There seems to be something fishy (no pun intended) about that lead mine loco. The fixtures look more like something you'd see on a fake loco on a VFW or Shrine float in a local parade. The bell bracket looks fake. The domes & stack look questionable. I've never seen handrails mounted that way. The headlight, if that's what it is, looks unusual at best. There's no discrete difference between the smokebox and boiler barrel. Nothing I say here is definitive, but it surely looks strange.

Tom

I don't see any evidence of a firebox, and the "crankpins" have no provision for the main rod...

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.divernet.com/img/66/800/600/0/95782/0615_two_mines_bonne_terre8.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.divernet.com/cave-diving/p303542-missouri%27s%2520billion-gallon%2520lake.html&h=400&w=600&tbnid=sCUbVh436NpcnM:&docid=hhhB5bcMkiLj0M&hl=en&ei=jboJVuexOIm5yQTnw4rwAQ&tbm=isch&ved=0CCkQMygNMA1qFQoTCKes4JbfmsgCFYlckgod56ECHg

No piston rod, and what real locomotive has a SLOT in the rear cylinder head?

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://mikeoutdoors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/bonne-terre-mine4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mikeoutdoors.com/diving-at-bonne-terre-mine&h=366&w=550&tbnid=XT6cU11hFISJiM:&docid=2ABVQxxPs2kjZM&hl=en&ei=Y7wJVtb3K46UyAT_-aD4AQ&tbm=isch&ved=0CB0QMygBMAFqFQoTCJa14vbgmsgCFQ4Kkgod_zwIHw

As Tom said, this thing is as fake as fake can be:

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.divernet.com/img/66/800/600/0/95783/0615_two_mines_bonne_terre7.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.divernet.com/cave-diving/p303542-missouri%27s%2520billion-gallon%2520lake.html&h=399&w=600&tbnid=71DgoO52W6C7JM:&docid=hhhB5bcMkiLj0M&hl=en&ei=jboJVuexOIm5yQTnw4rwAQ&tbm=isch&ved=0CCgQMygMMAxqFQoTCKes4JbfmsgCFYlckgod56ECHg

http://www.oceanphotos.com/images/447-30tr.jpg

Another point... who, in modern times, would consider using a steam locomotive, other than a fireless, in an underground mine?

The only way this could be a genuine mine locomotive would be if the mine bought an old amusement park locomotive for service underground. Given the mine's 1962 closure date, this could, I suppose, be feasible.

Hauling a fake down into the mine underwater would be quite a feat!

Interesting.

Steve Hunter

No counterweights on the drivers either.

Tom

Hi,

I wonder if this is/was a mining electric (battery) loco that they (the mine owners) decorated as a steamer. Maybe for a kid?

Though not often done, the UTLX narrow gauge tank cars running on the D&RGW from Chama to Alamosa were lettered GRAMPS - the oil field owner had the tank cars repainted for his grand-kids.

This looks like a non-railroader's view of a steam locomotive - not exactly correct.

Doug vV

The wheel profile isn't right, the treads are terribly narrow and you'd expect a solid wheel, perhaps with a few lightening holes but certainly not spindly little spokes.

Steve Hunter

Lead mine? I wonder if someone isn't pulling everyone's chain and it's really an old Buddy L train submerged in an aquarium, with some chemical added to grow deposits on it. There is nothing to give a sense of scale except those miss-proportioned wheels. The little wheel looks like a die casting with fake spokes.

It's apparently a well known diving spot with public tours, so it's unlikely the existence of the little "locomotive" is a hoax. What it is, however, is very questionable...

Photos showing the locomotive appear on a number of sites and dive reports.

Steve Hinter

The "loco" looks like decor that was added in the 1970s when the then new owners promoted the closed mine as the "world's largest fresh water dive resort."

The mine ceased operation in 1962.

Paul

If the mine closed in 1962, it seems like there should be historical documentation of any locomotives.

The theory of placing a homemade artifact in the mine as an underwater attraction for recreational divers seems like a highly probable explanation for a locomotive that looks like a homemade artifact. I would bet that is the accurate explanation. It fits like a glove. My dad was a diver, and he sunk a boat in a lake to give other divers something to explore.

It would be interesting to ask a diver to measure the track gauge and the "locomotive"'s gauge, and see if they match...

The theory of placing an "artifact" works, as long as the plan to create a diving destination was in place before the power was turned off to the pumps and, if used in that mine, the hoist.

Once the mine flooded, it would get a tad difficult.

Steve Hunter

It's the "second section" of the lost Nazi gold train. This time we'll need the Polish NAVY to dig for it.

In the Smoky Mountain National Park there is a steam boiler that was obviously part of a logging operation...it looks like a vertical boiler...maybe from a winch. You will meet people who swear up and down that it is "an old train" or "an old timey steam locomotive". But if you ever see it you quickly realize...it is not. But the effect it has on people is magical...they jump out of their skins when they find it half-submerged in the creek. It lives on in legend and lore. I bet you could google it and find some photos.
Perhaps the same things happens here...they find the small scale park engine in the quarry and have no sense of scale or proportion.
T7

Little better photo of it here:

Hi,

FWIW, Until Mom died in 2012, I took care of her in Dunwoody GA. I built a 4.75" gauge track that later partially becam a 7.5" gauge loading track. The nearest railroad was 1/2 mile in 1921 and about 5-6 miles since 1921.

The young kids in the houses behind me told their parents (who did not believe) that there was a railroad back in the woods. The parents did not believe until one day when they saw me runing the automobile battery powered switch engine (SV 101 in 1.5" scale 7.5" gauge).

Hard to say if this has any relevence to this lead mine. It was funny at the time.

Doug vV

The lead mine has been turned into an underwater scuba diving attraction. There is no doubt that the reason the locomotive appears to be a crudely made amusement park attraction is that it is exactly that. It is probably a mock steam locomotive for an amusement park railroad of about 15" gage.

At the conversion of the flooded mine into the diving attraction, the locomotive was lowered into the water and placed as knickknack for divers to find and explore. I would not be surprised if most, if not all of the other artifacts were placed into the mine for the same purpose, as opposed to being left there as part of the mining operation as their display is intended to imply.