Makeshift-a-Palooza: Mine Rails Reused

When money’s tight necessity spawns creative solutions. No one was more dirt poor than the lowly coal miner of old and when something was needed, they upcycled, recycled or salvaged something and made due. Or you did without and those are the only options. Here’s a simple and straight to the point solution to fill a need, old mine rails reused to make a clothesline.

They likely pulled from the mine’s junk pile, maybe with permission or maybe not. In any case, no one would really miss them and viola, here’s a couple posts to sting laundry between. We’re at an old miner’s cottage in the Drumheller Coal Fields and while we don’t know who made this addition, we laud them for their el cheap-o approach. It’d do a farmer proud.

There’s many old miners’ homes in East Coulee and some are lived in full time whereas for others it’s seasonally. Think summer cabins. This very home may be doomed, or may already be gone. It’s right next to the Red Deer River any that close are being removed to make way for a flood mitigation berm.

There were once several mines near Coulee and the last closed about 1980-ish. The Atlas across river (now a historic site) is most notable, but there were others. The town and coal mining will forever be connected and it’s little things like this that help keep precious links to the past alive.

From the same card dump…
Molly Hughes by the Lake (Ag-Pb-Zn-Au).
St Francis in the Woods.
Three Hills Pathways & Sidewalks.

Short Subjects: Reports that are brief in nature. Think silly little snippets, vignettes and things of that sort. You’ll be in and out in no time.

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Date of adventure: June, 2023.
Location: East Coulee, Alberta.

Mine rails reused: from coal to laundry.