Coalpail.com Forum

I'm researching a small rail line that went from Pottsville to the Lytle Breaker in Primrose (Cass). I believe it crossed the Reading Rail and the West Branch of the Schuylkill crick in Minersville near the Sunny Rod. As a kid in the late 60s and early 70s the trestle was gone, but the big stone pilings were still there.

Hoping to figure out where these tracks came from and went to.

Try referencing these two maps from 1889. I suggest downloading them in full resolution, then looking at them on your computer. There is a great deal of detail on these.

http://collection1.libraries.psu.edu/cdm/singleit ... 504/rec/69

http://collection1.libraries.psu.edu/cdm/singleit ... 519/rec/72

The complete series of these maps, which details the entire southern coal field, are also available online.

Thanks LDPosse - these maps are a great resource and truly detailed. Unfortunately, the tracks I'm looking for aren't represented here. They must have been built after this map was created.

Is this the Pennsylvania RR branch? Or another railroad? Abandoned in 1966. You might find something on Railroad.net. Goodluck. Matt

The Minersville Branch (PRR) began at Nichols St Yard in Pottsville and ran west for about 5 miles to Lytle, PA, which is just west of Minersville. The bridge peers in Minersville are still intact where the line crossed (overhead) the river and the Reading Company tracks. If you travel west on Front St going out of Minersville you can see a piece rail where the Minersville Branch crossed the street at grade. Look for the welding company and the Duncut Hose Company on the far side of the street. The ROW ran between them and is still visible and can be walked without any difficulty all the way to where Shaffer's Hill Road makes a sharp left turn. From that point to the end of the branch is hard to follow as the landscape has been majorly disturbed.

I have a niece collection of PRR books with many pictures, but only one is on the Minersville Branch. The picture is of a BS24M (Baldwin center cab road switcher and a caboose - or cabin car in PRR terminology) at a point not identified.

Hope this is helpful.

John

Merry Christmas to All (Early)

This bridge no longer exists but some of the remnants remain and as a kid we played along parts of this line as it wound up in Primrose. This picture was from way, way, back. My barber had a picture of it back in the early 90's that his Dad got from a old friend and I asked my friend if I could scan it - he let me and I've always found this picture fascinating. It is located about a 1/4 mile past the Minersville train station where locomotive 113 sit today.
Enjoy (There is no copyright to this photo (it's not a artist drawn picture as it was taken way longer then the law for copyrights give rights. There are also many old homes that are atleast 100 years old along Penn St.) This view was probably snapped above the entrance to Teaberry Hill Rd).
Snuffy

Snuffy - thanks for this info and posting the pic. I've never seen this postcard picture before. It really captures how undeveloped that part of town was.

When I was a kid in the 70s, there was a footbridge made of thick planks and rocks that crossed the crick. The trestle was gone, but we'd climb up the pilings on either side.

I've attached a pic of the bridge from a different angle. Another old postcard.

Thanks again!

And here's another one showing a wooden trestle - possibly an earlier construction.