Bodie

Photographer's Note

In this view are remnants of the Red Cloud Mine tunnel and shaft equipment, including the power wheel in the foreground, and the 'headframe' behind where the mine shaft was located.
Tunnels were important not only for gold exploration, but also for removing ore, water, and waste, rather than digging a shaft requiring expensive machinery to hoist these guys.
Another advantage of mine tunnels was the 1872 California State law, that all blind underground ledges, veins that did not outcrop, could be claimed by the company. A tunnel claim could be up to 300 feet in width and 3,000 feet in length. The Red Cloud, Lent, Standard, and Noonday mines ran crosscuts from levels cut out at about every hundred feet from their main shafts.
As the mine companies' crosscut the underground, they sometimes connected, creating a maze of shafts, tunnels, drifts, and winzes. The Red Cloud connected with the Concordia and Noonday mines. There is an estimated 40 miles of maze in Bodie.

delpeoples, Noel_Byrne, jhm has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

eldancer1 (17088) 2013-02-01 13:53

Very nice capture of those old mining equipment, we have a few of those operations and abandoned mines in Southern Nevada, Searchlight is one of them. Good pov and dof with nice details. Wonderful colors. Well done, tfs.

(There's an air show in Half Moon Bay airport on April 27 & 28. Here's their web site: http://www.miramarevents.com/dreammachines/index.html)

cargus (6460) 2013-02-01 22:06

Beautiful composition, beautiful colors, well framed and rendered image well.!
cordially
Adrian

delpeoples (45006) 2013-02-02 0:01

Gidday GhostbustersRay

Wow, what a place. So spooky and atmospheric. I'm enjoying your ghost town series, it really makes you think about the past and how difficult life was for the pioneers. Great low POV and perspective here and you handled the light superbly. Thanks for sharing and for your interesting note.

Have a great weekend
Lisa

Noel_Byrne (7426) 2013-02-02 11:10

Hi Ray,
Great perspective, even though its a spooky and abandoned place, this still feels very freindly, and has great depth. The shadows also add a lot to it. Bodie looks like a really cool place.
All the best
NOel

jhm (122474) 2013-02-03 5:03

Hello Ray,

This is real industrial heritage, but excellent maintain.
Your picture is very well taken with a high quality.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice Sunday,
John