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 Post subject: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Sun May 27, 2012 10:46 am 
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Hey Guys!

I've been down the Huber breaker lately, trying to photograph as much of it as I can before it either gets scrapped or falls down of its own accord from rust-rot (a serious possibility after what I've seen there lately), and wanted to post up some photos of a roof fall that happened not too long ago. This is in the gondola "room" where the massive suspended conveyors would load the 60-ton gondola cars on rails.

I was photographing this part of the place when a kid called out to me. He came out of the shadows dressed in some "Scooby Doo Miner 49er"-looking get-up and told me not to get scared, as he and his friends were (if you can believe this?) "shooting a music video on the top floor" for some techno-rock/electronic something-or-other; in any case, it didn't sound too smart. The last thing you want to be doing is sending vibrations and bass through the old corroded steel in this place!

Anyway, he told me to be careful in this area, because "a few weeks ago" this roof fall occurred. He said that they used to drink right in this floor that collapsed; he said they were in the old power-building (the brick one) when they heard this mighty crash and rushed over to find dust choking the air and this scene. The girders had rotted through and the cement floors came crashing down.

Anyway, I've been crawling through much of the old interior, and I am absolutely shocked at the level of rust-rot and degradation to the steel girders. Honestly, it's only a matter of time before another large collapse happens, given the state of the steel in the lower interior. Strangely, the top of the breaker is in much better shape than the lower, but I'm assuming that because once the moisture gets in there from above, it doesn't have much of a chance to dry out? Man, but there's a lot of dirt around too--and that traps moisture as well. We dirt bikers know that...lol.

First of all, here's my "informer", lol...

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Here's some pics. Here you can see the fallen roof;

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And the concrete down, here...

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Look at the beams just twisted from the force! And one of the conveyors has fallen through the concrete.

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I'm sure you guys have seen the #1 slope adit/exit for the coal conveyor?

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Some more of the interior:

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Look at the rust here! This is in a main crossbeam on about the third floor!

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Lotsa bad rusting a a partial collapse in here too.

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Hope you guys enjoyed them!

miner doog, aka. Karl Logan


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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Sun May 27, 2012 10:10 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
we were down there a few months ago and this looks worse than then. wow. i wouldnt be worried about it being scrapped. the entire breaker is painted with asbestos infused paint (the reason its still in decent shape) the environmental clean up would cost more than the scrap value of the steel.......

also, that photo you have listed as the "#1 slope adit conveyor" was actually the conveyor that went under the rotary dump for the mine cars brought out of the no. 7 slope and the conveyor itself was not actually connected to the mines.

i like the last photo, cool lighting.....

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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 10:10 am 
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Location: SW Indiana
Chris,

Is the corrosion seen in pic 10 wide spread or is it local to beams that had contact with coal? Or maybe some other reason. It seems strange that a steel beam would rust through like that, even exposed to weather. From a structural standpoint that beam is gone.

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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 2:34 pm 
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Chris,

Thanks for that info! I didn't know about that rotary dump thing, but I did think it odd how small the diameter was--I'm still learning about coal mining, and my ignorance is not for lack of enthusiasm for knowledge, but it's had to find specifics about things like that. I know that there was a slope near there, and that the shaft house is now gone (I looked for both of them, but couldn't find anything definite). What happened to that slope? Was it filled in?

Man, I didn't know about the asbestos paint, either.

Also, what's up with that huge hole dug out/subsided right under the big "Blue Coal" sign? That seems to be a fairly recent excavation? Know anything about it?

Doug,

I"m sure that Chris has better info than I do on the reasons that that beam may have rotted through, but I can tell you that in the innermost bowels of the coal breaker, there is just a ton of dirt and rock laying around over everything, and I think that maybe the rot is from moisture that gets trapped in there and doesn't get a chance to dry out? Also, I think that they used to spray the coal to keep dust down, and there may have been some reaction with the steel for some reason? I'd love to know why too; it scares me to think that there are more beams like that underfoot that you can't see when walking around in there.

The upper part of the breaker is in MUCH better shape than the interior for some reason. I think it gets more wind and dries out quicker, thereby eliminating corrosion. In the deepest part of the breaker there are "pockets" of severe rust and degradation--those beams over the gondola room are in serious danger of letting go, and there are other nasty rust-rot spots happening in some other areas. What's scary about it is how random it all is. The St Nick's breaker is in MUCH better shape, in my opinion.

