Well, I think its more than fair to say the first annual IronMiners Barnyard Bash in Connecticut was a complete success! "Miner Dave" had an opportunity to not only display his 1916 International Harvester "donkey" engine, but we all got a chance to see this early 20th century technology IN FULL OPERATION without backfiring! Great food, live music entertainment, a bonfire, and great comraderie filled the barn! But if that was not enough, those willing to stick around for the follow up MINE HIKE also had an opportunity to discover along the hike, a PAIR OF MINE CAR WHEELS connected to its axle as well as immense never before seen workings and intact mine buildings! Some of us had a chance to do some real rockhounding at this undisclosed mine and I personally discovered a garnet crystal approximately 1 inch wide! Careful research and planning uncovered this location and we have only just scraped the surface... literally!

For all those who didn't get a chance to attend, we hope you will join us next year.. if not sooner. Pictures will be posted very soon!

EDITED

For pictures, please click here: http://www.ironminers.com/mineforum/vie ... 437#104437
Day 2 pictures, please click here: http://www.ironminers.com/mineforum/vie ... 477#104477
The mine car wheels at a northeastern hard rock mine:
http://www.ironminers.com/mineforum/vie ... p?p=104516

_________________
"If you thought old, abandoned mines were only in the west, then you haven't been to IronMiners.com!"

wouldnt they be ore car wheels you boys have been hanging out over here too much sorry we missed this weekend but cant wait for the ct holloween party, thats gonna be a trip!

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

Glad to hear it was such a success!
I wanted to be there, but only heard about it at the NRO, and just had too many other plans already in the works. Perhaps I'll make it to the Second Annual...Sure sounds like it was a blast, esp. hitting the new finds!!!!!!!!!
minerPete

_________________
Illigitimi non carborundum

I would say the weekend was a blast!, it was held at my historic property in CT the house and barn were built in 1760 and are for the most part restored authentically. so the party started around 5;00pm there was a large early engine on display and running as people milled around the property and ate BBQ ribs and good food and talked about adventures and mines. some people brought dirtbikes to hit the trails and there was canoeing and kayaking on site as well. The party had an Indiana Jones theme and the indy movies were playing in the barn. this year we featured the band PICO DADA and they started playing at about 9;00. About 50 or 60 people from all over CT and the northeast showed up, there was a shanty town of tents set up at one side of the property. at the beginning of the night the party was split between people checking out the band in the barn and people around the bonfire out back, so obviously to fix this division I simply brought the fire over in front of the barn, then the party became more lively as everyone meshed together! people were running around and having fun till about 3 in the morning!
I will keep you all posted for the next IRONMINERS get together! -Miner CT Mike

The party was beyond a success. Special thanks to Pico DaDa for making a special appearance and providing us with Live Entertainment all night. Lots of activities, dirt biking, rock crawling, whipping, camping, and everything else you would expect at an IronMiners batch.

Here is my first set of pictures of the party. As we did plenty more the following day, I'll post those up separately.

http://www.ironminers.com/mineforum/vie ... 437#104437

whipping

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

Chris,

Don't worry, it was all clean fun! Remember, Indiana Jones was the theme of the party.. We had Indiana CT Mike and Indiana Miner Mike out there in full gear, mastering the whip.

Miner Greg

yea i read that before viewing the pics......... then i didnt know if i wanted to then things became clear. looked like you guys had a blast! looks like each one just keeps getting better!

_________________
Come over to the Dark Side....... We have Cookies!

Here are some pictures from our adventure the day after the party. Many of these shots were taken at the Connecticut Antique Machinery Museum up in Kent Connecticut.

http://www.ironminers.com/mineforum/vie ... 477#104477

NICE SHOTS GREG

Looks like you guys had fun.

I always forget they have that equipment there.

_________________
Pioneering the next INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (Preservation ! ). . . Saving equipment (1) mine site at a time.

Yeah they have a ton of stuff up there. We really didn't have enough time to even check everything out, forget about taking pictures. It would be fun going up there during one of their Steam Feasts, watching everything operate. They don't operate everything all year long. Only during certain events.

Miner Greg

And now, for our special find...
http://www.ironminers.com/mineforum/viewtopic.php?p=104516

_________________
"If you thought old, abandoned mines were only in the west, then you haven't been to IronMiners.com!"