I ran across this photo of some interesting copper mining equipment at the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum in Bisbee Arizona. Two of the pieces look like typical mine carts(too me), but the third one I'm stumped on. What in the world is it?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/juneny/4691255949/in/photostream/

The middle car is a "latrine" car, the car on the right does not look like a typical mine car, possibly some sort of supply car--probably explosives, and I have no clue what the left car is.

Bernie Perch

Perhaps the car on the left was for heating / melting ore samples while still in the mine?

The car on the left could be a portable dewatering pump or a reciever for running air drills etc.

We used to have an old Shotcrete or equivalent pot at our Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum that looked very similar in shape and setup to what is shown. It was in a standalone cart configuration and not on a railroad car. Could this car have been for coating the mine shaft with a concrete layer to prevent cave ins?

Just a little more wild speculation...

Regards,
Chris

Chris is right. That is a gunnite machine. Its just a pressure pot that you would fill with liquid concrete then pressurize. The gunnite sprays from a hose onto whatever you would like to give a coat of concrete to.

I remember seeing a similar shotcrete pump when I worked underground for Standard Metals at the Sunnyside mine near Silverton CO.

DBH

I can imagine one of the "locals" telling some naive tourists (who are looking at the "shotcrete" machine), "That's a portable still used by the local bootleggers during Prohibition. When the Feds showed up, they'd run it into the mine."

I was there in Bisbee a few years ago, really neat place, saw this museum and this display. I took the ride into the mine on the narrow gauge RR (24"). I don't remember any shotcrete anywhere, but I could be wrong.

They did tell us that they used to use mules and house them inside the mine. They had to cover the mules eyes when they brought them up to the surface so their eyes could adjust to the sunlight.

I think that car is the soup bucket and was used to provide hot meals. But I'm just speculating as well.

Cheers, Kevin.

Shotcrete is usually used only in areas where there are problems with ground control. It is usually used along with roof bolts in the roof "back" or walls"ribs". It really depends on the local conditions as to if it is used. Shotcrete helps keep small stuff from comeing down. I have seen it where they would shot crete first, cover that with chain link fence & then use roof bolts to tie it all together. Along with timbering, this is the main products used to hold the roof & walls together that I have seen.

Dave Huffman