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Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones I rode motorcycle through Gagnon Canada a few years ago... another "ghost town" street signs and driveways... but everything else is gone. pretty surreal . the old airport runway is still there.... we made a couple high speed runs on the bikes just for kicks... https://www.amusingplanet.com/2020/0...on-quebec.html
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Originally Posted by John T Interesting reading..... https://www.wgal.com/article/central...nd-now/6164007 Good pictures there, they talked about the Mammoth Vein. Well it is a MAMMOTH of a vein to be sure. Blaschak Coal Co is diggin in it, thats where I am workin these days, where they are mining now the vein is smaller than where the fire was I was told. Itrolls up and down and now they are on the north side of the vein in a basin (where it goes down and comes back up). Basins are generally pretty thick compared to the dips, the saddles usually are as well. If you get on Blaschaks websight they have pictures and some videos of where they are diggin We drove a gangway alongside a basin at the bottom in a bootleg hole i worked in many years ago. We drilled a hole into the side of the basin and never hit rock on the other side and we had 100ft of coal steel in it. We took a few samples for a test burn and it was some of the best burning coal we had. Its hard to work those basins from underground though you get a lot of squeeze from both sides. This wasnt the Mammoth vein it was one of Lykens Veins. We worked that Vein on the south side for 3 years it was strait pitch there for about 200 feet up then it pinched down to about 7 inches so we robbed it back. We were in that gangway about 1200 feet or so it took 4 years to rob it out. My wifes Pap worked in one the collieries over near Centralia between Ashland and Centralia and was in the Mammoth Vein. He had some intresting stories to tell
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Interesting reading..... https://www.wgal.com/article/central...nd-now/6164007
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Well we finished it and before i got the chance to take a picture of the finished truck they yanked it out from under us while we were wrappin things up. Seems they blew the motor in one of the other trucks and needed it in a hurry, so off she goes on her maiden rebuilt voyage. So they brought us another one to work on, this one wont be as involved and might only take a few days. I will get some pics up if i remember to take them. I probly wont be doin as much work on this one Im gonna go deer huntin for a few days so it might be done and gone til i get back to work, but there will be another one to work on if not somethin else to fix. I will be workin on it tomorrow so I hope i remember to take a picture or 2 to put up here You folks have a Happy Thanksgiving and remember the blessings the Good Lord has given each of us. Dont forget to turn the scale back about 20 pounds or so before dinner
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Originally Posted by Popeye an old miner Attachment 1719127 A bit of redneck engineering Attachment 1719148
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Attachment 1719127 A bit of redneck engineering
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Makin some progress on this Cat 785Attachment 1719074Attachment 1719075Attachment 1719076Attachment 1719077Attachment 1719077 Got some of the wear plates put in on the floor, and I am rebuilding the back corner big hole in it from when they were runnin the exhaust through it in the winter i think, in any case there was enough mud to plant taters in it, even found a rat nest in there from just settin there
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Awesome post, thank you. Please, keep them coming
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Originally Posted by Bls repair Destruction is always more fun then construction Yes it is
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Destruction is always more fun then construction
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Originally Posted by idacal This rig changeover was the first time i actually used jet arc longenough to be decent with it, not good but decent. My welder is just a 302 miller but i found i could cut a bracket off without melting the wires behind the frame rails Way less heat in the steel. And the boogers that rolled down my back are just about healed. Ouch Many years ago when I had my first weld rig i got a job do cut down the old chute the hoppers and the structure it sat in at a breaker. It was what they call the pockets around here to load trucks when they ship coal. I started this job with a torch and a #8 cutting tip, they supplied the bottles after the first day i burned up 5 or 6 hell maybe even 7 Im not sure oxygen bottles and 1 big acetylene bottle, so the next day i used a #4 tip and used the just about the same. I suggested gettin a bank of oxygen or a big liquid oxygen deal but they didnt want to do that. I said hey Ill go to Minersville to weld supply and get a jetarc and some carbons. We will put your compressor up above the pockets with my welder beside it and I will cut this thing down. I picked up 200 ft of #4.0 weld lead as well and the connections. They kept me in gas for the welder and diesel for that big ol IR tagalong compressor Them folks down in town never heard such a racket in their life between the noise from me cuttin and droppin this old iron from 80 feet or so they thought there was a war goin on. Evry sidewalk superintendent in town was their to watch this show, hell even the mayor himself came to see what was all the excitement was about. 5 days later the whole thig was down. I took 8 boxes of 3/8 carbons. I had more fun cuttin that thing down than i ever had in my life, one thing I found out is demolition is a great way to bet rid of the frustration of life. I used my old Big 40 with a Continental F163 motor, the whole rig would shake on its tires like a 16 year old girl gettin laid for the very first time, the old Continental would snort and carry on like a bull til she got goin. Some folks say that jet arcin will kill a welder, the old girl actually welded smoother and better after that workout. Mrs K sent my future son in law down with me she heard about all these goins on and wanted him there to make sure i was ok. He helped move the weld lead and the air hose around on the iron mostly. He told Mrs K after the first day that I was a crazy nut but I would be fine because it looked to him like I was born to be a destructive little bastard. Make a big cut give it a kick and away she goes...bang when it hits the pile of iron already there, after a bit at this section i would go to another spot and cut some while their guy in the loader would push the pile I had just cut out of the way. 6 weeks later I got turned into an ironworker and helped to build the new facility, I had already built the new chutes and hoppers the winter before. I still have that ArcAir K4000 jetarc, I rebuilt it 3 or 4 times since then and Johnny still talks about them 5 days. Ahhh the fun I used to have when I was young and dumb and thought I was indestructable
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones This rig changeover was the first time i actually used jet arc longenough to be decent with it, not good but decent. My welder is just a 302 miller but i found i could cut a bracket off without melting the wires behind the frame rails Way less heat in the steel. And the boogers that rolled down my back are just about healed. Ouch
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Originally Posted by farmersammm If you look at deposition rates, wire is always ahead of stick. It's simply more efficient. I agree 100% there Sam. Same thing with jet arcin verses using a #12 banana tip for cutting off old wear plates and gouging etc. What I can do with a box of 3/8 carbons takes 3 bottles of oxygen. Sure you gotta set up the jetarc, that takes about 5 or 10 minutes, and you gotta run a welder and compressor. Im not gonna say its any faster but for me it works. I can do nicer job than with a torch, and Im pretty damn good with a banana tip, but it just works better for me. In the end its what the results are that count, in this case less grinding than with a torch, and Im not throwin as much heat into whats left of the iron. Rob and Paz 2 of the fellas I work with quite a bit, are very good with that torch, hell they are surgeons with a torch and they prefer the torch, and Im not gonna tell them they cant use it if they want to. but hey its all good
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones I understand that ,but how do you explain that to someone who would rather save 16 dollars but is ok with paying $450 to to have 5 guys stand around for 2 hours.
