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• M[NINC FCATURC FORM <br />(Page 2 of4) <br />State Site Number - SDTI O53 Temporary Site Number - <br />I R. Location/Nature of Miner's Dwellings - [3owie was a company town built benveen 1903 and <br />I.91$ to sunnly housine for mine workers at the adjacent Kine Mine. The town was located on a low <br />hillside. about I/4 mile southwest of the mine entrance Ofthe town of [lowie. the original Site form <br />includes only the residences. schools. and mine office/enrage complex The worker residences were <br />arranged in lour rows descending the hill on the north side of the North Fork of the Gunnison River <br />(Figure 2~. One row was located south of I lighway 133 and consisted often I~ shaped frame homes <br />that probabh~ served as bachelor residences Four larger homes were located on the west end of this <br />row. Aconcrete-walled garage for six vehicles still stands at the east end of the south row of houses. <br />North of Hi~~hway 133 were three tiers of houses. The bottom two rows consisted of five. one-story, <br />square. frame homes with hipped-roofs and concrete fixmdations These square homes were divided <br />in hall' in the f~amc portion with two doors Facing the north or uphill side The lower (concrete) level <br />had one door facim~ downhill Outhouses Ind wells lay down the hill from the residences The top <br />tier of four frame homes were also L-slt~ped (with llie short e~ctension pointed nortlil and may have <br />been the more prestigious company homes Thcv also were built of frame construction on basement <br />concrete loundations. <br />19. Site/Feature Description -Included within this site are the tipple. sales house. power plant. <br />lower mule bam nowdcr house. blacksmith shoo. and mine portal complex (hoist house. unner mule <br />' barn and Ian liwndation/housing The mine otlice •md associ•ued earn ~e~ /shop •uea is included in <br />the previously recorded site SDTIa~ <br />All that remains of the tipple are the concrete lixmdation footings liir the steel piers in an area <br />that measures approximately 90 feet by 7i leer This tipple was constructed in 19~R and was <br />constrtcted ofsteel: it replaced a wooden one completed in 1907 The new tipple was e ui ped with <br />a rotary dump. a hopper and feeder shaking screens and convenors to load cars on four tracks A <br />crusher was added in 19 +7 The tipple was dismantled by f\dolph Coors Compan.~after 1977 A <br />r- coal sales house still stands south ol'Ihe tipple foundation Made ofconcrete with a steel roof it <br />measures appro~imateh• 4 leer by I R feet <br />Quilt on a 26 de~~ree (lowed and 33 de ~r~ ee a eel incline the tramway was a I X00-foot-long, <br />to double-track ~~ravity plane Steel cables were attached to cars Fach cable went back approximately <br />i : 300 leer into the mine where it was attached to a se~aralc drum within a common shall One cable <br />went over its drum and the other cable under its dnim so that when one dnim was windin a cable <br />t'~ the other cable was umvindin~ Loaded cars descendin on the gravity plane would be umvinding <br />I~ cable, and the other dmm winding and pulling the emp~ cars up the plane The "pit" cars used to <br />haul coal from the mine to the tipple were designed for a capacity of two tons The front end ofeach <br />~~ car was 15 inches higher than the sides and rear This was to keep coal From sliding off as i[ <br />-i descended the steep incline Cars were connected by link and pins and when disconnected <br />,~ controlled by hand brakes. Each car was weighed on the scale at the tipple and dumped into a <br />-~ stop a hopper A trio was usually made up of four loaded pit cars descending and pulling four <br />empty cars up the plane A trip could be stopped at any point on the tram and its speed controlled <br />by the wheelman in the pilot house overlooking the tram <br />1 <br />:.i <br />