I could not find a recent thread on this subject. There are hundreds of abandoned mines, ghost towns etc. across the country and especially here in the west. Some you can drive right up to and some you need serious off road capability. I have many pictures of such places, taken with my bridge camera or phone, before I returned to the Pentax fold in December.
I will start this off with a picture I took with my new (to me) K-3 a couple of weeks ago.
It is an abandoned settlement and gas station in the Union Pass between Kingman & Bullhead city Arizona. It was homesteaded in 1897 by Jonathan Draper Richardson and his wife Victoria, on the site of an old army post. They ran this until their death in 1935 and 1940. The business was operated by their descendants until it was bypassed by the new highway 68 in the late nineteen eighties.
Post your pictures and stories here.

[mkgd1]

Not too much left of the Golden Arrow mine near Tonopah NV. Lots of open shafts. One thing that seems to survive the years are bedsprings. in 1907 there was a boarding house and store and six saloons here, by 1912, the population was down to 8 from 200.

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[mkgd1]

open shaft at Golden Arrow

[mkgd1]

The first 2 images are at the nuclear test site of project faultless 50 miles north of Silver Bow.
Silver discoveries in 1904 and 1905 led to Silver Bow’s population of more than 300 people. by the next year it was down to 30 and was abandoned by 1908. Modern exploration suggests there are large ore bodies with 1/2 oz of gold and 10oz silver per ton.
Today Silverbow lies just outside the fence of the restricted Tonopah Test Range (TTR), more precisely the Tonopah Electronic Combat Range (TECR)
Note the ubiquitous rusty bedsprings.

---------- Post added 07-10-20 at 07:23 PM ----------


Not exactly a mine, but the site of an underground H-bomb test gone wrong. Project Faultless Site ? Nye County, Nevada - Atlas Obscura

[mkgd1]

Moores Station was established in 1875 as a stagecoach stop on the Belmont-Tybo-Eureka line. A nearby spring provides plenty of water to form a beautiful oasis of green in the dry desert. Moores Station even had one of the first orchards in Nevada, which still bears fruit today. It has an interesting history, including surviving a 1 megaton H bomb exploded underground a mere 5 miles away.

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[mkgd1]

Another shot of the oasis

[RICHARD L.]

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:33 AM ----------



Old Chevrolet, road between Yucca Valley and Victorville, California.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:46 AM ----------



Old Ford V8 water tanker, Amboy, California.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:50 AM ----------



Tombstone stagecoach, Arizona.


---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:54 AM ----------

National Trails Highway, Exit 114 of Interstate 40, California.

[lesmore49]

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:33 AM ----------



Old Chevrolet, road between Yucca Valley and Victorville, California.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:46 AM ----------



Old Ford V8 water tanker, Amboy, California.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:50 AM ----------



Tombstone stagecoach, Arizona.


---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:54 AM ----------

National Trails Highway, Exit 114 of Interstate 40, California.

Nice series of photos. The one of the old Chevy truck took me back. Recalls my time on the farm (prairie grain farm) driving our grain trucks of similar vintage and tonnage, although we had a '48 Fargo and '51 International (converted municipal dump truck) hauling grain at the time, along with our newer and larger '70's Ford F700 and Chevy C70 also.

That Chevrolet truck pix very nice, has an almost 3D look about it, excellent use of depth of field and I really like the lighting.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 10:06 AM ----------

The first 2 images are at the nuclear test site of project faultless 50 miles north of Silver Bow.
Silver discoveries in 1904 and 1905 led to Silver Bow’s population of more than 300 people. by the next year it was down to 30 and was abandoned by 1908. Modern exploration suggests there are large ore bodies with 1/2 oz of gold and 10oz silver per ton.
Today Silverbow lies just outside the fence of the restricted Tonopah Test Range (TTR), more precisely the Tonopah Electronic Combat Range (TECR)
Note the ubiquitous rusty bedsprings.

