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 Post subject: Can anyone explain what these Mt. Hope remains are?
PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 4:48 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:53 am
Posts: 19
Location: Hopatcong, NJ
Hi again,
While hiking in the Mt. Hope park, and after seeing the destruction of Richard Mine, I came across this fenced in mine shaft. The pics are kinda rough but it's hard to get good pictures through a fence.

Anyway, There is this big pipe sticking out of the shaft with concrete on the top.

My questions are, Name of this mine? Was there something mounted on top of the concrete or it this some kind of cap put on after the mine closed? What is the large pipe for? Was something mounted to the top of the pipe or was there a building of some type on top? Can anyone tell me anything more about this mine?

This is located west of the Richard Mine remains.

Sorry for the crummy pics.

Image

Image

Further west almost to the apartments on the Rt 15 end of Richard Mine Rd. I found these other remains, Was this another mine, I didn't see any shafts but there are foundations with tie bars sticking out of them and cables laying around. What was this?

Image

Image

One more thing, Are there any mines on the other side of Richard Mine Rd? Between RMR and Rt 80? Are they easy to find? I'm thinking of hiking that area next.

Thanks, Mike D.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:59 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 2:44 pm
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Location: Hamburg, NJ
Hey Rob, You got me on that one, it oculd be the sweetser shaft... Not sure. Ive never seen it but if its southwest of the richard mine changehouse, i think thats it.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:58 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:28 pm
Posts: 1758
Location: Winnemucca, NV
Mike, this is all part of the Richard Mine. The large pipe was used for ventilation and the concrete on the top is a cap. It appears that the shaft has subsided quite a bit resulting in the look we see today. The Sweetser Shaft is at the now demolished changehouse. I am not certain what the concrete features were used for but they are located right near a reclaimed shaft directly southwest of open pit workings. This too is part of Richard Mine. Yes, Richard Mine extended southwest toward the other side of the street.

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 Post subject: the Richard Mine Complex
PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 9:55 am 
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Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 1:07 pm
Posts: 17
Location: Wharton, NJ
Hey Mike D,
This goes back to what I was saying in the discussion thread on Richard Mine that there is still interesting stuff to see in the area. As Miner Mike says, it's all part of the Richard Mine complex. Just over the ridge to the southwest (20 yards?), is the shaft/hole in the ground that I was talking about. You'll recognize the area from the steel beams driven into the ground, connected with hoisting cable to form a crude fence, used to "secure" the site.

There are other mines in the woods between Richard Mine Rd & Rt 80W. In fact, there is a nice water-filled shaft right next to Richard Mine Rd, not visible by car, but by foot. If you start on Richard Mine Rd at the power line r-o-w and walk towards Rt 15, it's on the left, maybe 30 feet in from the road. Continuing along RM Rd, there's a dirt road directly across from where the Mt. Hope Mineral RR comes closest to RM Rd. Follow the dirt road into the woods. A short ways on your left is an interesting site complete with discarded ventilation shaft tubes and the remains of a narrow-gauge railway. I'm not sure if the water there indicates a shaft, or if it is a low-lying pool of waste water.

If you continue to follow the dirt road to the southwest and further into the woods, you'll come across a huge pile of slag on the left. Apparently there was some ore roasting going on here. A little further along the dirt road, you'll run into a large, circular pool of water with a sign posted, reading "Caution: Deep Water". I believe that is the Baker Mine shaft. There are remains of buildings and water pumping equipment. It would be interesting to put on scuba gear and see what's actually down there! The Syms book says that that Baker shaft leads down to a drift which was worked under present-day Rt.80 and reached the Mt. Pleasant mine adjacent to Rt 15 (under the Rt 15 overpass closest to Costco). So think of that as you drive west past the Rockaway Townsquare Mall; you're driving over a drift.

There was a LOT of mining activity in the area as recently as the 1950s. That Baker Mine stuff isn't all that old.
Rob

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 11:03 am 
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Location: Winnemucca, NV
Rob, I was not attentive to a narrow gauge railroad over there, I would be interested in knowing where it is. While all of the ruins are in fact left in ruins, it does leave an interesting picture as how much went on here. Don't forget the huge concrete piers used to support a branch of the Mount Hope Mineral Railroad. That is something you don't see often.

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 Post subject: concrete piers for MHMRR
PostPosted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 5:59 pm 
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Location: Wharton, NJ
Mike,
We're talking about the same piers. I didn't think they were large enough to support a standard gauge railway, but I could be wrong. Those piers go right behind that house, which must have been standing there when the railway was in use. Where did the railway end? Where did it connect to the main trunk of the MHMRR?

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 Post subject: Mount Hope Mineral Railroad spur to Baker Mine
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:13 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 1:59 am
Posts: 40
According to the 1888 New Jersey Geological Survey Map, the spur from the Mount Hope Mineral Railroad came off the mainline north of Richard Mine road, crossed the road on a northwest-southeast diagonal, and terminated near the northwest corner of the Baker Mine shaft. Comparing this map to a modern aerial, one can faintly make out the path of the spur. To find where it crossed Richard Mine Road, go to the dirt road that leads south to the Baker Mine site. From there, proceed west on Richard Mine Road, towards Route 15. A relatively short distance away from the intersection with the dirt road, you'll encounter a house on your left (south side of Richard Mine Road) with a tall pine tree in front and a large, unpaved driveway/parking area on its eastern side. The rail spur passed right through this property, so some of it was obliterated by the construction of the house and improvements made to Richard Mine road. To find the segment of the spur on the north side of Richard Mine Road, stand in front of the house (try to be inconspicuous) and face northwards with the pine tree directly behind you. Across the street, you will notice a slight cut (about the width of a dirt road) on the top of the short rise next to the roadway. This is the spur and it is now about three or four feet above Richard Mine Road because this stretch of the road was lowered below its original grade when it was paved. This portion of the spur quickly disappears into the overgrowth. On the south side of the road, all traces of the spur have been removed around the house, but the aerial images indicate that it should still be partially visible from the southeastern corner of the home's parking area, through the woods, across the dirt road leading to the mine, until it ends by a depression which appears to be partially flooded and filled with large pieces of industrial refuse that have been dumped there (on the aerial image, they look like cylindrical containers of some sort). I've never explored the area, other than driving by the house, so I don't know what one could find on the ground versus what can be seen on the aerial image. I hope that this helps you find the spur to the Baker Mine.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 9:33 pm 
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Location: Winnemucca, NV
Let me know if you guys want to revisit that area sometime. As for the piers, if in fact part of the railroad as I theorize, I would presume they were built later for the portion of the Richard Mine on that side of the street. The probably don't line up with the earlier spur built for the Baker Mine but I have not closely examined the roadbed.

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