at the bottom of this shaft to stable the ponies and mules used before electric equipment was installed in 1905. The drivers treated these ponies and mules with apples and candy, who were also used for farm labor during the summer months. Blacksmith Fred Wolfe shoed the mules in the mine. Work in the mine started at 7:00am with a blast from the mine whistle, which sounded again when the men were brought back up from mining at 3:30pm. The mine whistle was also used to convey work delays due to weather or other events; in the evening, three whistle blasts meant the mine would be open the next day, and one blast indicated it would be closed the next day. The mine at its peak employed around 300 men and hoisted 500 tons of coal a day. As was the case in most small mining towns, life in the mines could be dangerous. In the June 29th, 1906, four men fell 400 feet down the main shaft to their deaths while performing maintenance and improvements to the main shaft. The Roanoke Call newspaper headline the following day read "ROANOKE IN MOURNING". After the accident, the coal mine continued to operate until 1940, when it was permanently closed due to safety concerns and maintenance issues. In 1941, due to its state of disrepair, the tipple at the mine head collapsed into the shaft, leaving a crater 60 feet across and just as deep. The crater was filled in, and the remaining equipment sold as scrap. Slate, flint, and other non-coal slag from the old mine was collected into a large mound colloquially called the "Jumbo," on the southern side of the village near where the mine was once located. Since before the mine closed, it is estimated that 800,000 tons of slag from the Jumbo has been used in various road and town improvement construction projects. Although smaller than its original size, the Jumbo still stands at present, topped with an electric star that is illuminated during the Christmas season. Railroad Closure After the Roanoke mine stopped operation in 1940, and with the growing popularity of using Semi-trailer trucks to move crops from farm to market, the rail line running through Roanoke (which had been purchased by the Santa Fe Railroad some time around 1900) was eventually retired in the mid 1980s, and was promptly dismantled for scrap. The original