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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 3953213" data-attributes="member: 19675">Most mines wouldn't be gone, since they're away from population centers.However, you couldn't continue mining operations in most of them using modern tech for very long, if at all.   There are issues of:1) Fuel for mining vehicles and the generators that power the lights, water pumps and air pumps.  And the elevators that deliver the miners to the regions that haven't been played out.2) Getting the miners to and from the mines.  While most live in the vicinity of their places of work, they don't neccessarily work within convenient walking distance.Exceptions exist, of course.  Anything that is mined from a strip mine would be easily recovered, and strip mines would be a primary source of wealth for areas near impact sites.The answer could be as simple as "Over there, blind man." coupled with a pointing finger to "We're in the farmlands of the plains- you're going to have to walk a few weeks." to "In the desert?  Good luck!"I know.  I also know that most of them import their ores and other raw materials from the mainland.1a) Less and less each year.1b) None at all if it was in a city hit by a meteor.  That which wasn't vaporized is still going to be buried, probably pretty deeply.Yes, there would be all kinds of cannibalization of vehicles going on, especially once the fossil fuel reserves in the country dry up.  But that is still a very finite resource.  Add a little weathering to the paint job, and rust sets in, and the resource shrinks some more.1) Models help...but they're located where?2)  People on a sub or similar vehicle docks is going to do just fine initially, and if they're nukes (or the fantasy equivalent) they're fueled up for as long as you care to think about it.However wear and tear means they're eventually going to need spare parts for something.  An Aircraft carrier's machine shop can fabricate just about anything, given the right materials.And therin lies the rub- they go to any dock they know and its a crater...and no Naval craft with which I'm familiar carries any significant mining tools.  They certainly don't have the refining capability to make new parts up to pre-ELE tech standards, and until they could, that would lead to increased wear & breakdowns.I'd bet both projects were built from near-scratch, as in using prefabricated parts.  If I have parts, tools and a manual, I could probably follow the instructions, too.But if I have to make my own parts or build the machines needed to build the parts? I'm dead, as are most people.Here's what I can say about that:According to Ford's own releases, they used Vanadium steel, the best available at the time.  Vanadium wasn't discovered until the 1800s.  The engine in question wasn't designed until after 8 unsuccessful prototypes.I know nothing about internal combustion engines, but according to Lang's Old Car Parts Catalog, there's more than steel involved.  Other materials listed for 1909s include felt, brass and copper, anything that goes into a thermostat or spark plug (probably copper or gold and some kind of ceramic insulator), and, of course, lubricants & fuels- petrochemicals.An engine is a top tier technology, built by the accumulated knowledge of dozens of other engineering breakthroughs.I agree 100%- I've seen how my family's old farm in Covington, LA does things...But even then, there are certain things they'd simply have to do without once intercity/interstate/international commerce breaks down.  Where they are, they'd probably have petrochemicals few others would have access to, but once things start to rust out, there wouldn't be a new source for replacement parts.  There is precious little mining and refining of ferrous metals in Louisiana.Or, for that matter, magical communication.Such methods greatly accellerate the rebuild, to be sure.  Other bits of magic, like teleporting, will also help out.But any powerful spellcaster would be also be as much a prime candidate for direct targeting by the Illithids as a military base- remember, they've got intelligence maps & histories to guide them.</blockquote>

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