Coal Pits (Yama) in the Old Days (Double Track Laid on an Ascending Slope from the Level at the Bottom of the Main Slope)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yama (Kiriagari Fukusen; Honsen Oroshi)
[Coal Pits (Yama) in the Old Days (Double Track Laid on an Ascending Slope from the Level at the Bottom of the Main Slope)]
21.3 x 30.4 cm Ink Painting

Text at the Top Left
Fukusen (Double Track)

Coal pits in the Old Days
Some coalfaces were located above the level bottoms of main slopes because of faults. In such cases, new slopes were driven upward to the coalfaces and mine cars in each of the slopes were wound up and down with a device composed of a tension sheave, an end sheave and a wire rope, which moved without any power. This device was called a nezumimaki. A lot of nezumimakis were used, especially in small pits.

Text in the Inset
The nezumimaki was a device which pulled up empty mine cars with the weight of loaded mine cars going down.
In the Taisho era (1912-1926), there was a type of nezumimaki called a jiten-maki. It had a device to slow itself down with water pressure received by four iron blades attached to the foot of the shaft of its sheave. The shaft stood in a square hole filled with water under the sheave. However, the nezumimaki with a handbrake seemed more controllable than the jiten-maki. The nezumimaki was used until 1900 or 1901. (A day laborer was necessary to operate a nezumimaki.)

Words in the Inset (Left to Right)
honsen oroshi: main slope
suihei: level
fukusen: double track
kiriagari: slope driven upward

Text at the Bottom Left
There was inevitably a descending coal bed near the place where there was a nezumimaki and a winding machine was necessary there. Therefore, a steam engine with a single steam cylinder was installed in the place to move the winding machine. The heated steam from the engine bothered miners working underground very much.

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