working coal was first introduced, was always well to the fore in the march of mining progress ; it is recorded that wooden rails were first used here, in the Coalbrookdale Coalfield, in 1620, and that the coal was conveyed in small wagons direct from the working places to the loading point on the Severn. This was confirmed by the Rev. F. Brokesby in a letter dated 1711, in which he refers to the mining methods in use in the Shifnal and Madely district and to the "small carriages with four wheels of above a foot diameter, thrust by men . . . even to the boats which lye in the Severn."

As in earlier times, the transportation of the coal decided the general method of working. In the North of England, it was the practice to commence operations with six trams, to add a further one every thirtieth day until the number in use reached 16; at this point the mine was abandoned, increased transportation costs making the sinking of another shaft a more economical proposition. In Yorkshire, particularly in the Halifax area, a maximum of 60 yards was considered the most economical distance to work the coal from the shaft bottom, due to the cost and difficulties attendant on "hurrying" the coal underground. In this area the transport of the coal was carried out in "scoops shod with iron." It is surprising how this length of 60 yards continued; before the advent of machine mining and when hand methods of getting coal prevailed, 60 yards was a common length of gateroad between cross gates.

The sledges normally used were similar to that shown in Fig. 12. This is a sledge found in the old workings of Allerton Colliery, Yorkshire, and is now in the Science Museum, South Kensington. The sledge was found in a part of the workings which had been closed at the latter part of the 18th century. It consists of runners to which are attached strong wicker sides for holding the coal; pieces of wood set at intervals across the runners form the bottom of the sledge. At each end are wooden uprights through which a horizontal bar passes, and which no doubt was held in position by means of wooden pegs. It is presumed that the sledge was drawn to the pit bottom by women or children, and that the winding rope was attached to the bar to enable it to be raised to the surface where it was unloaded.

Sledges were still in use in South Staffordshire at the end of the 18th century, as is shown by part of an engraving, Fig. 13. obtained from the sketch book of William Reynolds (1758-1803). In this case, however, the sledges were pulled by horses ; it is evident that they were raised to the surface before being unloaded.

The drawing of sledges by human beings or by horses was a cumbersome process, especially as in many cases the mineral had to be unloaded before ascent to the surface. The next development was the filling of a wicker corf, which was borne from the faces by a sledge and which could easily be attached to the winding rope. The introduction of wheels resulted in the development of the rolley on which could be placed one or more corves, Fig. 14. This practice became more necessary as the faces proceeded inbye, a fact emphasised by Curr, a coal viewer, who stated, "the prevailing practice was to draw a single corf on a sled from the workings to the shaft, and as the costs increase enormously, therefore, the viewers introduced wagonways underground for that purpose and fixed a frame upon wheels capable of carrying two or more basket corves drawn by one horse." The use of the rolley is also referred to by Brand in 1789 and also by Buddle (Trans. Nat. His. Soc. of Northumberland).

John Burr was appointed to the Duke of Norfolk's Sheffield pits in 1781, and it is mentioned that he replaced the wooden sledges then in use with corves or small wagons running on four wheels on wooden rails. To reduce the weight of the corves they were normally constructed of wickerwork. This was to lighten the load on the rolley and winding rope. Metal was expensive and not always readily available; in 1812 at the Washington colliery, an effort was made to manufacture a circular sheet-iron corve, but for a variety of reasons it proved unsatisfactory.

It can be realised that the ascent of the full and the descent of the empty corves, and their recirculation in the pit was slow; the only improvement to this end was in the middle of the 18th century when a partition was provided in the shaft to separate the descending from the ascending corves. John Curr, in 1788, patented the use of shaft guides in which there ran a cross bar to which the corves were suspended. This was not generally adopted outside the Sheffield district. With the advent of the steam engine, greater speeds and deeper mining became possible. It was not, however, until 1835 that the combined use of shaft guides and cage permitted wheeled tubs from the coal face to be raised direct to the surface. This event occurred at Woodside, near Ryton-on-Tyne, and was developed by Mr. T. Y. Hall.

With this innovation it now became possible to do away with the rolleys formerly used for conveying corves to the pit bottom although they were not finally eliminated until 1841-1842 (Greenwell's Engineering).

The disadvantages of the wooden rails and the gradually increasing production of iron, gave an impetus to an improvement in the design and construction of rails. In 1767, in the Coalbrookdale coalfield, cast-iron plates were fixed to the top of the wooden rails, and during the same period, the Germans adopted a similar improvement but generally only on curves and gradients, the metal strips being referred to as Reibeisen (rubbing iron). Later, in 1794, malleable iron bars of rectangular section, were used as rails at the Walbottle colliery. In Monmouthshire (1801), Coxe refers to the rails made from bars of iron, 4 ft. long, 3 in. thick and 1¼ in. wide, the ends being made concave and convex to ensure their fitting into each other. In the early 19th century, the rate at which metal rails were adopted underground accelerated considerably, a fact mentioned by many writers, e.g., Daniell. It has been suggested that wrought-iron rails were introduced by B. Thompson at Ouston colliery in 1815, but there is no definite evidence on this point. Steel rails came into use about 1870-1880 and have up to this time constituted the principal accessory of underground haulage ; they have varied from a few lb. in weight per yard until today, with the introduction of underground locomotives, they now approach the heavy sections used on main railway lines, weighing up to 60 lb. or more per yard.

(To be continued.)

REFERENCES

• "Annals of Coal Mining and the Coal Trade" by R. L. Galloway.
• "Early Mining Transport" by C. E. Lee, COLLIERY ENGINEERING. July, 1938.
• "The Historical Review of Coal Mining."

Article reproduced from a copy of the magazine held at National Mining Museum Scotland, Newtongrange, Midlothian.