Plate opener (mining)

[Fyncu Myncu]

what is a plate opener? I know they used to work in the mines, and tended to be women or children, but does anyone know what exactly one does?

[sddsddean]

This is a bit of a guess. I know children used to work as 'trappers'. To make the ventilation work in a mine, you have to have doors in passages to make the air go the way you want. The trappers job was to open and close the doors to let miners/coal skips through. (Trapper from trapdoor). You could say a plate could be a door, so it could be a different colloquial name for the same job, but as I said I'm guessing.

[Quizmonster]

In mining terms, a 'plate' is a piece of track with a projecting flange to retain the wheels of the coal-trucks. There used to be - maybe still are - mine-workers called plate-layers, plate-carriers, plate-openers etc. All of them were engaged in the creation and maintenance of mine-tracks. My guess is that the 'opener' operated the points where tracks merged, opening and closing them as necessary.

[sddsddean]

Hadn't thought of that QM. As a plateway is flanged,I suppose you could say a set of points is opened rather than switched. Hmm, yes I'd go for your answer rather than mine.

[Fyncu Myncu]

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense.