Another stage of the restoration works in the Ignacy Historic Mine in Rybnik (Upper Silesia, Poland) has finished this month. After 14 years a new steel cable has rejoined the drum hoist and wheel of the head frame of Kosciuszko shaft.

The works have been carried out in order to adapt one of the oldest mines in Upper Silesia and the oldest one in the Rybnik area to culture and tourism. The project is a part of the conversion of the Kosciuszko engine room and shaft building into an interactive science centre devoted to steam as a source of energy which revolutionised the world.

The first stage of the work was to restart the steam powered winding engine. The machine was taken offline in 2008 when the winding lines were cut and the steam was switched off. Last month, once the new steam generator was installed, the machine was starting up again to the delight of former workers who had been involved in its restoration.

The second step was to mount the cable that originally connected the drum of the winder engine around the head frame wheel using conveyors. The one-hundred-old winding engine perfectly managed this task. There won’t be underground visits in the Ignacy Historic Mine, so the cable is not connected to a pit-cage, but it returns to the second part of the drum. The golden galvanized cable with a cross-section of 46 mm weighs 5000 kg and measures 650 metres. The mechanism is prepared to show how the steam winder engine used to work.. It will be the main attraction of Ignacy Historic Mine in Rybnik.