Wild West Scale Models 227 The Atlantic Cable Mine - Kit

Feature: 

• Details include: 
  • Interior etched floor boards,
  •      etched interior and exterior walls, ore chutes,
  •      ore track, hoist cable, adjustable length trestle,
  •      exterior stairs, optional battens, ore bin,
  •      laser-cut head frame parts, and more!
  • ◊ Windows and doors can be custom positioned
  •      and include laser cut glazing.
• Our trademark EASY to follow FULLY
  • Illustrated step-by-step instructions make buildlding easy!
• Precision Laser cut wood construction.
• Includes our paper corrugated roofing.
• Footprints (adjustable)
  • N = .97" x 6.9" max, = .97” x 2.6” mine only
  • HO = 1.8" x 12.75" max, = 1.8” x 4.75” mine
  • S = 2.4" x 17.3" max, = 2.4” x 6.5” mine
  • O = 3.2" x 23.1" max, = 3.2” x 8.6” mine
• With all of our kits, we include some way for you to customize our structures right out of the box: the ore bin can be rotated 90 degrees for a side loading option. The trestle can be shortened and you can build the mine with battens or without.
• The Smoke and Mirror Solutions acrylic paints used for this structure:
  • Walls: Beige #10
  • Timbers/Trestle: Taupe #10.

History:

(by C.M. Engel, 1981 - from plaque - mine site)

“R.C. Darling discovered the mine property in March 1878, within the Pioneer Mining District near the confluence of Silver Creek and the Dolores River. Two years later R. C. Darling returned from Santa Fe, New Mexico and filed the Atlantic Cable Lode Mining Claim. The ore was concentrated in a blanket deposit within the Leadville-Ouray limestone. The formation contained lead, zinc, copper and silver in mineralized beds ranging from less than one foot to twenty-two feet in thickness. The mineralized beds assayed at approximately twenty percent lead, twenty-two percent zinc, one and one-half percent copper and ten to fifteen ounces of silver per ton. The Atlantic Cable Lode was patented in March of 1883, as Mineral Land Survey No. 1136. At the time of patenting by R.C. Darling and the Dolores Silver Mining Company, the claim had been developed by three shafts. The mine was a large producer of lead and zinc ore during the years of World War II. Owners of the mine property have been R.C. Darling from discovery to 1882, the Dolores Silver Mining Company from 1882 to 1919, the Rico-Argentine Mining Company from 1919 to 1979, and the Anaconda Minerals Company to the present.”

The Design

The design of our Atlantic Cable mine is most likely the form it held during the Dolores Silver Mining Company ownership, as stated above, between 1882 and 1919. “The RGS Story - Rico and the Mines, vol 7” published by Sundance Central has many great photos of this mine and there were many versions and changes to the mine over the course of its life time. We chose to model the version shown most frequently so that we could get as accurate as possible in re-creating this famous and iconic mine. Many, many hours were spent scaling the mine from every picture we could find! To compliment the mine, we will be coming out with the change house, hoist house, and a “lift-kit” (to build the mine to the landscape) in the very near future.