A shaft's pit bank !

This picture shows a shaft's pit bank as it is common in the Ruhr area (Germany). It shows crowds of miners waiting to be taken underground or back to the surface at the beginning or the end of their shift when most of the staff having worked underground needs to be exchanged.

At the pit bank, i.e. the upper end of a shaft, the pit cages are loaded with what has to be taken underground, e.g. mine cars, miners, material etc.. Some very bulky materials are brought underground by fixing them under the pit cages and then driving them down the shaft.

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