Reliance in Sweetwater County, Wyoming — The American West (Mountains)
Tipples and the Reliance Coal Mines
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, September 10, 2015
1. Tipples and the Reliance Coal Mines Marker
Caption: (map) Coal Mines at Reliance, 1943
Inscription.
Tipples and the Reliance Coal Mines. . The tipples constructed here were designed to serve all the Reliance coal mines. Union Pacific Coal Company opened their mines in phases. The coal mines were all located east of here with portals located along the sides of the valley. Coal from there mines was hauled to the surface by either electric locomotives or hoists. From the portal, the coal was shipped over a tramway to the tipple. The distance from the No. 7 mine portal to the tipple was about 1.2 miles. Once the coal cars were inside the tipple you see today, they were set on a rotary dump. The coal car was fastened down, rolled over, and emptied into the coal hopper. From the hopper, the coal was moved over conveyors to the shaker screen. The screen sorted the coal by size. The coal then fell through the screens into a chute that carried it to the picking tables. At the picking tables, men, boys, and later women sorted through the coal looking for stones or checking the size of the coal. Good coal was loaded into waiting rail cars while stone and refuse were conveyed outside the tipple into a refuse bin. The tipple you see in front of you, constructed in 1936 at a cost of $232,700, was designed to be a model of efficiency.
The tipples constructed here were designed to serve all the Reliance coal mines. Union Pacific Coal Company opened their mines in phases. The coal mines were all located east of here with portals located along the sides of the valley. Coal from there mines was hauled to the surface by either electric locomotives or hoists. From the portal, the coal was shipped over a tramway to the tipple. The distance from the No. 7 mine portal to the tipple was about 1.2 miles. Once the coal cars were inside the tipple you see today, they were set on a rotary dump. The coal car was fastened down, rolled over, and emptied into the coal hopper. From the hopper, the coal was moved over conveyors to the shaker screen. The screen sorted the coal by size. The coal then fell through the screens into a chute that carried it to the picking tables. At the picking tables, men, boys, and later women sorted through the coal looking for stones or checking the size of the coal. Good coal was loaded into waiting rail cars while stone and refuse were conveyed outside the tipple into a refuse bin. The tipple you see in front of you, constructed in 1936 at a cost of $232,700, was designed to be a model of efficiency.
Erected by Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department.
Location. 41° 40.083′ N, 109° 11.826′ W. Marker is in Reliance, Wyoming, in Sweetwater County. It is on South Street near 2nd Street, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1201 South Street, Reliance WY 82943, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Wyoming’s Westward Expansion Trails Region. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Mexicos Alta California.
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, September 9, 2015
2. Tipples and the Reliance Coal Mines Marker
The marker is left-of-center behind the fence.
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, September 10, 2015
3. The Reliance Tipple
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on October 20, 2015, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 556 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on October 20, 2015, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
