Passenger train (mining)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Passenger train in the Kilian tunnel

In mining, a passenger train is a train composed of several special wagons for the transport of crews, which is used underground for the mechanical drive of the miners . After the cable car ride , the miners are transported by passenger train to their underground workplaces and back to the filling site at the end of the shift .

Basics

Modern mines have a vast underground area of ​​several kilometers. In order to get to their workplaces, the miners do not have to cover the often kilometers of distances mechanically if there is no other way of driving . Depending on the distance to the workplace, this would take more than an hour. A miner, for example, needs one hour to cover a distance of three kilometers. This reduces the working time on site, depending on the distance, by driving. In addition to reducing working hours, long manual driving also has negative ergonomic effects. The long walkways lead to rapid fatigue, so that the miners are easily exhausted by the time they have reached their actual workplace. The machine driving brings a clear relief here. In addition, traveling by passenger train results in a significant reduction in travel time.

The train

Passenger car in front of the mouth of the Barsinghausen monastery gallery

As early as the second half of the 19th century, the miners were using empty carts to get to their workplaces. To do this, they sat in the empty wagons and then let a pit horse pull them. At the beginning of the 20th century there was a move to transport the miners to their workplaces with slightly converted mine cars. For this purpose, ordinary trams were equipped with boards that were placed in the wagons. Instead of the seat boards, there was also the option of hanging special seat belts in the side walls of the car, in which the miners could sit. With these wagons equipped for passenger transport, up to four miners could be transported per wagon. In addition to these simple trams converted for passenger transport, specially designed trolleys were also built. These wagons consisted of two bogies, between which a wooden beam several meters long was rotatably mounted. Up to 30 miners could sit on this seat beam. In order to be able to put the feet down, a board was mounted below and at shoulder height a board was attached to hold on to. However, the simple trams converted to transport people were preferred because they could be used to convey material at the same time . However, this type of machine driving was not entirely safe for the drivers. Later, specially designed passenger cars were built and used for mechanical driving. The cars were largely made of sheet steel and protected drivers from injuries. Thanks to special car couplings, the car cannot unintentionally uncouple itself. In 1916, in the Queen Carola Shaft of the Zauckerode Royal Coal Works, passenger transport was started in the 1100 meter long 13th main cross passage with specially designed wagons for eight people. These passenger cars were used in closed trains. In other pits, wagons were later used to accommodate 16 miners. When designing new passenger cars, special attention was paid to improving ergonomics and occupational safety .

Driving times and driving times

The travel times of the passenger trains in the mines are regulated according to a fixed timetable. They are coordinated with the rope rides so that there are no long waiting times. The trains drive from the shaft to fixed stops, where the respective miners get off the train so that they do not drive the last stretch of the way to their workplaces by machine. The trains travel at speeds of up to ten kilometers per hour. So that the passenger train does not make empty runs, the shift times are coordinated as far as possible so that the train brings the approaching miners to their place of work and on the return journey transports the miners from the previous shift to the filling location. Depending on requirements, several passenger trains are used for this. Whether one or more passenger trains have to be kept in readiness largely depends on the local conditions at the respective mine. By using passenger trains, the miners' travel times could be reduced to around a third. After use, the passenger train is parked on a separate track, as close as possible to the filling point , until it can be used again.

