Oil was not much used at small remote mines like that one back then. This one never really went into production. They found enough local trees to build a mill bldg so I guess they could find enough to power that boiler, at least to run a sawmill and planer. All the old boilers in Alaska were fueled by wood or coal; usually wood. There's also about 80 drums of old heavy fuel oil dating from 1937 laying in the tundra on the other side of the mountain that are slowly leaking into the watershed. Same story; they Cat got stuck in soft ground and they just dumped the bbls short of the mine. I told the state; they weren't even remotely interested in cleaning it up. I had a plan to do so and got company/client approval but time ran out and it never happened. That's a far more depressing set of pictures in my archive. I managed to sling a few drums out and brought one full drum home; the fuel is in perfect condition and set me up with firestarter for life...
The hunting out there includes moose and caribou. Caribou stream by our drills out there all summer. There are also ptarmigan and lots of blueberries.
Didn't know Colt made boilers. I guess if Singer can make Colts, Colt can make boilers!
|