I meant to get this to a fellow Minecraft user. It is the basic layout of what we call "The Borehole" on our server. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the original discussion thread. I'll post it here and hopefully the person intended will see it. I welcome discussion on this particular concept.
I'm standing on a ladder looking down. The ladder is necessary because "stuff happens" and the vines could catastrophically break from a water incident, or lava burning them up.
Iron bars at the center and the two opposing corners hold in the water elevator on the side opposite the ladder. One may fall straight down into water at the -59 level. The water brings people back up "not quite as quickly, but still faster than climbing." Vines, not needing support like a ladder, allow one to easily break while descending to climb back up a missed stop. This is lit by torches at every stop. The walls are solid except at each stop, which has a gap 3 high making it easy to enter and leave The Borehole.
If the intent is to "strip-mine," I have found this way to get between stops really does the trick.
If there is interest, I am happy to share screen captures of the stops and how I have those laid out to make strip-mining a breeze. Note, "Strip mining" in Minecraft is different from "real world" strip mining. In Minecraft, it refers to making a single straight shaft, often 1 wide, 2 tall in a pattern to most efficiently encounter an ore cluster without having to waste time and effort to mine out each and every single block.
@Romaq Screenshots of the stops too would be good :)
@aebrockwell I'll do that shortly. The Borehole is expensive, but if one needs a supply of raw diamonds and redstone, it's hard to pass on strip mining.
@aebrockwell Sorry, time spent with my wife on #Minecraft. I'll get views tomorrow.