Modifications

In the 1970s, the transport capacity of passenger trains was increased. The ever-growing mines meant that distances of up to 9.6 kilometers had to be covered. As a result, the miners' travel times with conventional passenger trains increased so much that the working time on site was reduced to five hours. That is why they wanted to significantly reduce the travel times of the passenger trains. In order to increase the transport capacity, passenger cars with space for up to 24 miners per car were required. Driving speeds should be increased to up to 50 kilometers per hour. New locomotives had to be developed for this, as the old mine locomotives were not designed for such speeds. The track bed also had to be designed for higher speeds. In addition, the passenger cars had to be redesigned so that they could withstand the new requirements. In the second half of the 1970s, express train traffic for passenger transport at a speed of up to 25 kilometers per hour was introduced in German mountain areas.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f General Association of German Hard Coal Mining (Ed.): Hard coal mining in Germany. Glückauf Verlag, Druck IDAG Industriedruck AG, Essen 2006, pp. 8, 12, 13.
  2. ^ A b Carl Hellmut Fritzsche: Textbook of mining science. First volume, 10th edition, Springer Verlag, Berlin / Göttingen / Heidelberg 1961, pp. 363–364.
  3. ^ A b c Carl Hellmut Fritzsche: Textbook of mining science with special consideration of the coal mining. First volume, ninth completely revised edition, Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 1955, pp. 309–310.
  4. ^ A b c Walter Bischoff , Heinz Bramann, Westfälische Berggewerkschaftskasse Bochum: The small mining dictionary. 7th edition, Verlag Glückauf GmbH, Essen 1988, ISBN 3-7739-0501-7 .
  5. ^ A b General Association of German Hard Coal Mining (Ed.): Our hard coal and the area. 3rd edition, printed by Boss Druck, Herne 2010, pp. 20, 23, 59.
  6. ↑ a b c d e K. Kegel: Textbook of mountain economy. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH, Berlin Heidelberg 1931, pp. 415-418.
  7. ↑ a b c d Fritz Heise, Fritz Herbst: Textbook of mining science with special consideration of hard coal mining. Second volume, fifth increased and improved edition, Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 1932, pp. 512-513.
  8. ^ Emil Stöhr: Catechism of Mining Studies. Lehmann & Wentzel bookstore for technology and art, Vienna 1875, p. 202.
  9. ^ A b Carl Hellmut Fritzsche: Textbook of mining science. Second volume, seventh edition, Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg 1950, p. 374.
  10. ↑ a b c A. O. Spiwakowski, Rudolf Erber, Karl-Hermann Seidl, Erwin Wedel: Mine funding. Manual for mountain machine engineers, third edition, VEB Verlag Technik, Berlin 1961, pp. 313-318.
  11. ^ Yearbook for Mining and Metallurgy in Saxony Born in 1931, Craz & Gerlach Publishing House, Freiberg / S. 21st
  12. ^ Helge Mai, Manfred Zscheile: The mine railways of the Freital coal and uranium mining Werkbahneport, special issue A, Historische Feldbahn Dresden eV 1999, pp. 21-23
  13. ^ A b c Heinrich Otto Buja: Engineering handbook mining technology, deposits and extraction technology. 1st edition, Beuth Verlag GmbH Berlin-Vienna-Zurich, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-410-22618-5 , pp. 350–351.
  14. ↑ a b c Ernst-Ulrich Reuther: Textbook of mining science. First volume, 12th edition, VGE Verlag GmbH, Essen 2010, ISBN 978-3-86797-076-1 , p. 47.
  15. ↑ a b c N. Watson: Express trains for underground passenger transport. In: Commission of the European Communities (Ed.): General Directorate Scientific and Technical Information and Information Management, Volume 1, Verlag Glückauf GmbH, Luxembourg 1978, ISBN 3-7739-0233-6 , pp. 117–124.
  16. ↑ a b c Express trains for underground passenger transport. In: Commission of the European Communities (ed.): General Directorate Scientific and Technical Information and Information Management, Volume 2, Verlag Glückauf GmbH, Luxembourg 1978, ISBN 3-7739-0233-6 , pp. 35–37.

Remarks

  1. ↑ In mining, non-mechanical driving is the movement of miners in the mine with their own muscle power, without the aid of machines or other aids. (Source: Walter Bischoff, Heinz Bramann, Westfälische Berggewerkschaftskasse Bochum: Das kleine Bergbaulexikon. )
  2. ↑ There was a risk that the contact wire would tear off and injure the passengers, especially in routes where electrically powered mine railways were running. (Source: AO Spiwakowski, Rudolf Erber, Karl-Hermann Seidl, Erwin Wedel: Grubenförderung. )