---------- Post added 07-10-20 at 07:23 PM ----------


Not exactly a mine, but the site of an underground H-bomb test gone wrong. Project Faultless Site ? Nye County, Nevada - Atlas Obscura

Fascinating history accompanying your different photo series. Any danger close to the nuclear sites ? I suppose given they were underground tests perhaps not, and in addition if the military direction and restrictions as indicated are followed, all should be good.

Off road exploring out there, looks like it would require a capable 4WD as per the Jeep Wrangler in the pix.

[RICHARD L.]

My Uncle Albert was a lumberjack and a wood cutting contractor and drove similar Chevrolet trucks as well as trailer tractors here in Quebec. These slow underpowered vehicles sure had a hard life in those times.

Regards

P.S. Chevrolet picture made with a K1 + DFA 28-105 mm, a world of difference with APSc cameras.

[Neuse River Sailor]

This facility used to be Blue Ridge Talc Company, which evidently left a mess when it went out of business. The EPA undertook a hazardous materials cleanup that ended in 2016 with human and groundwater exposures "controlled". It is in the town of Henry, VA, which boasts a Post Office and a "store" which purveys gasoline, beer, tobacco, lottery tickets and minimal canned groceries. For a few decades in the early 1900s the towns on the edge of Appalachia enjoyed a modicum of prosperity, with textile mills and furniture factories, but by mid-century things were going downhill. It's been a one-way street ever since. The only thing that looks new, shiny and cared-for is the physical plant of the Norfolk Southern Railway, which passes through here as it connects the prosperous New South towns of Roanoke and Winston-Salem. SMC Takumar 55mm f/2.

[mkgd1]

Nice series of photos. The one of the old Chevy truck took me back. Recalls my time on the farm (prairie grain farm) driving our grain trucks of similar vintage and tonnage, although we had a '48 Fargo and '51 International (converted municipal dump truck) hauling grain at the time, along with our newer and larger '70's Ford F700 and Chevy C70 also.

That Chevrolet truck pix very nice, has an almost 3D look about it, excellent use of depth of field and I really like the lighting.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 10:06 AM ----------



Fascinating history accompanying your different photo series. Any danger close to the nuclear sites ? I suppose given they were underground tests perhaps not, and in addition if the military direction and restrictions as indicated are followed, all should be good.

Off road exploring out there, looks like it would require a capable 4WD as per the Jeep Wrangler in the pix.

The test site is on public land about 12 miles from the highway. The govt. cleanup lasted 5 years, so it is supposedly safe. I did check to see if I was glowing that night
Our bones are too old for extreme rock crawling, but the jeep gets us to lots of places we would never otherwise see.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 09:50 AM ----------

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:33 AM ----------



Old Chevrolet, road between Yucca Valley and Victorville, California.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:46 AM ----------



Old Ford V8 water tanker, Amboy, California.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:50 AM ----------



Tombstone stagecoach, Arizona.


---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 05:54 AM ----------

National Trails Highway, Exit 114 of Interstate 40, California.

Nice images. I spent several thanksgiving weekends in a row camping at Calico with my grandkids. Fond memories.

[lesmore49]

My Uncle Albert was a lumberjack and a wood cutting contractor and drove similar Chevrolet trucks as well as trailer tractors here in Quebec. These slow underpowered vehicles sure had a hard life in those times.

Regards

P.S. Chevrolet picture made with a K1 + DFA 28-105 mm, a world of difference with APSc cameras.

There was a TV (cable) show that showed some of the logging in Quebec and the logging trucks used to get the logs to the mill. The loads some of those Quebec truckers were carrying I found quite impressive. I had an uncle who had a city delivery trucking business in Vancouver from the '40's to the early '70's and I recall him telling me that trucks back in that era were underpowered, but it was amazing how the right gearing could move heavy loads and of course with the low gearing those truck engines often lived in the higher rpm range.

The medium duty '48 Fargo grain truck we had....only had a 251 cubic inch flathead six...very little power...but the gearing was extremely low. It could move heavy loads, but top speed topped out...around 50-55 mph, flat out. We didn't push it, when taking a load of grain on the highway to the elevator though....we would trundle along at around 40 mph or so.

