Mystic mines

[Buz]

Hi all

Not really modeling but could be an interesting talking point

I know a number of people have modeled Mystic mines ie mines that mine some rare mineral that doesn't exist in the real world and have managed to pull it off very well.

The one that springs to my  mind is purple plinker on the now gone Vulcan vale railway which possibly no one here has heard of being an Australian On30 model  railway before its demise. and I know of a mine in the UK somewhere that is based on Terry Pratchets disk world ideas and tied in with magic and the disk world wizards

I wondered I any one here has done that kind of thing and come up with a workable back story as to why whatever it is was mined and what it was used for justifying train loads of the stuff and final product moving about.

regards John

[NIR]

Barytes has always sounded a bit mystic to me, a bit 'offworld'.

Edited August 26, 2020 by NIR

[Broithe]

When I was at college, during the hot summers of the 1970s, a lot of the other lads on the course worked for the Coal Board. One of them mentioned that he was about to buy some new sunglasses. Another lad, who was very clever, but could be a bit naive, said "You won't need them down the pit!".

This started a chain of events over a few days, which ended up with him believing that coal is actually brilliant white when it's first dug out, only oxidising to the familiar black colour over a few hours - and the blinding glare in a coal mine was quite a safety hazard.

Every piece of evidence that he came up with for not believing this was shot down immediately. Miners are always pictured covered in black dust - this is because the dust has been on them for the whole shift, Bob. The reason they often have white rings round their eyes is because they've just taken their sunglasses off for the photo. Etc.

The clincher was when a photo was produced, showing a roadway underground. This had just been "stonedusted" - where white stone dust was sprayed over all the surfaces, intended to mitigate the effects of any explosions.

This sort of thing, but without the chap and the hose in the picture to give it away.

I know that he still believed in the 'white coal' two years later - maybe he still does?

 

[WRENNEIRE]

7 hours ago, NIR said:

Barytes has always sounded a bit mystic to me, a bit 'offworld'.

Nearly always visit the mines when I am in Sligo

https://discoverbundoran.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bw_mill_booklet.pdf

[Galteemore]

Hadn’t realised until today that there was a diesel powered NG railway there in the early 30s