Forging America's Industrial Independence
- VigIIPeaBurner
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I stumbled upon Finn Gorman's YouTube channel this morning. This video explains how the discovery of anthracite's characteristics changed the USA and sparked the industrial revolution.
Note this first coal was quarried at Summit Hill 2 miles South of the No. 9 mine an museum .This open pit was Worked Until the 1990s by L C N now Lehigh Anthracite .Says something about the Longevity Of Lehigh .Pit opened 1820 an The Company is Still Digging Coal .Look up The Switchback Railroad .The quarry coal was Drifted by Wooden Rails covered with a strip of iron .Mules Road Down on back of carts containing coal .After unloading the coal in Mauch Chunk The Mules Pulled The Empty Cars Back to the Summit Hill Quarry . As the Company grew the Gravity cars were too slow with mule power So a backtrack was laid an then the Cars were pulled back to Quarry by A Statioary Steam Engine . You can Still Walk This Route .jack
- VigIIPeaBurner
- Member
- Posts: 2579
- Joined: Fri. Jan. 11, 2008 10:49 am
- Location: Pequest River Valley, Warren Co NJ
- Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Keystoker Koker(down)
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: Vermont Casting Vigilant II 2310
- Other Heating: #2 Oil Furnace
That was a nice post Jack. A few minutes after I read your post I was reading about Mauch Chunk and found your story in the middle of the page. Good pictures about it too: http://www.delawareandlehigh.org/talesofthetowpat ... uch-chunk/
- In 1827, they opened the Mauch Chunk Rail Road – a gravity railroad – under the auspices of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company. Coal from Summit Hill was loaded in long wooden cars and sent down to Mauch Chunk on the narrow railroad by gravity. To return to Summit Hill, the cars were pulled up Mt. Pisgah and then Mt. Jefferson by mules, which were later replaced by large steam engines at the tops of Mt. Pisgah and Mt. Jefferson.