Mining

Title: Loading Ore Onto a Train
Type: Photograph
Date: 1899
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: This photograph shows a steamshovel loading ore into train cars.

Activities:

1. Is this a photograph of an underground mine?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The huge, dug-up area marks this as an open-pit mine; however it was possible for a mine to have both an open-pit region and an underground mine.
2. What is the reason for having a railroad line run by a mine?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Trains were used to ship the tons of ore from the mines to the businesses that would extract the iron from the ore. Having them nearby lowered expenses.
3. How could mines without a train track possibly transport the ore?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Animals could be used to pull carts, but this would be slow and expensive. A single ore car on a train could carry a ton of ore and millions of tons would be shipped in a year. Animals with carts, or even trucks could never carry that much ore.