1-152-731 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Bottom of a pit shaft in a coal mine with a train of loaded wagons waiting to be hoisted to the surface, 1860. The coal wagons have flanged wheels. The man seated on right is lighting his clay pipe, a dangerous procedure underground in a coalmine where it could could cause an explosion of methane (firedamp). From A History of Coal, Coke, Coal Fields... by W Fordyce. (London, 1860).