The Curious Case of Baltic No. 2
The first shaft sunk along the Baltic Lode was sunk at the wrong angle, and quickly passed through the lode and into trap rock. It turned out that the Baltic was the steepest lode along the Keweenaw, dropping down into the earth at an angle which was nearly vertical - 73ยบ in fact. Three new shafts were quickly sunk (this time at the right angle) to the north, these being the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 shafts. It wasn’t until 1906 that the mine’s southern most shaft was started to tap the riches missed by the abandoned No. 1 - a shaft we know today as the No. 2. This single shaft would go on to furnish half of the Baltic’s total copper production.
Today the No. 2 is marked by this soaring sandstone and poor rock wall, which stands over a dozen feet in height. This is one of a pair of foundation walls which would of supported the building’s rock bin. The bin would of stored the copper bearing rock until it could be dumped into rail cars for transportation to the mill.
Making our way around the wall we discovered that it was two walls in one. Sitting inside the taller outside wall was this shorter inside wall which stood only a few feet in height. To the left of this wall is where the rock cars would of been loaded from the overhead rock bin.
About a dozen and a half feet away was the the second rock bin support wall - this one similar in size and construction as the first - with one notable exception.
While the first wall was completely made from poor rock and sandstone, half of the second wall was built of concrete instead. From inside the loading corridor the concrete portion of the wall appeared to be zig-zagged. We walked around to its opposite side to figure out why.
Like its sister, this second rock bin wall was in fact two wall in one - with the separation here being more pronounced then at the first.
Here on the other side of the wall we notice the concrete section was skewed out from the poor rock wall at an obtuse angle.
Strangely we noticed a series of concrete footings that were similar to several others we have found in the past. Usually these footings would of supported pulley stands or elevated tramways - but these were different. Instead of sitting in a line, there were in the shape of an “L” - running off from the concrete wall for two blocks before turning back on towards the wall with a third block.
The concrete portion of the wall featured a series of deep grooves along its face along with a vertical iron strip. It looked very similar to the concrete pillars at the Champion shafts, which were used to support the buildings drop hammers. I think this concrete structure served a similar purpose.
With the rock bin’s foundations now under out belts, we turned out attention towards the shaft itself. In the case of every shaft/rockhouse we’ve explored before, the shaft will always be on the west side of the rock house - on a line perpendicular to the rock bin foundations. So we headed over there and found - nothing. Thinking perhaps our directions were just messed up with moved back to the other side to discover - nothing. Not only were there no shaft, there was also no signs of a shaft whatsoever. Just woods. It was only after taking a wide circular path around the rock bin foundations that we were finally able to discover it - sitting at a skewed angle from the rest of the ruins.
The shaft had been capped in concrete - incredibly with the skip road still intact. The rails were cut off a few inches from the top of the cap, but you could easily make out the extreme angle that they once ran. While that was interesting in its own right, our attention was quickly directed to the shafts odd location.
While every other shaft we have found before now was always in a straight line perpendicular to the rockhouse ruins - this one was set off at an angle as shown in the rough diagram above. Instead of running right to left - as would be the case for any other shaft - the rock cars at the No. 2 ran from the upper right down to the lower left, cutting through the rock house at an angle. While curious, this arrangement explained a great deal of other oddities we discovered at this shaft including the angled drop hammer base and the concrete footings. But why this odd arrangement?
The answer lies in the No. 2’s unique location. Before the sinking of the No. 2 the three shafts of the Baltic Mine were served by a spur of the Atlantic and Lake Superior Railroad (A&LS), which approached from the north-east. But by 1903 the Copper Range had taken a majority of Baltic stock and began using its own railroad spur to serve the facility. The Baltic Spur dropped down from the Copper Range mainline and joined up with the existing A&LS line near the No. 3 shaft, utilizing a switchback to navigate the steep slope of Six Mile Hill. This all worked wonderfully, until the No. 2 was started.
The No. 2 found itself squeezed between the CR mainline and its Baltic Spur switchback, half way up the steep hillside of Six Mile Hill. Due to the steep hillside on which it sat, the No. 2 was cut off from the established feed line that serviced the other Baltic Shafts or even by a spur line down from the Copper Range mainline above it. The only option was from the Baltic Spur and switchback itself, but room was limited. Instead of coming from the east, the feed line would have to come from the north cutting through the rock house from the north-east. Thus the curious case of the Baltic No. 2 was born.
