Cool Underground Tunnel and Nanaimo's Old Mine Shafts

[GR74]

Night vision is pretty incredible. I bet you'd get orbs and a bunch of paranormal things on tape.

What kind of mines are they? Were they strictly coal mines or did they mine other things? Why did so many die? What made the job so dangerous, other than cave ins I guess. I'm so incredibly noobular when it comes to this stuff haha.

Knowing the sheer numbers of deaths, I know I would get EVP. Very interesting indeed. I think my first real adventure in Nanaimo will have to be a mine, lol.

Nanaimo's mines were stricly coal mines but I've heard rumors of certain gold mines in the area too.

There were a lot of deaths associated with mine explosions back when they were using open flame and carbide mining lamps. Methane gas stored inside the coal would blow out or ignite. Fresh air was constantly being circulated into the mines to help ventilate them. Most of the mining took place offshore, so you'd have the ocean up above you and I've heard a few stories of miners drowning. There were also cave-ins. But the explosions were the big one and would take out dozens at a time.

Unfortunately I don't have an accurate count for you on the total number of deaths, but I'd have to say 'hundeds and hundreds'. An explosion at the No.1 Mine killed 148 miners and 2 rescue workers on May 3, 1887.

[Foxglove]

Oh my goodness, that is terrible. I bet there are a lot of people down there that don't even realize they are dead. How sad.

[GR74]

I have the utmost respect for the fallen miners.

[Foxglove]

150 people because of one explosion. That is pretty intense. I wouldn't mind going there to leave an offering or something. That makes me sad. I guess there really wasn't any other kind of work around then and people just did what they had to, to get by. Where does the methane gas come from?

[GR74]

Coalbed methane is a gas that is produced during the coalification process. When the plant matter is converted into coal, it generates large quantities of methane rich gas which are stored within the coal. Coalbed methane can be used as an energy resource and is environmentally more acceptable than the mining and combustion of coal.

[kickidee]

Its bee n fun reading you catching up on this foxglove!
If you consider there were not so may people back in the late 1800s in Nanaimo, you have to realize that husbands fathers and sons were lost, and that there were terrible consequenses for the widows because women did not work the mines or out of the home back then.
The bereaving famillies were then ousted from the home, the miners cabin provided by the company and yet all of them made it by helping each other and from the remaining miners looking after their own.
I talked to an old miner last year at a local pub (also open in the miniing days) and I said how hatrd life was.
He looked at me in shock and said "I was never hungry and I was never cold."
I will never forget those words. All the danger and hard work and abuse from the owners and greed that went on on the upper levels, yet these simple words to cross over 100 years and say "man you dudes are spoiled jelly!"
Do not forget the chinese immigrant railways workers, paid a bowl of rice and a puff of opium for hard long days of toil on the railway.
When the time came that social conciense dictated that these men be paid the men were blown up in a suspicious explosion on Payday.
The old china town burned down but the laborers of the day, the miners and the chinese got along very well and people would come from all the outlying areas to see our china town...on the day off and to visit relatives.
there will be so many spirits and stories you will have years of interesting stuff to check into. It is genuine grassroots stuff and not that long ago really.
The excesses of the one of the big owners Dunsmuir can be viewed at the Dunsmuir House in Victoria.
this is also a city full of ghosts and the house is haunted. there are tunnels from the sea into some of the old buildings and hauntings are just regualr.
Lots to see above ground as well.
Welcome foxglove, adventure awaits.

[Foxglove]

Coalbed methane is a gas that is produced during the coalification process. When the plant matter is converted into coal, it generates large quantities of methane rich gas which are stored within the coal. Coalbed methane can be used as an energy resource and is environmentally more acceptable than the mining and combustion of coal.

That is so interesting. I don't know a lot about a lot of things, hahaha. But it's so interesting to learn. Sure I could read it in a book, but I like when people tell me stuff.

So I guess my next question is, how does plant matter become coal? Is it just years of fossilization I guess? How long does it take?

