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 Post subject: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 8:20 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pm
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
Yep, word on the street is its already begun.

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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 12:48 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:33 pm
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Location: Above the Sterling Hill Mine
This is terrible news. For those who do not know, St Nick was a relatively, until now, untouched breaker. From last I was there, in pretty decent shape. I was wrongly under the impression it was safe from scrapping because it was still owned by Reading. It looks like this might be another bad year for Anthracite history...

Miner Greg


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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:23 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
From what I hear for now it's just the side that sticks out where they loaded the cars. The lower side of it nearest the road.

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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:59 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:28 pm
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Location: Winnemucca, NV
How did its demolition begin so under the radar, without any public objections voiced from the town or historical societies? The Saint Nicholas Breaker has survived this long, why the sudden urge to destroy one of the last breakers in existence? Have you taken any recent photos?

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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 3:42 pm 
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Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:15 pm
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Location: State College, PA
I have photos from approximately two years ago but I didn't go thoroughly floor to floor. Chris, where did you hear it was only the car loading area? Why would they only rip that out?


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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 4:37 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pm
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
They are a coal company, not a historical society. Basic economics, mineable coal under the breaker so it has to go. Just like what happened to locust summit. Been there lately? A couple hundred foot deep pit where the breaker was. My source got the info from the scrapers. Sucks I guess but that's how it goes......

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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 8:54 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pm
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
latest is they are only scrapping the side part, where they loaded the cars. but im sure thats just the beginning......

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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 12:31 pm 
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Location: State College, PA
Any idea if the auxiliary structures ( power plant etc) are safe for the time being?


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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:43 am 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
http://wnep.com/2013/09/23/historic-coa ... torn-down/

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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 9:58 am 
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http://republicanherald.com/news/parts- ... -1.1557212


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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:45 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
Here's the direct story Joanne, the link takes you right to their home page......

My favorite paragraph is the 5th from the bottom:



SUFFOLK - Demolition crews on Monday started to tear down parts of what was once known as the world's largest coal breaker, the St. Nicholas Breaker in Mahanoy Township.
"It's a partial demolition of the structure. They're demolishing the front loading area and the railroad loading area, which is located near the front of the structure also. They started on Aug. 26 and hope to finish by Oct. 26," Colleen Connolly, community relations coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection, Wilkes-Barre, said Monday.
The contractor for demolition is Northeast Industrial Services Corp., Shamokin, Connolly said.
James Stevens, chairman of the Mahanoy Township supervisors, said he's not sure what this means for the rest of the structure, a landmark and an icon to the age when coal was king.
"It's been an eyesore for years. At one time, they were talking about turning it into a museum but nothing happened with that. They own it and they can do what they want. I would think there's a lot of scrap metal in there," Stevens said Monday.
The St. Nicholas Breaker is just off Route 54 in Mahanoy Township. It was known as the world's largest coal breaker from the time it opened in 1931 until it closed in 1963.
It's owned by Reading Anthracite Co., Pottsville. The company has a mural-sized framed picture of it - measuring approximately 8-feet-high and 10-feet-wide - in the first-floor hallway of its headquarters at 200 Mahantongo St.
Donna B. Kempfort, Reading Anthracite's real estate administrator, said she had no information on the project Monday. She referred all questions about it to Brian R. Rich, company president.
Kempfort said Rich was out of the office Monday and was unreachable. Messages were left for him Monday but not returned.
John W. Rich Jr., chairman of the Reading Anthracite board of directors and brother of Brian Rich, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Since the mid-19th century, there were two coal breakers just off Route 54 named after St. Nicholas.
The first opened in 1861, according to the "Joseph H. Zerbey History of Pottsville and Schuylkill County," published in 1936.
"The old St. Nicholas breaker received its name in 1861 because the initial run of coal took place on Christmas Day," according to "Mahanoy Area," a 2004 book in the Images of America series by Mahanoy Area Historical Society.
"The breaker was torn down in 1928 to make way for the new central plant, which was constructed a short distance to the north," according to that book.
The second St. Nicholas Breaker was built with 3,800 tons of steel and 10,000 cubic yards of concrete, according to The Republican-Herald archives.
"Half of the Village of Suffolk was relocated in order to create room for the largest coal breaker in the world. Twenty miles of railroad track were laid, 3,800 tons of steel and more than 10,000 cubic yards of concrete were used. A mile and a half of conveyor lines, 25 miles of conduit, 26,241 square feet of rubber belting, 118 miles of wire and cable and 20 miles of pipe were installed," according to undergroundminers.com, "The Official Website Of Abandoned Mine Research Inc."
On March 11, 1931, the breaker started operation, according to the Zerbey history.
It processed an average 12,500 tons of anthracite per day, according to "Mahanoy Area Revisited," a 2013 book in the Images of America series by Mahanoy Area Historical Society.
Reading Anthracite submitted a required 10-day demolition notice to the DEP Bureau of Air Quality Central Office, Harrisburg, in August, Connolly said.
"All commercial businesses in the commonwealth are required to notify DEP within 10 days of demolition. It is a DEP Air Quality regulation," Connolly said.

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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 2:51 pm 
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Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:15 pm
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Location: State College, PA
Drove by there yesterday, the support columns nearest the main breaker are marked "save" the ones further away are marked"scrap". So itd seem it is only the railload out thats going now.


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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 9:01 pm 
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Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 10:24 am
Posts: 24
Hi Guys,

I was at the breaker this past weekend---here's what's left of it. What a shame. The landscape behind it is like a moonscape now--totally being stripped and dug up. The old air shaft is gone as are all of the old buildings and foundations back there.
Let the pics speak for themselves!
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image


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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 9:57 pm 
How many breakers are left from the golden days of anthracite mining?


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 Post subject: Re: St Nick Anthracite Breaker Being Scrapped
PostPosted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 9:09 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:34 pm
Posts: 6872
Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
This and huber

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