I tell you what, that is one cap I’d stay particularly far away from. Looking at the angle on the skip road rails there woouldn’t be much of a chance stopping yourself if the cap gave way.
Jay Balliet | November 25, 2008
I don’t think I’d want to fall into any in the Keweenaw, vertical or not!
It’s also interesting that the Baltic decided to name their second shaft #3, after #1 failed — went all the way to #5, and then conveniently went back to #1. Was that some sort of foresight?
dcclark | November 25, 2008
The shaft numbering is weird, but I have a feeling they might of re-numbered after opening the No. 2. Or perhaps the No. 2 was started along with the No. 1 as an exploration shaft but was abandoned for a while as well. (then they went ahead to the NO. 3 before returning back to the No. 2 to give it a second try).
explorer | November 26, 2008
In the 1904 Copper Handbook they were already called 2, 3, 4 and 5 with the new #2 coming online in 1906. Also mentions #2 having a new engine and hoist house in 1904. That maybe because the early #2 was this photo.
http://digarch.lib.mtu.edu/showbib.aspx?bib_id=610489#
In the background it looks like a boiler plant between the next two shafthouses which would be #3 and 4. #3 and #4 shared a boiler plant. Number 3, 4 and 5 were pretty much identical when built, the new #3 was around 1908.
Seeing as the company was just formed in Dec 1897 it sure didn’t take them long to build and produce copper. Also mentions the fact they could add another shaft at both ends of the property. The #6 would go very deep though due to being close to the Atlantic property.
My guess is they were numbered that way right from the start with an eye to the future.
Gordy Schmitt | November 26, 2008
http://www.mg.mtu.edu/mining/mining/MINE_SHAFTS/baltic.jpg
Techs old Mining site had this one of the Baltic #2 in 1897.
Looks like the same mine although with less clutter than the link in the other post of mine
Gordy Schmitt | November 28, 2008
http://pasty.com/reflections/id289.htm
Copper Country Reflections had a couple of different views of the # 2 and 3 shaft.
Gordy Schmitt | December 24, 2008
I like the pictures of the underground how the rocks line all the walls,
it makes it really interesting, and i wonder if deep below that still exists today.
Jay Wrix | December 24, 2008
Might have to put your swimming gear on to find out though.
Gordy Schmitt | December 24, 2008
Meh,
doubt id dive it, probably nasty water
Think Baltic’s flooded?
Jay Wrix | December 25, 2008
I’m sure it would be water you would not want to be in. I would think there would be water in the mine up to a certain level, at least to what ever the water table would be.
I know Osceola was flooded right to the surface when I was there late in the summer, the cap had been removed on one of the shafts to be replaced, whichever shaft had the fire years ago.
I know I had read that they were one of the first to use poor rock for support of the hanging rock, but I think it was due to the angle of the mine. You would think it would have been expensive to do it, although you would not have to spend money buying wood and hauling it into the shaft.
Sure made a nice looking mine, whoever did it could have been a good foundation builder for the old houses, give him a little mortar to fill in the joints…
Gordy Schmitt | December 25, 2008
Virtually every mine in the Keweenaw is flooded to a very high level, usually limited only by adits or other drains that keep them drained. For example, Quincy is filled to the 7th level, drained by its adit drain. Centennial and Osceola are supposed to be full right up to the top, and so on… It’s not just the water table, but any surface water which drains into the mine also tends to fill it up. After all this time, I don’t doubt that Baltic is one big well.
dcclark | December 25, 2008
I wanna say Centennial 3 doesnt have water for a little ways, than again i kept my distance and only tossed a rock, I really didnt wanna get any closer, I really dont like the idea of 1,000 foot holes, filled to the top, or filled to the first level with water, Is the adit that drains quincy the one for the tour? or is it something else?
And after years of water do they collapse or stay intact? or is there no way to actually know, Id kinda be curious to see any pictures of Mesnard after it was de-watered
Jay Wrix | December 26, 2008
Jay,
The adit they use for the tours at Quincy is an old drain adit that students at Tech expanded in the nineties.
