Fairbanks Exploration Company Dredge #10 ("The Queen")
When I finally managed to get aboard this dredge I just wandered around saying "Holy Sh*t!" a lot, this thing is awesome! It's basically a floating factory that was designed to chew on one bank of a small pond, process gold out of the dirt, and disgorge the waste tailings out the back, moving itself and its pond slowly forward and leaving behind interesting worm trails of tailings. Power for the dredge came from a connection to the Fairbanks electric grid, as well as some diesel engines and possibly steam engines for auxillary functions. This is one of at least 10 dredges constructed by the Fairbanks Exploration Company, which also built a long ditch and flume system to bring water to the dredges. Apparently there were 8 dredges near Fairbanks, today one is a tourist trap, one is on state land and open to the public, and the rest are on private land or have been destroyed.
Other mining equipment in the area of dredge #10
Or take a look at Dredge #3
Or the sunken and iced-over #5
Or how about Dredge #6?
New photos from winter 2004:
The exterior of the dredge: the stern is the end with the white covered
conveyor, and the bow has the bucketline.
The bow deck of the dredge and the bucketline with its support gantry
(lots of nice catwalks and ladders here!)
Some interior parts of the dredge. The last two show the bow gantry
control room.
The upper decks and the aft gantry which supports the tailings conveyor.
The disturbingly phallic tailings conveyor at the stern of the dredge.
The last photo shows the tailings dump hole and the reflection of the conveyor
in the water below.
Some miscelaneous photos from around the dredge. Yes that pamphlet
does say "Sexology" and down lower "Illustrated" hmm....
Some other miscelaneous pictures, the last two show how much the dredge
shifted the second time I visited, I had to board by the starbord aft ramp
and leave by jumping off the port side ramp.
External links:
How
dredges work (with photos from Dredge #3)
A
VR Panorama of Dredge #3
Even more photos
of Dredge #3
A
Touristy Dredge