The only #ruins left at #abandoned No.8 coal mine in #Cumberland. There used to be a huge building here but it was demolished in the 90s. Before it was torn down, it was a popular party place for local #ComoxValley teenagers. All the old mine shafts have been blocked off for public safety. There is still a large abandoned building that was part of this former large coal mine site but it's really deep into the forest & you need to bushwhack your way there. We had very limited time on this past road trip so I stuck to showing my friends the 2 easiest accesses to cool #AbandonedPlaces.
Eight mines used to operate at Comox, named No. 1 Mine through to No. 8 Mine. The workings consisted of boreholes, air shafts, mine entries, & underground network of tunnels. A rail network was also developed to link the ore piles with the town & Union Bay. Old rail bed remain in place today as public trails. A series of survey monuments also remains on the surface today. These have been tracked down, beginning with a concrete monument located slightly below ground in the vicinity of Cumberland Park & recorded to match the maps of the underground workings with the surface-level features today.
The mines at #Comox were technically advanced for their time, with partial mechanization & electrification well before 1900. The first documented use of electricity underground was in the No. 4 Mine in 1891, when four electrically-driven coal-cutters were installed.
Canadian Collieries (owned by #Dunsmuir family) Ltd. operated coal mines on Vancouver Island, including the Wellington Mines near Nanaimo & Comox Mines at Cumberland. Comox Mines had earlier been operated by Union #Colliery Company, the first of the mines being opened in 1888. The last of the Comox Mines, the No.8 Mine, was closed in 1953.
#BCMiningHistory #AbandonedMines #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #BChistory #VancouverIslandHistory #photography #graffiti #InTheForest #No8Mine #CoalMiningHistory
