The vague remaining outline of a whim platform can be found on the far end of the
Timor Streamside Reserve. This flat, circular platform once supported a horse-powered mining whim. Remains of shafts, mullock heaps and a dam are also located in this small, lightly treed area.
A whim is a device used to haul ore up a mine shaft, similar in concept to the man-powered windlass and the horse-powered whip, but more complex and capable of lifting more efficiently and from deeper shafts. A rope is wound around a vertically mounted wooden drum, with both ends passed over pulleys and then run down the shaft. A horse is harnessed to the device and led around a circular track, winding the drum, which will lower one end of the rope (carrying an empty bucket down the shaft) while raising the other (carrying a full load up).
SEE ALSO
BBQ
Timor/Bowenvale
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