Storrs breaker & shaft. Dickson city-Scranton boarder off Commerce boulevard. Probably one of the last substantial mining sites left in Lackawanna county. The No 2 shaft opened up in 2009. Many buildings remain intact and are used for various industrial uses. A narrow gauge turntable still exists in the former carpentry shops.In march 1949 a slope that had been closed in 1931 was reopened. The slope contained a conveyer that was 1031 feet long to the surface. At the time the longest underground conveyer in the world. Another aspect of the Storrs was its nickname. The million dollar breaker. Designed and built in 1919 its sides were made of glass. Like the Loomis. And as its name implies cost a million dollars in 1919. This breaker replaced the original one built in the 1860's. Yhe breaker was closed and torn down between 1950 and 1955. At which time the Moffatt coal company bought all Glen Alden holding in Lackawanna county. Coal was then brought to the Taylor breaker in Taylor Pa.
Tonnage 1,150,000 tons per year
William R Storrs(December 28, 1824 - August 9, 1905
1861 became connected with The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, as their General Salesman in the western markets. In August, 1866, he came to Scranton as their General Coal Agent, a position which he has filled with marked efficiency and ability. He remained in charge of the Coal Department of the Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western company until 1898, when he finally retired from active business- 32 years of service. Also at the time of Scranton’s founding in the 1850’s a “city military guardâ€

Tony, I feel shaft #2 cap failed many years ago, no one knew until 2009. I have found several aerial photos of the area dated between 2006 till 2009. The dark spot where the shaft is located gets larger in each year.

This is 2006, the earliest the spot can be seen.


http://www.terraserver.com/view.asp?cx=447014&cy=4589470&proj=32618&mpp=0.5&pic=img&prov=gx19&stac=1542&ovrl=-1&drwl=-1

last time i was there before the subsidence was around 2007 and it was just a depression.

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Chris, why or what would made you walk behind the buildings? When you saw the depression, did you know it was a failing cap?

we were up nosin around looking for mine sites and immediately knew this building was a hoist house so we knew there was a shaft nearby. wanted to see if we could find evidence of it, so we walked around back. we didnt think the shaft was capped but filled in and just settled a bit. well it was capped a few hundred feet down, with several hundred feet of fill on top of that. it was normal, when youre done mining a deep shaft to cover over the lower levels youre not working anymore. this was done, with wood beams and it was filled on top of that. well the wood beams rotted away and down went the fill.

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They finished putting up the remaining fence around the subsidence. I was able to scoot around a section but really have no desire to go check it out. One slip and your taking a long spill. Although I wouldn't mind taking a long stick or something, attaching my camera to the end and sticking it over the subsidence. Prob a bad idea...

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does anyone have picture of this they could post?

its fenced in now.

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What is the point of the brick wall in the middle? The way it is build it looks just to be free standing , not connected to the other walls?

Speculation:

One may have been a vent shaft that was pressurized, so it needed to be separate. Or they want to keep coal hoist separate from manlifts. Split shafts are rather common in larger mines.

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yep thats exactly what it was for.

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There were four compartments in that shaft. The westerly compartment was air, the two center were hoisting, and the eastern most compartment was a pump compartment. This was identical to number 1 shaft a few hundred feet away. And there was also a seperate exclusive pump shaft located near the corner of Commerce Blvd. and Main Av. The outlet for that shaft is still next to the Lackawanna river and dated 1919 in concrete. Number 3 shaft was near Vo Tech in there parking lot. That also subsided several years ago. And last I heard they were going to make a grassy island of where the shaft continues to settle I have a video ( VHS) of the number 1 shaft down to water level before they filled it back in the late 80's. My grandfather used to exit the number 2 shaft daily as that is where he worked. So kind of neat to see where he went to and from work in Chris' s photos. Dimensions of the No 1 and 2 shafts were 34 feet 8 inches by 10 feet 8 inches.original specs and standard DL&W/Glen Alden shaft dimensions. ( if my memory serves me right ??)

Great info! Thanks.

If I ever get around to copying my VHS tapes to DVD( yes I procrostinate( spelling) Ill drop you a copy.

lol, I just saw this post and have to relate a story---my sneakers from when I was about 12 years old are in that #1 shaft on the colliery site. When I was younger, my friends and I used to play around "the Sand Pits" as we called the mined-out area behind this colliery area. We used to catch frogs and generally get filthy in the watery pits up there. We used to explore these old buildings on the site.

I remember the #1 shaft was wide open at one point. It was filed in about 50 feet down with beams and lumber and all kind of junk, and and just below the debris you could see water. We literally sat on the edge of it, our feet dangling right of the edge. I had my wet sneakers unlaced because my feet were getting blisters. and one of my sneakers fell off and right into the shaft. I threw my other one down to see if it would sink or float. My mother was furious when I got home!

Interestingly, we never knew that the Storrs shaft was right there. We never climbed up on that bank. Cripes, thinking of it now, it's probably very lucky for us that we never did!