Do either of you know what this big red tank is? It was on about the 4th or 5th floor, and was capped on top.
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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 5:57 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
that beam is interesting. ya know all the times we were there we were always trying to figure out how the entire thing worked instead of looking at the general condition of the building. i would tend to agree that anything with coal sitting on it will most likely rust faster due to reasons mentioned.

as for the slope, i was wrong, (it happens from time to time) its the no.5 slope not 7. heres some great drawings, photos and text. lots of great info and old pics here:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?co ... &maxCols=2

one of the drawings is the layout of the property. you can see the head house and conveyor going to the rotary dump, and the slope with hoist house.

that hole is there because the property owner was attempting to dig down and find the first bed of coal that wasnt mined directly under the breaker. the plan was to see how much coal was there to increase property value saying he could strip it. however he cant because you cant fire off shots 500 feet from a main road or railroad tracks and that property is both. what im surprised about is that he didnt hit the slope. its right there, must have just missed it. anyways, spend some time on those pages above, cool reading.

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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 7:59 pm 
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Hi ; This is Miner I just looked at your pictures of the roof fall at the Huber Colliery. These are very good pictures. The colliery was top of the line in colliery .I thought that that the Woodward colliery was great ,but can not come close to the Huber. I am looking for any information on the Woodward Colliery if you can help me out please e-mail at jskawinski7@verizon.net ,thanks Miner :D


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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:53 am 
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Those drawings are nice and detailed. I might see how large they would print. Anyone interested in copies?

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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 2:40 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
hey doug, theres a nice one on the dorrance fan complex as well, just search it.......

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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 10:51 pm 
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Hey all,

Thanks, Chris, for that link--very cool stuff there; I downloaded them all and pored over them. Great info there. And that's prety interesting about the "big dig" in front of the Huber. You can see things in the side walls, like concrete, perhaps. I wonder how close he got to that #5 slope? It looks like the slope was up above the powder house fairing from those drawings though? There's no trace of it now...

I have to also point you to this guy's videos on Youtube-he's explaining the Huber breaker in a tour-format. VERY smart guy here; hell, you guys probably know him? I think his name is Eric. Check out these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sysoxa4e8Pk (part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ZQ2hK5 ... ure=relmfu (part 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW_p3H3SD4w (part 3)

I really enjoyed this guy! He explains the whole process--Menzie cones, separators, shaker tables, and interestingly, he even may explain that rusted-out beam? He says that, as the coal got broken into smaller and smaller pieces, it got more acidic--so much so that they had to use terra cotta and then even glass tables to catch the washed coal. They couldn't use metal after a while because it would corrode from the acidic reaction. I wonder if that beam somehow was in a position to catch spray that was laced with corrosive acids?

I got some more cool photos the other day; the lighting was excellent, and I'm starting to learn how to get the most out of this new camera. Got some cool, atmospheric shots.

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Here you can see the collapsed floor.

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That "Eric" guy said that this was a "vibrator" that broke apart the frozen coal in the foreign coal cars in winter. Hmmph? Who knew? lol

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Cool "Archimedes Screw"-type elevators!

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Does Anyone know what the heck this HUGE catchbin was for?

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I also went exploring around an old colliery area where my great-grandfather and great-uncles worked. Two were miners, one a mule boy there--it's been reclaimed, and the #7 drift where my cousin and I used to hang out as teenagers is buried, but I found a drainage tunnel. It says "1922" on it, but it's collapsed about ten feet in. Still, I was thrilled to find it.

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Hey "miner": sorry but I don't know anything about the Woodward!

Thanks again for the conversation and info, guys!
Cheers, Karl


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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 1:24 pm 
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great pics........ eric, hmm do we know him...... must be this annoying kid: http://undergroundminers.com/eric2.html

:lol: :wink:

edit....... also, is that concrete tunnel in moosic near kmart?

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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 2:56 pm 
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yeahhhhh those are my movies, there not that great and have to be redone. I still have a bunch more that I have to make and put up on youtube. Im glad you like them! :lol:

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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 8:26 pm 
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Chris wrote:
great pics........ eric, hmm do we know him...... must be this annoying kid: http://undergroundminers.com/eric2.html

:lol: :wink:

edit....... also, is that concrete tunnel in moosic near kmart?
Hey Chris,

Yup; you got it right on both counts!

I'm impressed that you knew the tunnel location, but you probably remember my original post on here about my relatives? ha ha ;)

I had a cool day yesterday--did you guys ever see the Stackhouse Colliery remains down near Shickshinny? Check it out--here's some history I got from the web about it:
From: Oscar Jewell Harvey.
Published in: A history of Wilkes-Barré, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

""Just below town, however, was a colliery and breaker, called Beach's mines from the owner.
Nathan Beach, of Beach Grove, Salem Township (see Egle's "History of
Pennsylvania," page 884) diagonally across the river from the Mocanaqua
mines ; Mocanaqua mines also owned by Nathan Beach, of Beach Grove,
Pennsylvania. He sold these mines to Carey and Hart, of Philadelphia (hence
the early name of Hartville instead of the present one — Mocanaqua). Carey
and Hart sold to the Duponts, they to Major Conyngham and Company, of
Wllkes-Barre, they to Simpson and Watkins, of Scranton, and they to the
present owners, the Dickinsons, of Scranton and New York.

"The mines on the Shickshinny side of the river were opened by Nathan
Beach, the owner. His grandson. Dr. Erasmus Crary, in 1840 invented the
first inclined chute that had been used in the coal industry, sending the coal
down from the mountin by this chute ; it was then loaded in arks or boats for
shipment to Philadelphia and elsewhere. The next one to operate these
Shickshinny or Rocky Run mines was Nathan Beach Crary, in 1858. He was
a grandson of Nathan Beach. Later, Mr. Crary leased Beach's mines for a
short period to Jesse Beadle, who paid the lease by the out-put of coal. Later,
in 1865, Mr. Crary sold them to Stackhovise and Weir. In 1866, owned by
Cyrus and John Stackhouse, which became under them the Salem Coal Com-
pany, and finally ownership became vested in E. S. Stackhouse, the present
owner. Thus through the years, the history of ownership is briefly: ist.
Beach's mines with Dr. Erasmus Crary and N. B. Crary operating. 2d. Salem
Coal Company (Cyrus and John Stackhouse). 3d. and last, E. S. Stackhouse."

WAHOO, baby! This is some REAL "History" baby! This sucker is ancient! And that inclined plane is STILL THERE!

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A few of the gears still lay strewn about.

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The inclined plane--could this be one of "THE" original inclined planes spoken about in the article there?! Man, that's exciting!

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And ok--I need you guys' expert opinions. About 100 yards above the remains of the inclined plane, I came across this--I say that this is an old slope adit, sealed up? You can see that there's a concrete barrier in place, and a drainage pipe emerging from it. There is also a good length of rusted, rotted pipe in front of it, buried in the leaves and soil. The main runoff stream that comes down the mountain here actually flows mainly to the right of it, but there is runoff going over this and accumulating in a pool beneath--normal, I would think for the depression in front of the adit. What do you guys think?

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Lastly, just want to say that if anyone from the public is viewing this post and decides to go down there, please DO NOT take anything from the colliery ruins!! This is HISTORY, and you should LEAVE IT WHERE IT LAYS!!!!

OH! P.S.--Also, I got some firsthand info about that ceramic-tiled basin in the Huber. That was apparently where the silt was collected to be then transported out to the culm banks by that elevated conveyor thing. Cool beans.


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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 8:29 pm 
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BELLAERIC wrote:
yeahhhhh those are my movies, there not that great and have to be redone. I still have a bunch more that I have to make and put up on youtube. Im glad you like them! :lol:
Eric, those are GREAT videos--you really helped me learn a LOT of info, and straightened me out on a lot of misconceptions about what I was seeing/am looking at in my photos. I'm subscribed to your channel. Keep 'em coming! It's fabulous stuff, really!

I love the one about that shaft house and frame---I think you said that they were going to reclaim that or something? I almost cried--I would have loved to see that and photograph it before it was gone! :(


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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:25 pm 
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hey, kinda have 5 different things going on in this thread....... but i like disorganization 8)

the concrete tunnel, i recognized it as we were there about 10 years ago rummaging around for old openings. thats all we found there.

yea, bella actually does a pretty decent job on those videos. id say im proud of the boy but i dont want to make that tarts head any bigger than mike a. already made it.......


saw some of the shickshinny mines but never this place. real cool, nice find!

and finally, the springdale shaft. its still there last in knew. take 81 to mahanoy city, make a right on north main street, go under the rr bridge, make a right on park place road and itll be out there a little bit on your left. you cant miss it.......

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 Post subject: Re: Huber Breaker roof fall
PostPosted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 10:25 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
hey, kinda have 5 different things going on in this thread....... but i like disorganization 8)

the concrete tunnel, i recognized it as we were there about 10 years ago rummaging around for old openings. thats all we found there.

yea, bella actually does a pretty decent job on those videos. id say im proud of the boy but i dont want to make that tarts head any bigger than mike a. already made it.......


saw some of the shickshinny mines but never this place. real cool, nice find!
i would definitely say you found one of the old mine holes. especially the way its sealed off and the drain pipe is coming out with flowing water......


and finally, the springdale shaft. its still there last in knew. take 81 to mahanoy city, make a right on north main street, go under the rr bridge, make a right on park place road and itll be out there a little bit on your left. you cant miss it.......

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