Mountain Haulage

Mountain Haulage. . Getting around at Kaymoor was a challenge. Workers and their families either lived at Kaymoor Top, where you are standing now, or 900 feet below at Kaymoor Bottom. Company employees either worked in the middle of the gorge (bench) where the coal was extracted, or at the bottom, where it was processed. The solution? A tram car, called a mountain haulage, carried workers and materials to the job sites, with passenger runs scheduled around business trips. The mountain haulage ran until midnight when the last shift of the day ended.

Kaymoor residents Clifford Ward, Nana Watkins, and Mary Ward stand in front of the haulage house, rebuilt in 1926: The concrete foundations seen here today are all that remain of this structure. Photo date unknown.

Riding the mountain haulage was a breath-taking trip. The first drop over the clifftop was especially unnerving. Accidents were rare, but two people died in 1913 when the cable broke. (1930s)

Walkin' Down , Some people refused to ride down the mountain, so walking the stairs was their only alternative. Kaymoor Miners Trail follows a similar path to that of the original stairs. (trailhead to the right)

Now long gone, the original wooden platform and stairs led from the top of the gorge to the base of the cliff line 70 feet below.

Cement stairs continued from the base of the cliff line to the bench level at the mine. More stairs continued from there between the haulage tracks to Kaymoor Bottom. Today it's a half-mile hike followed by 821 stairs to reach the bottom.