I have a K1 and the 28-105 and the 24-70 F 2.8. I got the 28-105 first and I'm very impressed with that lens. The 24-70, even though more costly, doesn't seem to be that much better when it comes to image producing, although I do like the F 2.8 aspect.

I'm very pleased with my K1. I also have a K5 and although it is a very good camera...the K1 with it's full frame sensor and additional features tops the ASP-C , older generation K5 in my opinion.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 01:00 PM ----------

The test site is on public land about 12 miles from the highway. The govt. cleanup lasted 5 years, so it is supposedly safe. I did check to see if I was glowing that night
Our bones are too old for extreme rock crawling, but the jeep gets us to lots of places we would never otherwise see.

---------- Post added 07-11-20 at 09:50 AM ----------


Nice images. I spent several thanksgiving weekends in a row camping at Calico with my grandkids. Fond memories.

We do a lot of back road traveling around our province, other prairie provinces, dip down into North Dakota, etc. We used to just have sedans, but our son would always get 4WD trucks. He has had an '08 Chevy Colorado ZR1, Jeep Patriot with Trail Rated package and now has a Nissan Frontier with the off road, Pro4 X package.

A couple of months ago, we decided to get a 2020 Chevy Traverse AWD SUV and although it is not a heavy duty 4WD, with serious off road capability like your Jeep or our son's Pro4 X pickup truck, we have been impressed with how it gets through heavy snow on back roads.

We got caught in a prairie blizzard shortly after we got it in February, put it in the lower range AWD and it went through snow conditions that would of hung up our previous sedans.We have the 255/65-18 P series truck tires and the ground clearance isn't bad. And then there is the cargo room....quite good.

Wish I had got something like this previously.
..

[RICHARD L.]

I rode with my uncle once in a 1964 Chevrolet full of firewood. We were climbing a rather steep incline on the road and my uncle asked me to step out of the truck to "give it a chance" (less weight to carry). I walked up the incline at the same speed as the truck did ... lol ! I'm pretty sure it was an inline-6 engine and indeed only the low gearing enabled them to haul heavy loads.

Regards

[lesmore49]

I rode with my uncle once in a 1964 Chevrolet full of firewood. We were climbing a rather steep incline on the road and my uncle asked me to step out of the truck to "give it a chance" (less weight to carry). I walked up the incline at the same speed as the truck did ... lol ! I'm pretty sure it was an inline-6 engine and indeed only the low gearing enabled them to haul heavy loads.

Regards

Being a Chevy truck from that era, I bet it was probably one of two inline six cylinder engines. Either the 230 cube or the 292 cubic inch six. Probably the 292 which was a good engine, but the load of firewood sounds considerable. I bet that will be an experience you'll never forget.

[RICHARD L.]

I think it was only this little reddish-orange 230 c.i.d. inline-6. I wonder if it developped 100 H.P. Another uncle had a 1965 Pontiac (a huge heavy 4-door car) with a little 230 in it. The engine bay could accomodate a 454 V8 engine, so it seemed quite empty ...

Regards

[mkgd1]

I think it was only this little reddish-orange 230 c.i.d. inline-6. I wonder if it developped 100 H.P. Another uncle had a 1965 Pontiac (a huge heavy 4-door car) with a little 230 in it. The engine bay could accomodate a 454 V8 engine, so it seemed quite empty ...

Regards

On the subject of inline 6, I came across this old car at the Nevada ghost town of Silverbow. I could not see any identifying marks, but it seems to be about 1950 vintage, maybe a Pontiac. It had a flathead six and 3 on the tree, independent front suspension. Although the paint has long gone, the chrome is still holding up after 70 years in the desert. The ghost town is 27 miles from the highway on a moderately rough 2 track 4x4 trail.. The town folded 30 years before this car was made, so I guess it made it up the rough road but couldn't make it out of there.