March 2011

Cranberry Iron Mine Scrap

Look what Jerry found in the rubbish pile outside Cranberry Mine! When Elizabethton Herb & Metal recycled all the large metal buildings and structures I suspect some stuff got graded off to the side and this was missed. In big pile of dirt, rubble and miscellaneous debris sat this large v-belt drive wheel. Why didn't we see it during the summer? Because it was firmly enclosed in sticky wild blackberry vines. Plus the logging folks may have been pushing stuff around up there over the past few years and exposed it. It most likely dates from the 60s operation rather than from the original mine... this technology was patented about the time the mine ceased operations in 1929, and it just didn't look that old. It would have been attached to an electric motor and had 8 v-belts running to a similar wheel attached to perhaps a compressor or conveyor. Another mystery.