Minecart

<h2 id="terminology">Terminology</h2>

Throughout the world, there are different titles for mine carts. In <a href="/facts/South_Africa/vvXQpLgq">South Africa</a>, a minecart is referred to as a cocopan;<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a> or koekepan. In <a href="/facts/German_language/oWaQIDA8">German</a>, it is called Hunt (alternative spelling Hund). In <a href="/facts/Wales/xa3W6PHH">Wales</a>, minecarts are known as drams.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a> In the U.S. and elsewhere, the term skip – or skip <a href="/facts/Wagon/RUVs11Yb">wagon</a> (older spelling: waggon) – is used.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a> (See: <a href="/facts/Skip_(container)/woUKAR9x">Skip (container)#Etymology</a>)
 
In particular, a V skip wagon is a <a href="/facts/Side-tipping_wagon/kotBjw5B">side-tipping</a> skid with a V-shaped body (Images)

<h2 id="shape-and-operation">Shape and operation</h2>
Minecarts range in size and usage, and are usually made of steel for hauling ore. Shaped like large, rectangular buckets, minecarts ride on metal tracks and were originally pushed or pulled by men and animals (supplemented later by rope-haulage systems). They were generally introduced in early modern time, replacing containers carried by men. Originally, they didn't run on a real "rail", where the wheels would have a rim to fit into the tracks, but with plain wheels on a wooden plank way, hold in track by a pin fitting into a guide groove, or by the underside of the cart itself which was lower than the wheels and fitted between the planks ("Hungarian system").<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a>[circular reference]
As mines increased in size and output, the aforementioned methods became impractical because of the distances and quantities of material involved, so larger carts would be used, hauled by <a href="/facts/Narrow_gauge_railway/AM4D6E6I">narrow gauge</a> <a href="/facts/Diesel_locomotive/RvJF30q2">diesel</a> and <a href="/facts/Electric_locomotive/580UInEr">electric</a> <a href="/facts/Locomotive/C9YV7wrQ">locomotives</a> (in coal mining operations, where gas that is flammable would present a problem, the locomotives would be <a href="/facts/Diesel_locomotive/RvJF30q2">flameproof</a> or <a href="/facts/Electric_locomotive/580UInEr">battery powered</a>). These were also used to pull trains transporting miners to the workfaces.
Minecarts were very important in the history of technology because they evolved into <a href="/facts/Railroad_car/4XBU36LV">railroad cars</a>. See <a href="/facts/History_of_rail_transport/SEX2XJNF">History of rail transport</a>.

<h3>Lorry or mine car</h3>

See also: <a href="/facts/Mineral_wagon/Kb77nAWS">Mineral wagon</a> and <a href="/facts/Decauville_wagon/n2SXN9B7">Decauville wagon</a> 
An open railroad car (gondola) with a tipping trough, often found in <a href="/facts/Mining/g6uDIFab">mines</a>. Known in the UK as a tippler or <a href="/facts/Chaldron/sIyfs90g">chaldron</a> wagon<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> and in the US as a mine car.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a>

