Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum here but have always been fascinated with coal mining and railroad history. Originally from Olyphant and a former Steamtown NHS volunteer. I'm curious to learn more about Continental and the history behind the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour. It was awesome to see some photos of restoring the mine for tours.

What I wanted to know is what other properties and mines did Continental own? Is the tipple at the mine tour original or is it a replica? Did the mine have connection with rail service (the O&W Capouse Branch nearby) or did they ship by horse and later trucks? Any information on the history of the operation would be great. Thank you very much!

why dont you come up and ill give you a tour! tipple is original but its been remodeled and i belive the coal was shipped by truck (in later years anyway) to the moffat breaker in taylor about a mile away

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Continental was just one indivdual mine owned and operated by the DL&W coal company. The breaker burned in 1919 and was not rebuilt. 190 is only called the Continental because it lies within the original underground boundaries of the Continental colliery.Slope 190 was opened in 1959, and last actively mined in November of 1966. Mc Dade park which it is located within was a project by the USBM and its successor OSM. The land was donated by the Moffatt coal company to the federal goverment. strip mine pits were filled, the area seeded. During 1972 and 1973. The state opened and operated the Anthracite museum in the park late in 1974. Congressman Joseph McDade arranged for the mine tour itself to be constructed as the park combined with the museum made the 190 a natural site for such a tour. Numerous roof falls were removed within the slope itself between 1977 and 1979. ( the gangway was in near perfect shape). The underground portion sat 90 percent completed as the then county commisioners felt the county had no business in the tourism business. Elections in 1984 unseated those commisioners and the newly elected officials looked at the tour as an excellent way to boost the local economy. The tour was finished during 1985, and opened in Ocotber of that year. The original oepning of 190 occured three years after the Ontario and Western abandoned operations. It was always a truck operation. The tipple is all original, with the only alternations being the walls were covered and a new roof installed. Coal mined at the 190 traveled about three miles to the Taylor colliery where it was processed.

Excellent! Thank you very much for the background information about the site. I am curious though, the tour guides mention that the site has been mined continuously since 1860, but I assume they're referring to the entire land surrounding 190 when it was a full colliery operation. I had no idea 190 was so new, but it makes sense due to the fact that the gangways and chambers don't go very far.

the 190 as tony and newt pointed out was part of the moffat operation. the moffat was operated since the late 1800, hence the relation to the dates. the tour glorifies it a bit, but the portions of the mine that were worked that early are deep under water in the valley, but it is connected through the flooded slopes, working and gangways. newt (nick) and tony (miner 490) are both tour guides up there, and are pretty knowledgeable about the operation. you should request one of their tours if you return again. as tony mentioned the part you see in the tour was only worked for a few years. another interesting point, is that the 190 slope was driven from the inside out. it was getting too expensive to take the coal underground from the workings to the foot of the moffat shaft. so they drove the slope up the pitch punched through outside and created the 190 slope. same story with the old 179 slope a few blocks away. myself and tony have a bunch more old photos of the 190 if youre interested.......

chris

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Oh absolutely, I'd love to see more! I always take friends from out of town on the tour and firmly believe it's one of the best out there. I'm only a student in the Lehigh Valley so I travel home (Olyphant) often. I was on the planning committee for the 2010 NRHS convention in Scranton and made sure the Coal Mine Tour and the Pioneer Tunnel were incorporated into it. As I mentioned, I'm mostly a railfan but I've been getting more and more into coal mining history lately. I blame it on visiting the Underground Miners website lol!

hmmm, the ugm site... i know nothing.... hehe. anyways, yea check out the no.9 mine tour as well. we do all the maintenance down there keeping the place open for tours. pretty good stuff there. for 190, did you see everything i have posted on the ugm site for it... b&w shots, as well as color, also, check out the lehman 179 page. real close by (a few blocks) and part of their ventilation system. besides the page on our site, these are from there as well..... http://undergroundminers.com/bw6.html and http://undergroundminers.com/bw7.html pretty much what 190 looked like before restoration. these were took several years ago before this mine was sealed with a gate. let any one of us know when your in town again we would be happy to give you a personal tour. also, look forward to attending a ugm tour that newt and zach are giving soon.........

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muahahahahaha

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Dunder Mifflin, the people persons paper people.