Broad Top Coal

 
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Short Bus
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Post by Short Bus » Mon. Feb. 04, 2013 4:30 pm

Oh ya one last Idea, not that I've ever been involved in this kind of crap.

Remove the thumb form your local excavator and replace with a half round seciton of screen pivoted on same pin as bucket. Scoop bucket full of material from ground, extend thumb control, covering bucket with screen, extend dipper and shake out screened material.


 
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LDPosse
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Post by LDPosse » Mon. Feb. 04, 2013 5:00 pm

Looks like I need to work on my welding and fabrication skills.... I don't think I'm up to the task with my WWII era Marquette, stale 9010 welding rod, and misc pieces of scrap metal. No heavy equipment, either.

Also, if anyone has a Square D QO 200amp service panel, about 100 feet of service entry cable, conduit and several rolls of THHN they are looking to donate to a good cause, PM me :D HAHA I'd also come pick up any unwanted skid-steers with my Prius.

 
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Short Bus
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Other Heating: Propane wall furnace back up only

Post by Short Bus » Mon. Feb. 04, 2013 6:00 pm

The Marquette will throw a good arc, but newer units use less power and have some features that make it eazier to control.
I had a friend that would grab that unit and TIG weld with it, just beautiful, he was a true welding artist.

 
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LDPosse
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Post by LDPosse » Sun. Feb. 10, 2013 9:05 pm

Well I figured I'd post an update.

I've been working at sorting this ROM coal. My setup is about as primitive as it gets!
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So far, I've been ending up with about as many fines as I am good lump coal. I am using 3/4" mesh, I will need to screen again with something smaller to get the smaller, but still usable coal out. Here's some I sorted out today :
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This stuff really does burn great in a hand fed stove. It seems to have a lower FSI than the coal I got in MD, which was a 9 coke button. The downside with the broad top coal, is that it does not tolerate being handled too well. The coal is fairly friable. The other problem is that this stuff has alot of slate attached to it. I will probably have my 32 gallon trash can filled with slate by the time I'm done sorting through it.

Not sure if I'll stick with the broad top coal or not. The MD coal is almost as hard as anthracite, and tolerates handling without turning to dust.

 
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Oldkingcoal
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Post by Oldkingcoal » Mon. Sep. 30, 2013 2:45 pm

Okay LD, I have to ask. Do you still have the contact info for the mine in Broad Top?
I like to experiment with different types of coal too and had looked into the Broad Top Field and could not find any active mines, guess you really did your homework! Last time I was driving back from Ohio I picked up a ton of some ROM bit from the New Lexington area, (think its high vol). Think it would do well as fireplace coal but really spikes up after a new load of fresh coal. Otherwise, it’s nice, no shale etc, only problem is that I have to break it up by hand. I read that “Nut and Slack” article you posted, think I will give that a try once I start off the heating season.
Thanks,
Paul

 
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Post by LDPosse » Mon. Sep. 30, 2013 5:50 pm

Paul -

The company is

Ferlitch Construction
(814) 937-1999

The owner's name is Paul Ferlitch. That is his cell number. He is hard to get ahold of. I would suggest leaving a voice mail and giving him a few days to a week to get back to you. The mine is not normally open to the public, so you need to arrange a time to get coal. Just be advised, he will probably have you on the phone for an hour or more talking about coal, lol.

I don't know that the mine has an address, but attached is an image of where it is located. You can see the entrance road if you zoom in further with whatever mapping site you use.

I would highly suggest avoiding the run of mine, I ended up tossing out nearly half of what I got. There was alot of shale still attached to the coal.

Good luck!

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Oldkingcoal
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Post by Oldkingcoal » Tue. Oct. 01, 2013 7:58 am

Thanks for the good intel and thanks for the heads up on “the talker”. I have an uncanny knack for finding those types of people wherever I go! I like talking about coal too, so no problem. $80 for house coal that has been prepped is still a good deal, I paid $75 for ROM at Oxford (it was very nice for ROM though).

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Oxford ROM.jpeg
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Burns nice.jpeg
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Post by jhmohler852 » Fri. Feb. 14, 2020 7:48 am

Did your Broad Top Coal dealer tell you how much coal there is left in the Broad Top field? I heard that one guy who worked for the East Broad Top Railroad thought there were 110 million tons left, which would mean the East Broad Top Railroad part of the field still has 50 million tons or maybe a little over, if he is right. You might know the guy depending on whether you live in that atea. Does the name Stanely Hall mean anything to you?

J Harold Mohler

 
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Post by jhmohler852 » Fri. Feb. 14, 2020 7:58 am

Hi there, I don't know if my earlier reply went through as I don't see it on here. Did your Broad Top Coal guy tell you how much coal is left in the Broad Top Field? I heard that one guy who worked for the East Broad Top Railroad thought there were 100 million tons left, which would mean 50 million on the East Broad Top Railroad.

 
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Post by CoalJockey » Sat. Feb. 15, 2020 7:59 pm

The Broad Top fields are within 15 minutes of me. There is strip mining being done in various locations across the mountain top, mostly for steam coal (power plant). There are certain seams that are really good for house coal but the seams stand up on their end at an angle much like the anthracite fields, making it very hard to mine by open pit method.

Broad Top coal received a very nasty name for itself around here in the 50’s and 60’s as it is so hard to keep the rock out of it. We generally stay away from it mostly for this reason. There are no wash plants in the Broad Top so you are at the mercy of those doing the work in the pit.

I’m not 100% sure but I think Ferlitch may have stripped out his job and back filled by now but there are several others active.

 
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pintoplumber
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Post by pintoplumber » Sun. Feb. 16, 2020 8:43 am

Tyler, have you heard the East Broad Top RR has been sold and will reopen 2021 with a couple limited runs this year? Dennis

 
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Post by CoalJockey » Sun. Feb. 16, 2020 3:17 pm

I did indeed, I just shared a news post on my FB page yesterday about it. I was very grateful for this, I was scared to death it would be meeting the scrappers torch soon.

I caught wind of it about a year ago at this time in the Broad Top paper. At that time I didn’t want to get my hopes up because it seemed like too large of an undertaking but nonetheless it is here.

Here’s to hoping it will be preserved for future generations. If anyone reading this was never there, I highly recommend It if you like any kind of US industrial history.

 
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Post by Homesteader » Mon. Feb. 17, 2020 10:21 am

I read about the new organization taking over and bringing some operations back to life in the trains magazine that I subscribe to. Looks like some of the countries regular freight RR's operating personal are involved with the new board. That bodes good. I've always wanted to get there when I make some trips out and stay at the Station Inn in Cresson. Hope they get it back up. Interesting operations.

 
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Post by BlackBetty06 » Tue. Mar. 17, 2020 8:37 pm

pintoplumber wrote:
Sun. Feb. 16, 2020 8:43 am
Tyler, have you heard the East Broad Top RR has been sold and will reopen 2021 with a couple limited runs this year? Dennis
A little off topic but are you burning bituminous in your coal boiler? I see your in Lititz. I grew up in lititz. I too work in the trades. Are you an independent plumber or do you work for a contractor in the area?

 
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Post by pintoplumber » Wed. Mar. 18, 2020 7:23 pm

I burn anthracite in my boiler that I pick up at Direnzo’s. I’m a self employed plumber for 40 years now. Dennis


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