Join Theme Park Engineering and Design at Purdue on a Tour of Old Ben No. 17, a mine relocated from southern Illinois. The coal mine tour is an extra fee exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago that explores the techniques and technology of deep coal mining in Illinois.
“Touring Old Ben No. 17—a mine relocated from southern Illinois—immerses you in the vast and sometimes perilous work of mining for coal. The scene is set as the facilitator narrates your cage elevator ride into the mine. See in a flash how Davy lamps reveal unseen methane dangers. Board the work train to experience a coal miner's "daily commute." See working examples of how extraction machinery has evolved from the pickaxe to longwall machines that can carve out football fieldsized sections of shale.” msichicago.org
disclaimer filmed in very low light. Video may be too dark to see at some points.