Do you think this is an oil well, water well or what? (Tintype)

[DDTJRAC]

TL;DR Summary

Old west tintype...looking for info on subject matter.

Maybe 1860s - 1870s tintype. Post processed heavily to reveal the image.

What do you think they are building?

I'm not student or engineer. I'm an archivist. (non-professional) I get lots of old photos and films that need some deciphering, so hope this group can help out.

 

[Baluncore]

Welcome to PF.

I think they are digging a square section, vertical shaft, for use mining heavy metals.

The shaft headgear being constructed, with the rocking arm, is being used to lift the spoil from the shaft, maybe in the barrel now near the top. Judging by the spoil heap behind the headgear, they have dug down quite some way.

In the foreground of the headgear, there is a man leaning on a stack of planks, that are probably being used to shore up the walls of the shaft. Their length indicates the dimension of the shaft, while an estimate of the volume of spoil, could reveal the depth reached at the time. Spare planks indicate they are not yet at depth, or that they are now following a seam horizontally.

In the foreground of the picture, there are some sloped boxes (or baulks of timber?) with a man standing behind them. They look a bit like wash boxes, used for separating out heavy metals/minerals.

The building has an unusually tall chimney. My guess is that there is a furnace used for processing the ore, a stationary steam engine being used for pumping or crushing, or maybe a blacksmiths forge being used to sharpen and harden the tools being used to dig the shaft.

 

[berkeman]

I did a Google Images search on that image (via Lens) and got a number of similar looking images. Perhaps you can do that search to help your research into what kind of operations are depicted in the related images.

 

[DDTJRAC]

Thanks for the help!

 

[Baluncore]

Having thought more about the shaft being sunk in the tintype image.

It looks like the picture was staged, probably for a company prospectus or an annual report. I like the way each man came to work, dressed in his best, to stand still in his place during the long plate exposure. That is typical of early engineering photographs, where a mechanic demonstrates the use of a tool, while wearing a coat and tails.

A wire cable can be seen coming out through the building wall, then passing over the large diameter wheel at the top of the headgear, to raise and lower the barrel loaded with spoil. The two cross-braced legs that go from the top of the headgear towards the winch building, counter the tension in that cable. The building must house a steam-powered drum winch, hence the tall chimney, needed to draw the heat from the firebox, through the boiler tubes.

The permanent nature of the building, housing a steam powered winch, suggests it was not a water well, nor an early oil well. This vertical shaft is planned to be used for some significant time to extract proven reserves of a mineral. The probability is that it is a new access shaft to an existing coal mine that is being extended. The shaft reduces horizontal underground transport, increases ventilation, and provides a possible escape route for survivors.

There is similar headgear shown here, out of use by the time this picture was taken, but originally constructed at about the same time as the OP tintype image.
https://www.suttonbeauty.org.uk/suttonhistory/mineworking/

The barrel shown in the tintype image was used to remove spoil, while the shaft-sinkers rode the barrel, standing on the rim while holding the wire. That dangerous practice is illustrated several times in a 678 page book, a 50 Mbyte download from archive.org;
"Underground life" : or, Mines and miners. 1869.
By Simonin, Louis, 1830-1886; Bristow, Henry W. (Henry William), 1817-1889.
https://ia903105.us.archive.org/13/items/undergroundlifeo00simo/undergroundlifeo00simo.pdf

 

[Lnewqban]

Acute observation and wonderful explanations, @Baluncore !
Thank you.

One question on the OP picture:
How do you think the extracted material made it from the shown barrel to the top of the huge pile behind the tower?

 

[Baluncore]

How do you think the extracted material made it from the shown barrel to the top of the huge pile behind the tower?

The headgear looks more impressive from the side without the heap of spoil. To an engineer or investor, the ventral view would be classed as pornography, so we are denied those details.

I think there is a simple chute that moves the spoil away from the top deck to the heap. They are still sinking the shaft, so have not yet got around to removing spoil, or shaping it to help access the top of the heap. Maybe there are wheelbarrows at the back of the heap.

 

[DDTJRAC]

Having thought more about the shaft being sunk in the tintype image.

It looks like the picture was staged, probably for a company prospectus or an annual report. I like the way each man came to work, dressed in his best, to stand still in his place during the long plate exposure. That is typical of early engineering photographs, where a mechanic demonstrates the use of a tool, while wearing a coat and tails.

A wire cable can be seen coming out through the building wall, then passing over the large diameter wheel at the top of the headgear, to raise and lower the barrel loaded with spoil. The two cross-braced legs that go from the top of the headgear towards the winch building, counter the tension in that cable. The building must house a steam-powered drum winch, hence the tall chimney, needed to draw the heat from the firebox, through the boiler tubes.

The permanent nature of the building, housing a steam powered winch, suggests it was not a water well, nor an early oil well. This vertical shaft is planned to be used for some significant time to extract proven reserves of a mineral. The probability is that it is a new access shaft to an existing coal mine that is being extended. The shaft reduces horizontal underground transport, increases ventilation, and provides a possible escape route for survivors.

There is similar headgear shown here, out of use by the time this picture was taken, but originally constructed at about the same time as the OP tintype image.
https://www.suttonbeauty.org.uk/suttonhistory/mineworking/
View attachment 350912

The barrel shown in the tintype image was used to remove spoil, while the shaft-sinkers rode the barrel, standing on the rim while holding the wire. That dangerous practice is illustrated several times in a 678 page book, a 50 Mbyte download from archive.org;
"Underground life" : or, Mines and miners. 1869.
By Simonin, Louis, 1830-1886; Bristow, Henry W. (Henry William), 1817-1889.
https://ia903105.us.archive.org/13/items/undergroundlifeo00simo/undergroundlifeo00simo.pdf

Thanks for the evaluation! I don't know about the annual report. From what I gather they didn't use illustrated annual reports like we do at this time. At least I wasn't able to find anything. But they could have been used it as a model for an engraving on mining stock or bond certificates. Amazing what you got from one image!

 

[Baluncore]

I would like to know where the image was made, or where it was found.

I think I can see some shadows, illumination from the top left. Does the winch wire leave a shadow on the wall of the building, or is that a different wire?

The slope of the roof suggests snow in winter, but that is often confounded by the nationality of the immigrant builder in developing areas. They do not seem to be collecting rain water from the roof.

I don't understand the building behind the winch house. The unusual height, with a single-pitched, skillion roof, and the proximity to the winch house do not make sense to me.