AlanLichty
Moderator
A few miles west of Baker City in eastern Oregon is a small community named Sumpter. It was a boomtown in the late 1800's with a set of deep shaft gold mines and a railroad that connected Sumpter to the Baker City area. After the mines played out most of the town was destroyed in a fire. Dredges were used to work the waterways that feed into Phillips Lake below the town. The last of the dredges is still on display at the edge of town.
The damage that the dredges cause is hard to describe since they pretty much obliterate the river bottoms they work in order to accomplish their task. It can be easily seen if you look at the place in Google Earth.
The last dredge was still in use until the early 1950's. Gussied up for tourists it's unlikely it had a pretty white paint job as shown here.
The business end of things.
Almost impossible to take images of the inside of the dredge since the passageways are only designed to allow access to the various controls for the crushing, washing, and separation processes. There is no viewpoint that overlooks the interior.
Other curated machinery in Sumpter.
C&C always welcome.
The damage that the dredges cause is hard to describe since they pretty much obliterate the river bottoms they work in order to accomplish their task. It can be easily seen if you look at the place in Google Earth.
The last dredge was still in use until the early 1950's. Gussied up for tourists it's unlikely it had a pretty white paint job as shown here.
The business end of things.
Almost impossible to take images of the inside of the dredge since the passageways are only designed to allow access to the various controls for the crushing, washing, and separation processes. There is no viewpoint that overlooks the interior.
Other curated machinery in Sumpter.
C&C always welcome.
