The Western Coal and Coke Company, Limited

Considerable development has been done during the past year. The main and counter-gangways have been extended a distance of 4,500 ft. from the mine entrance. At about 1,000 ft. from the mine entrance a slope is sunk on the pitch of the seam at an angle of 30 degrees for a distance of 1,208 ft. and entries driven to the north 1,080 ft. and to the south 1,040 ft. Monobel is used and all shots are fired by means of electric batteries. Safety lamps of the Wolfe pattern only are used throughout the mine.

The following plant capable of handling 2,000 tons of coal per nine hours has been completed during the past year and the following buildings erected and machinery installed:

Two 200 h.p. Robb-Mumford boilers, 125 lb. pressure, two 100 h.p. Robb-Brady boilers, 125 lb. pressure with Hoppes feed water heater and a 6 in. by 12 in. Fairbanks-Morse feed pump. The boiler house has provision for two other 200 h.p. Robb-Mumford boilers, and is 72 ft. by 45 ft. by 18 ft. covered with steel shingles and steel siding; one 160 k.w. a.c. three-phase 60 cycl. Allis-Chalmers Bullock generator driven by a compound 200 h.p. non-condensing vertical high speed (450 r.p.m.) Browet & Lindley engine; one 25 k.w. d.c. excitor Allis-Chalmers Bullock direct, connected to an 8 in. by 10 in. Ideal Goldie & McCulloch engine; one 4-panel switchboard, one 600 cubic ft. capacity straight line Sullivan two-stage air compressor delivering air at 100 lb. pressure; one Walker fan, 75,000 cub. ft. capacity against 4 in. W.G., belt driven by a single cylinder Walker engine contained in a metal shingle covered house; one 15 by 24 Fraser-Chalmers hoist engine geared 4.6 to 1.7 ft. diameter drum.

Powerhouse 43 ft. by 40 ft. by 14 ft., wooden building covered with metal shingles. A wash-house 22 ft. by 53 ft. by 11 ft. metal shingled roof, drop siding, containing 120 steel lockers, shower baths and a surgery built on the side, concrete floors throughout: a lamp-house 15 ft. by 33 ft. by 9 ft., brick, equipped for 400 safety lamps and cleaning apparatus; a stable 62 ft. by 33 ft. by 10 ft. 6 ins., with stalls for twenty horses, which is a wooden building covered with steel shingles; a wooden building covered with metal shingles, 36 ft. by 20 ft. by 14 ft. with a capacity for two cars of hay and one car of oats, used for feed storage; a machine shop, 90 ft. by 28 ft., containing carpenter’s shop, forge and machine shops, with brick walls between; machine shop containing lathe, pipe threader, emery grinder and drill press, forges and a 400-lb steam hammer.

All tools are driven from countershafting driven by a 30 h.p. motor; a two-storey wooden warehouse, 48 ft. by 24 ft. by 17 ft., covered with steel shingles; 65 frame dwelling houses of four and five rooms each; a screening plant electrically driven and lighted, two rotary dumps, two sets of fixed bar screens and Ottumwa box car loader; one locomotive and shed for same: waterworks-capacity 150 gallons per minute, one mile of 6 in. steel pipe, turbine pumps motor driven, water tank of 90,000 gallons capacity.

Note: Except for the addition of a locomotive and standard passenger coach to the equipment of the railway in 1913, no improvements of importance were made to the mine. The mine was closed down at the end of March, 1915.

Source: Department of Public Works, Province of Alberta, Annual Report, 1912.