Jay Balliet | December 26, 2008
Jay,
Let’s try the eighties, if not earlier. I worked the fall of 1981 and summer of 1982 driving the end of that drift towards shaft #2. It was always the drain adit, but never wet. It is connected to the Hancock mine at a level I can’t remember, and believe it drains further west. I haven’t taken the Quincy tour yet, but don’t believe the main adit is any bigger than it was then; we used a 5 yard tram to move rock; there was about 2 inches to spare on each side, and was always sparking on the walls if you went too quick. Ah, the good ole’ days!!! Miss it bad. Kurt
captkurt | December 26, 2008
As I recall Summerfiend mentioning over on the forums, as the water rose at Quincy, it would sometimes wash away stulls or other supports, and then indeed parts of the lower levels would collapse. But in general, water doesn’t compress very well, so I suspect that the parts filled with water are usually stable.
dcclark | December 26, 2008
Ya, i know it doesn’t compress well but im not sure if it would help support it.
So the tour entrance is the drain?
Jay Wrix | December 27, 2008
The Quincy tour entrance is a big adit which MTU mining students expanded. It started out as just a drain for the mine. The water level in the mine is right up to the 7th level — if you take the tour, it ends right next to the spot where the #5 shaft cuts through, and the water is right next to your feet!
dcclark | December 27, 2008
ah,
Thats really cool
Jay Wrix | December 28, 2008
When I worked at Quincy in the early 90s, I was told the water was up to the 14th level and was rising very quickly. I was told that (and mine maps support it) that as the mine deepened, it also expanded in length so that the upper levels were shorter than the lower levels, the end result being that the upper levels would fill with water faster than the lower ones. I don’t recall to what level Homestake had unwatered the Quincy when it was doing exploratory work at the No.8 Shaft, but it must have been a remarkable feat to do it to any level. From what I was told by old miners, the floors of drifts were slanted toward the shaft to make pushing tram cars easier; as a level filled with water, the slope of the floor caused the water to course as it would along the deck of a sinking ship, and this current is what would wash stulls and things away. I remember once being in the Quincy, off the end of the tour, and standing at the No.7 Shaft. While no water was running down the shaft itself, you could hear it roating in the lower levels, and the sound was very loud. I remember being amazed at the sound of water moving that fast.
Summerfiend | December 30, 2008
Summerfiend: I don’t recall when the QMHA started doing tours through the adit. But from your comment, if one had taken the tour in the 1990’s with the mine only full to the 14th level, the #5 shaft where the tour ends would have been a gaping hole? Not the “small puddle” that one sees today?
Dale Beitz | December 31, 2008
I took the tour in September of 2006 a rather dry summer if I remember right, and at that time there was a steady stream of water about 18-20 inches wide, and about 1-2 inches deep that was running in a shallow little trench on the east (think it was east) side of the adit. It ran out the adit and the tour guide mentioned that this was the water entering into the mine draining out the adit.
Bill In Indiana | December 31, 2008
Dale,
I worked at the Quincy off and on for six years, the last year was 1997. Then, the No.5 Shaft and over to the No.4 was full of gob fill to form a road of sorts that was used by the mining school. The tour ended at No.5 Shaft, and as I recall, the No.7 was off to the left along a drift a ways. Now, off on the main branch going over to the No.2 Shaft there was a winze or two, but there were no gaping holes anywhere near the tour area. The adit where the tours run now was originally a drain adit just the size of a drift (4′x6′) and was intended simply to drain water that was collected in the sumps by bailing skips when they bailed out the shafts. I’m not sure when MTU widened the adit to its current size, but I think it was some time in the early 70s.
Summerfiend | December 31, 2008
Yes, the tour ends at the #5 — there’s a railing around it, but it is clearly a hole in the rock floor (and ceiling — if you look up, there’s a metal cage over the mouth of the shaft as it enters the drift, presumably to catch falling rocks). I imagine that, at the time, it would have looked quite like a gaping (deep but not wide) hole in the ground. I think that’s what Dale was referring to.
dcclark | December 31, 2008
what is the composition of gob fill? is at the technical name?
mark | January 1, 2009