Ms. Que Banh<p>The only <a href="https://beige.party/tags/ruins" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ruins</span></a> left at <a href="https://beige.party/tags/abandoned" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>abandoned</span></a> No.8 coal mine in <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Cumberland" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Cumberland</span></a>. There used to be a huge building here but it was demolished in the 90s. Before it was torn down, it was a popular party place for local <a href="https://beige.party/tags/ComoxValley" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ComoxValley</span></a> teenagers. All the old mine shafts have been blocked off for public safety. There is still a large abandoned building that was part of this former large coal mine site but it's really deep into the forest &amp; you need to bushwhack your way there. We had very limited time on this past road trip so I stuck to showing my friends the 2 easiest accesses to cool <a href="https://beige.party/tags/AbandonedPlaces" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AbandonedPlaces</span></a>.</p><p>Eight mines used to operate at Comox, named No. 1 Mine through to No. 8 Mine. The workings consisted of boreholes, air shafts, mine entries, &amp; underground network of tunnels. A rail network was also developed to link the ore piles with the town &amp; Union Bay. Old rail bed remain in place today as public trails. A series of survey monuments also remains on the surface today. These have been tracked down, beginning with a concrete monument located slightly below ground in the vicinity of Cumberland Park &amp; recorded to match the maps of the underground workings with the surface-level features today.</p><p>The mines at <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Comox" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Comox</span></a> were technically advanced for their time, with partial mechanization &amp; electrification well before 1900. The first documented use of electricity underground was in the No. 4 Mine in 1891, when four electrically-driven coal-cutters were installed.</p><p>Canadian Collieries (owned by <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Dunsmuir" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Dunsmuir</span></a> family) Ltd. operated coal mines on Vancouver Island, including the Wellington Mines near Nanaimo &amp; Comox Mines at Cumberland. Comox Mines had earlier been operated by Union <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Colliery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Colliery</span></a> Company, the first of the mines being opened in 1888. The last of the Comox Mines, the No.8 Mine, was closed in 1953.</p><p><a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCMiningHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCMiningHistory</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/AbandonedMines" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AbandonedMines</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/VancouverIsland" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>VancouverIsland</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/VanIsle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>VanIsle</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/PacificNorthwest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PacificNorthwest</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/PNW" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PNW</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BChistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BChistory</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/VancouverIslandHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>VancouverIslandHistory</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>photography</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/graffiti" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>graffiti</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/InTheForest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>InTheForest</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/No8Mine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>No8Mine</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/CoalMiningHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CoalMiningHistory</span></a></p>