[Foxglove]

Its bee n fun reading you catching up on this foxglove!
If you consider there were not so may people back in the late 1800s in Nanaimo, you have to realize that husbands fathers and sons were lost, and that there were terrible consequenses for the widows because women did not work the mines or out of the home back then.
The bereaving famillies were then ousted from the home, the miners cabin provided by the company and yet all of them made it by helping each other and from the remaining miners looking after their own.
I talked to an old miner last year at a local pub (also open in the miniing days) and I said how hatrd life was.
He looked at me in shock and said "I was never hungry and I was never cold."
I will never forget those words. All the danger and hard work and abuse from the owners and greed that went on on the upper levels, yet these simple words to cross over 100 years and say "man you dudes are spoiled jelly!"
Do not forget the chinese immigrant railways workers, paid a bowl of rice and a puff of opium for hard long days of toil on the railway.
When the time came that social conciense dictated that these men be paid the men were blown up in a suspicious explosion on Payday.
The old china town burned down but the laborers of the day, the miners and the chinese got along very well and people would come from all the outlying areas to see our china town...on the day off and to visit relatives.
there will be so many spirits and stories you will have years of interesting stuff to check into. It is genuine grassroots stuff and not that long ago really.
The excesses of the one of the big owners Dunsmuir can be viewed at the Dunsmuir House in Victoria.
this is also a city full of ghosts and the house is haunted. there are tunnels from the sea into some of the old buildings and hauntings are just regualr.
Lots to see above ground as well.
Welcome foxglove, adventure awaits.

Well I kinda just skipped over all the reading and started asking questions and now I'm starting the reading again, lol. This thread is so busy I'd come home from work and see like 20 new messages in a day and was like, screw this, haha, and then started looking at the pictures.

That's some pretty intense history. I couldn't even imagine that kind of impact on a family, that's just so, wow. Explosion on payday, how convenient for the employers, what bastards.

I can't wait to get a tape recorder out there. Maybe even help some spirits if I can. I'll have to talk to a bunch of people, I don't really like reading all that much (says the writer, haha) I would rather hear history from the people. I don't think I'll be hitting Victoria for awhile, I'll be too overwhelmed by all the Nanaimo exploring. I'd like to get in some treasure hunting too. I've been telling everyone at work about the mines and how that's going to be the first thing I do in Nanaimo. I'm so excited.

[GR74]

GLOW STICKS! no skin off your back if you lose it!

I think seaman? was using glow sticks at one point. Don't know if they're powerful enough, maybe using a couple of 1000W halogens would do the trick

[GR74]

Well I kinda just skipped over all the reading and started asking questions and now I'm starting the reading again, lol. This thread is so busy I'd come home from work and see like 20 new messages in a day and was like, screw this, haha, and then started looking at the pictures.

That's some pretty intense history. I couldn't even imagine that kind of impact on a family, that's just so, wow. Explosion on payday, how convenient for the employers, what bastards.

I can't wait to get a tape recorder out there. Maybe even help some spirits if I can. I'll have to talk to a bunch of people, I don't really like reading all that much (says the writer, haha) I would rather hear history from the people. I don't think I'll be hitting Victoria for awhile, I'll be too overwhelmed by all the Nanaimo exploring. I'd like to get in some treasure hunting too. I've been telling everyone at work about the mines and how that's going to be the first thing I do in Nanaimo. I'm so excited.

The Morden Mine is a marvel in itself, the ruins are the best thing above ground to look at.

If you like fossils, there is a spot at the foot of Mt. Benson that is easy enough to get to. Its all sand stone there and full of the prehistoric clams. I found a nice size one by smashing some of the boulders. The rock broke in half and there it was. I seem to remember a display set up in one of the malls quite a while ago, probably done by the museum. These clams were huge! The site was excavated at some point years ago, don't know the history on that spot but they even erected a small gate which doesn't serve a purpose anymore.