Why is there a mine in my front yard?

I still remember the day that my parents brought me to see Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  There was a moment before we left for the Har-Mar Mall movie theater when my dad explained that there was some potentially upsetting imagery in the film.  I honestly have no recollection what my response to his fatherly warning was.  I do feel like, at that moment, my nine-year old brain was immediately translating a loving and concerned parental warning as pandering condescension.  I think, like most kids, I wanted to prove my independence.  In an irritated child-like way, I probably dismissed my dad's warning and said, "It'll be FINE, Dad!"

In this situation, I may have been right to dismiss the warning.  If you are reading this and you don't understand what all the fuss was about, why my dad felt the need to have this little heart-to-heart, then I would have to ask you what rock you have been living under--or if you were you born after the year 1984.  Temple of Doom caused a huge controversy because it had a level of gore and violence that seemed to push the boundaries of the PG-rating that the movie was given.  Ultimately, Steven Spielberg, who directed the film, would lobby for the addition of a new rating between PG and R.  The new rating, PG-13, was instituted later that same year, and Temple of Doom was very much the catalyst for the change.  The scene where a cult leader, named Mola Ram, ritualistically pulls the still-beating heart from the chest of a human sacrifice had a surrealistic and almost cartoonish quality to it.  I don't recall being all that disturbed by it.  But I get it: what parent, in their right mind, would bring a kid to see a movie with a scene like that without some sort of "disclaimer" being issued? Apparently, quite a few parents would because, despite being skewered by many critics, the film was a financial success.

I think it is fair to say that the most lasting impression left by Temple of Doom on my nine-year-old self was not the human sacrifice but, instead, the mine-car chase scene.  Like many other parts of the movie, it had a goofy undertone, but really, who cared?  The mine-car chase remained one of the most entertaining and innovative cinematic action sequences, even to this day.  This, combined with my general obsession with machinery and anything that travels on rails, means that, over the years, I have developed this idea that I needed some sort of mining equipment for my very own.

Actual mining cars and full-size replicas can be found for sale, but they are quite large and heavy.  The chase sequence in Temple of Doom was shot with a combination of stop-motion animated scale models and full-size props.  So, I decided to take a leaf from the filmmakers' book and build some scale models.   Now, here is the part where I drift into the "technical" weeds of these models, so if you don't give a rat's ass about that sort of stuff, then go ahead, and skip to the pictures.  Otherwise, read on!

The first mine car I ever built was a V-dump type of car, fabricated from aluminum and steel.  I designed it with an inside frame so the spoked wheels would be a nice visible feature.  I built it to a scale of 1" = 1' (1:12).  I expanded on this by fabricating a second V-dump car, a small outside frame flat car, and a small crane.

A few years ago, I got the itch for something bigger, so I fabricated a mine car using steel, plastic, and wood parts in, much larger, 1:5 scale.  The larger scale allowed increased detail.  However, I really wanted to add more of a storytelling component and create a context for my mine cars.  The logical conclusion was that I needed some mining structures to provide an environment in which to display my models.   To create dramatic and large looking structures in the available space, I decided to re-visit the smaller 1:12 scale that I started with.

The first structure I built was an ore tipple.  A tipple is essentially a large elevated hopper with chutes for transferring ore from small mine cars to larger railroad cars.  The tipple model was quite large and heavy, so it had to remain outdoors year round.  This meant I needed to select materials that could withstand the elements.  For the most part, it was constructed from redwood treated with a preservative.  There were also some metal parts which allowed the chutes to open and close.

Since the tipple was merely a transfer point for the ore, I wanted to focus on building the actual mine itself.  Here are some images of the mine under construction.  It will replicate a horizontal tunnel and a vertical shaft.  The tunnel goes about 38" into the side of a small hill and has rails for the display of my mining cars.  The shaft will have a head-frame and hoist, which I have yet to build.  Since this tunnel has to be buried under a couple feet of soil, I decided to build it from plastic to prevent rotting.  Some visible parts are made from treated redwood, but the tunnel and shaft are plastic that has been painted to look like weathered wood and rock.  This project is just getting underway, so I will update as progress continues.

As you can see, I'm crazy.  But I am a crazy person with a mine in my yard!  How many people get to say that?