Is it my eyes or do I see something strange there with the hearth and the floor? It appears that a chunk of the hearth is missing. That appears to be a hunk of railroad track. Then it seems that the floor is crooked. Could they have had a chunk of wood roll out and catch fire? Seems evident that that fire brick is NOT in the best condition to have a fire around it.
Dale Nicol
The home appears to have a foundation issue…notice the wood floor has a big gap under the rail track/iron, hearth is sagging and vertical crack in the wall above the right hand side of the mantle.
Sue
Is that a length of railroad track? I have a 6" piece that I use for a doorstop and as small as it is, it’s pretty heavy. And what is in front of the horse? Looks like a grizzly bear?
Buzz
An old retired bachelor mountain mans dream retirement home. Comfort is a relative thing and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
L.E.
I’ve heard of urns on the mantle, but a skull? I just read the history behind Stuart Hamblen’s song, "This Ole House." This photo seems to fit his cabin in the mountains.
Kenn
The rail appears to be about 90 lb to the yard (5 1/2" high). 30 lb cast iron used street car rail (3" high) was used on Larch Mtn while 136 lb steel (8" high) is now the norm on RRs.
Longshot
It looks like logs have rolled out of the fireplace over the years toasting the floor covering and burning off the ends of the floor joist thus is causing the floor to sag in front of the fire place. The rail is to prevent any more logs from rolling out into the room.
I am going to further guess that this fireplace was built before the railroad arrived and lime products became much more readily available. Dried mud just doesn’t make for a long lasting mortar.
nels
Frightening for future house fire with that chimney, and who knows what the chimney looks like higher up.
Charlott
Is it my eyes or do I see something strange there with the hearth and the floor? It appears that a chunk of the hearth is missing. That appears to be a hunk of railroad track. Then it seems that the floor is crooked. Could they have had a chunk of wood roll out and catch fire? Seems evident that that fire brick is NOT in the best condition to have a fire around it.
Dale Nicol
The home appears to have a foundation issue…notice the wood floor has a big gap under the rail track/iron, hearth is sagging and vertical crack in the wall above the right hand side of the mantle.
Sue
Is that a length of railroad track? I have a 6" piece that I use for a doorstop and as small as it is, it’s pretty heavy. And what is in front of the horse? Looks like a grizzly bear?
Buzz
An old retired bachelor mountain mans dream retirement home. Comfort is a relative thing and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
L.E.
I’ve heard of urns on the mantle, but a skull?
I just read the history behind Stuart Hamblen’s song, "This Ole House."
This photo seems to fit his cabin in the mountains.
Kenn
The rail appears to be about 90 lb to the yard (5 1/2" high). 30 lb cast iron used street car rail (3" high) was used on Larch Mtn while 136 lb steel (8" high) is now the norm on RRs.
Longshot
It looks like logs have rolled out of the fireplace over the years toasting the floor covering and burning off the ends of the floor joist thus is causing the floor to sag in front of the fire place. The rail is to prevent any more logs from rolling out into the room.
I am going to further guess that this fireplace was built before the railroad arrived and lime products became much more readily available. Dried mud just doesn’t make for a long lasting mortar.
nels
Frightening for future house fire with that chimney, and who knows what the chimney looks like higher up.