The Franklin colliery mine cars at the huber site have been saved from the torch. The 36" gauge 5 ton capacity mine cars, both of them, have been relocated from the colliery site. One was drug over to the park and the other moved to a site to be restored. Then the one at the park will be replaced with the rebuilt car and that one refurbished. Glad they were able to finally get a hold of these.

http://www.pahomepage.com/story/d/story ... rGB4FP7riw

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Glad they were saved.

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What were these mine carts used for?
Also, they were made for the breaker that stood before Huber was built, right?

2 Coal Cars Donated to Miners' Memorial Park in Ashley



3/20/14 6:10 PM

Ashley, Luzerne County -- It's a rescue mission of sorts to preserve the memory of our region's rich coal mining history. Two coal cars were salvaged first thing Thursday morning from the old Huber Breaker site off South Main Street in Ashley.

Crews carefully loaded one of the coal cars onto a flatbed. The cars were salvaged to be located at the nearby Miners' Memorial Park that sits in the shadows of the old breaker. Historians believe the coal cars were probably made in the 1950's and built to carry between 3 and 5 tons of coal for processing. "A coal car is very symbolic of what was going on underground and the mining that occurred in the Wilkes-Barre Scranton area from Shickshinny all the way to Forest City and just our coal field alone fueled the industrial revolution," said Huber Breaker Preservation Society President Bill Best. The cars that were believed last used decades ago show signs of wear and tear. "We're hoping to couple both of them together on a section of track," said Mr. Best.

Paselo Logistics, the current owner of the breaker site, is eager to help the Huber Breaker Preservation Society on its mission. "They asked about acquiring the cars and we said absolutely," said Paselo Logistics Production Manager Chris Kehoe. "And we're trying to help them even further along with the memorial with anything we can help them with."

For now, you'll only see one coal car at Miners' Memorial Park. The other was taken away for metal restoration work. But you can tell at first sight that the coal car delivered to the park needs some refurbishing work, too.

Some people already like what they see. "It looks nice. It's a good thing that they're doing this," said Louise Cavanaugh of Ashley. She believes the park that's a work in progress will help teach children important lessons about our mining history. "A lot of things from this. They should learn everything."

The Huber Breaker Preservation Society hopes to have one of the coal cars fully restored by Memorial Day.

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Although a quick google search has turned up some english information, this artical should give a pretty good representation of what a mine car is used for....

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minecart


In terms of the former breaker, the cars belonged to a seperate colliery NE of the Huber. The Maxwell 20 was the original breaker on the site.

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I'm not sure about you either, Fred. I'm not even sure what prompted your response... However, I think it should be quite obvious that im interested in UG rail haulage, because im interested in all aspects of mining. And 'realistically', im more 'hands-on' in the industry than anyone else on this forum.

As cool as mine and industrial rail systems are, i'm not a foamer. My goal is getting material on the ground most efficiently...be it by rail/belt/truck. So, no, i'd have to say your psycho analyzation is incorrect.

I've worked with a lot of rail equipment, and its awesome stuff from a historical perspective... but by today's standards, its nothing more than a pain in the ass.

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So, were small 4-legged animals ever used to pull the mine carts??

It'd be amazing if ponys were used to pull the mine carts.

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Thanks, Banks, good response ! Only thing I'd like to add is that when I said "I don't know about you", that was my own, personal and feeble-minded attempt at humor.

Actually, I think you are allright!

Regards,
Fred M. Cain

Actually, at my last employer (an RV factory not a mine, unfortunately) I worked with a guy who'd grown up in Kentucky in heavy mining country. He told me that they had been using goats in the mines. He had a pet goat as a kid that he used to ride to school when he had polio that had evidently been retired from a local mine after they got electric trammers.

Do you believe that or was he pulling my leg? You have to know the guy. Could've been either one.

Regards,
Fred M. Cain

I have several pictures of mine cars being pulled by goats and dogs. In really low seams that is all that will fit.

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Here were these cars 10 years ago. they were in a bit better shape then. im not sure when the franklin colliery closed but these things were all over the place down there in the 90s. too bad i never got to see it before it was all scrapped. as a note, most of the mine cars in the northern field that are on display or laying around are from the Franklin Colliery. all the mine cars at the lackawanna mine tour are from there, but modified by cutting them down lower. there is one on display near the susquahanna river upstream of wilkesbarre. there is one upside down with a pile of other mine junk in nanticoke, there is one or two at casey kasa's breaker near wanamie. there is the one that we had for awhile that carl (oldforgecoalmine.com) took and restored. there are these 2 and there are still 4 on the site squished under concrete pipes. the angle bar across the top of them is so the coal doesnt slide out of the car as they were pulled up the slope that was a pretty good incline.

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Chris,

Did ponies pull the carts up the slope? Maybe a whole team of ponies pulled the carts up the slope???

Why did the ponies pull the carts up the slope anyway? Wouldn't it be easier to pull them down the slope?

Whats a slope?

Do you have any pictures of the ponies?

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Maybe this will clarify John, only the pink ponies could pull the cars up the slope. The regular ponies and to pull them down the slope.

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Oh so it took special powers to pull the carts up the slope then. I'd really like to see one of these pink ponies!

What color were their manes? Did they have special horse shoes too? Did they even need horse shoes?? Did they need lights or did they have night vision? What did they eat?

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They were mules. Maines were pink, blue, white, grey, and green. No horseshoes. They do not eat. Several dozen should still exist. I know some people who know some people and may be able to locate one to display with the mine cars. Isn't it amazing the ideas you inspire!

http://buckscountyalive.com/mules/miles ... me=bcalive