<h2 id="in-popular-culture">In popular culture</h2>
Minecarts have been depicted as a type of thrill ride; for instance <a href="/facts/Indiana_Jones_(character)/SzmQps9g">Indiana Jones</a> uses one in an escape scene in <a href="/facts/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Temple_of_Doom/9LapELul">Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom</a>.
<a href="/facts/Mine_train_roller_coaster/5sWoYs1K">Mine train roller coasters</a> are inspired by minecarts.
Minecart levels, a term used for <a href="/facts/Level_(video_game)/jj3NuhAx">levels</a> in which the <a href="/facts/Player_character/YAfuo6f2">player</a> takes a high-speed ride in a minecart, common level in <a href="/facts/Video_games/vmTdNASJ">video games</a>, especially <a href="/facts/Side-scrolling_video_game/GsX5ujVd">side-scrolling video games</a> such as <a href="/facts/Donkey_Kong_Country/KekpH4MS">Donkey Kong Country</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> and <a href="/facts/Fantastic_Dizzy/AA74y8A2">Fantastic Dizzy</a>.
A minecart is also featured in two scenes of the 2005 animated film <a href="/facts/Hoodwinked!/M40ul4IG">Hoodwinked!</a>.
Minecarts and tracks can be crafted by the player in <a href="/facts/Minecraft/vwarQdG7">Minecraft</a> and used for transportation. They are also found in abandoned mineshafts that generate naturally as a part of the game's <a href="/facts/Procedural_generation/I94vq0AQ">procedural generation</a>. Minecarts in <a href="/facts/Stardew_Valley/h53KmN3F">Stardew Valley</a> are also used for transportation between the farm, mines and a few other destinations but are not available from the beginning and are unlocked by completing one part of the community center.
In <a href="/facts/Sun_Haven_(video_game)/QA5BCW5D">Sun Haven</a>, a minecart is used for players to traverse between floors in the mines while other <a href="/facts/Farm_sim/Bq6XJ4ro">farm sims</a> use lifts.
In <a href="/facts/Great_Britain/TNgGQRPj">Great Britain</a>, restored mine carts (known as "tubs") containing floral displays can commonly be seen on village greens and outside pubs in former coal mining areas such as <a href="/facts/Northumberland/yfU9Gl1b">Northumberland</a> and <a href="/facts/County_Durham/JFsQ70Hk">County Durham</a>.
Like in Great Britain, old mine carts are common decorations in Germany, sometimes accompanied by old mining tools. Especially in the <a href="/facts/Ruhr_Area/sJNLbnyT">Ruhr Area</a> those carts can be found in many front yards.

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Chaldron/sIyfs90g">Chaldron</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Corf_(mining)/9bkQSnAF">Corf</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Decauville_wagon/n2SXN9B7">Decauville wagon</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Gondola_(rail)/C6JIkIIr">Gondola (rail)</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Mineral_wagon/Kb77nAWS">Mineral wagon</a></li></ul>

<ul><li>Periscope Film (2008). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=bp4z8iil9fMC&q=Mine+car%2C+mining&pg=PA27">Mining Haulage: The Classic Mine Technology Book From 1907</a>. Lulu.com. pp. 1–51. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0981652627. Retrieved 16 September 2016.</li>
<li>Rakes, Paul H. (2012). <a href="http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1364">"Coal Mine Mechanization."</a> The West Virginia Encyclopedia. West Virginia Humanities Council, Charleston, WV.</li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li> Media related to Mining carts at Wikimedia Commons</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Dictionary definition of "Cocopan" <a href="http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definitions/cocopan" target="_blank">http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definitions/cocopan</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">"Glossary". Welsh Coal Mines. Retrieved 16 April 2018. Dram. Tram or Truck. <a href="http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/Glossary.htm" target="_blank">http://www.welshcoalmines.co.uk/Glossary.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">"Copper Country". Engineering & Mining Journal. 26. New York: McGraw Hill: 1109–1110. 26 June 1915. <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">de:Hunt#Geschichte <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt#Geschichte" target="_blank">https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt#Geschichte</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Chaldron wagon Archived 2008-12-08 at the Wayback Machine <a href="http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Culture/headofsteam/about/locomotion.htm" target="_blank">http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Culture/headofsteam/about/locomotion.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">"30-Cu. Ft. Mine car". Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2010-10-13. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110717203542/http://library.mines.edu/digital/photodb/U1330.gif" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20110717203542/http://library.mines.edu/digital/photodb/U1330.gif</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">"The Next Generation 1996 Lexicon A to Z: Mine Cart Level". Next Generation. No. 15. Imagine Media. March 1996. p. 37. <a href="/wiki/Next_Generation_(magazine)" target="_blank">/wiki/Next_Generation_(magazine)</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Minecart open-in-new

Minecart