We have lots of photos of western PA coal country in the family (part of it was busy farming on top of the overburden) and judging from the pictures, there wasn’t a tree in the whole dang state before 1965.
I made an animation from three images I got off Penn Pilot. There’s a prep plant about a third of the way from the top on the centerline of the image. They’re late 30s, mid 50s, and late 60s. The 30s-50s were the heyday there and by the 70s it was out of service.
Changes every 3.5 seconds (and the images weren’t taken on the exact same heading!). Look how much the area just southeast of the mine changes. Its also fun to see all the post-war housing going up! But, really, look how many places regain trees or thicken in density, even as the spill area southwest of the mine grew.
Thanks to all for this thread! Even though I don’t model coal in PA (but do in SW VA) good to read how this industry formed from people with first-hand experience.
Coke ovens were notorious for their pollution. They release Toululene, Xylene, Cynide, Sulfur and goodness knows what else. It’s the main reason steel mills no longer produce their own coke. (It became too expensive to produce coke with EPA regs)
With the new sulfur requirements by the EPA, Coal fires plants are being shut down left and right. One has to wonder what will become of all these areas, their workers, and our past.
Nobody with any sense wants to go back to the old days of silicosis, backbreaking and dangerous work, low pay, environmental destruction, and social inequity. It’s important that modern society lose these negative things. But the history is intriguing, the potential modeling subjects are challenging and fascinating, and it’s always good to know where we came from. There are places where coke ovens are preserved, and the lore of deep coal mining is kept alive. One of my favorites is the Broad Top Area Coal Miners’ Museum in Robertsdale, PA. There are also preserved Coke ovens in Riddlesburg, PA and other places. It’s true that a lot of the old infrastructure has disappeared, but there are places where you can find it if you look.