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones If you look at deposition rates, wire is always ahead of stick. It's simply more efficient.
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Originally Posted by Bls repair Yes it is , his thinking 25lbs of wire verses 50 lbs of rod He sent a guy out to get 2 sheets of plywood for forms. He came back with finished plywood ( $8.00 a sheet more expensive). Next day sends the guy back to exchange for cheaper plywood. In the mean time a crew of 5 making about $75 per hour with benefits is waiting around for two hours for the plywood. He might have been thinking that 'saking' doesn't stick as well to AC plywood finish??? LOL!!!!! I see the same thing when we're on bigger jobs spend 30 bux to save 10 cents
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Yes it is , his thinking 25lbs of wire verses 50 lbs of rod He sent a guy out to get 2 sheets of plywood for forms. He came back with finished plywood ( $8.00 a sheet more expensive). Next day sends the guy back to exchange for cheaper plywood. In the mean time a crew of 5 making about $75 per hour with benefits is waiting around for two hours for the plywood.
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Originally Posted by Bls repair If you had a magic wand and got it done instantly it wouldn’t be fast enough for some people. Oh I know this, some of these small mom and pop outfits to hear em talk they were born 3 million dollars in debt, had to borrow 30 grand for their own diapers but they drive around in brand new trucks and have the biggest house that can be built. So when I get these fix it jobs I dont say squat to nobody...I just cut apart what I know needs cut apart fix it right as long as the steel is available. It usually works out good for me that way, they knew that it all needed done and they understand after a bit of thinkin that hey this cat saved me some downtime fixin it now instead of later. Question i got for you though Bls is where does this guy think that runnin wire is more expensive? Only thing I can think of is he is supplying the weld rods, A 50 pound box of 7018 is just about as much as a roll of Innershield isnt it?....not to mention the time involved in gettin another rod verses just runnin the wire.
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones If you had a magic wand and got it done instantly it wouldn’t be fast enough for some people.
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Ron... There was a lot of things goin on up there what should not have been goin on...I heard one kid got beat up pretty bad by a bunch of punks, a girl was raped a few years ago, some drug deals happened, keggers, and generally just bad place to be on a saturday night. I never been on that road myself but I seen pictures of it and yeah its some nice artwork but there was a lot of goings on that need not have been so they shut it down...not that it will do much there is dirt trails all over these hills and you can get just about anywhere you want to on a dirt bike or a 4 wheeler
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones It been awhile since i looked at this post. I been bowed up like a rooster in a henhouse, things got real busy elsewhere and i been goin 14 hours a day and more the past month or so, workin on this thing here and doin other jobs back at the shop and workin on this thing and that thing at home.....so here is some more pics of this Cat785 dump body we been workin on. It was supposed to rain 3 days strait so we pulled it out of that hole and stood the box up so we could work on the bottom like men instead of crawling around like worms. Attachment 1718273 First thing i had to weld was this so the box would stay up. Attachment 1718275 Attachment 1718274 It aint been easy workin on this under here, and i know it dont look pretty what with water and dirt runnin down through the gaps i had to fill, not the best way to position myself and so on but it will stay together and do what it supposed to do. I had a young lad helpin me and he kept burnin me up so he was helpin the guy workin on the apron, that fella left for another job so I am doin the apron now. We still got a bunch of stuff to cut off the floor and the new wear plate to put in yet....then we got another one just like this one to do so it looks like i got a lot of work in my future. The maintnance manager is happy with what he is seein he just wishes it would go faster
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones ]In Utopia I never heard of that, i know when the river blew through the mine up in Pittston back in 1962 i think it was the river did get diverted a bit. Thats all ive heard about that. the river diverted itself into the mines due to an error in the depth of the shaft beneath the bottom of the river. ONce the water started eroding, there was no stopping it. The mining company did divert a railroad siding toward the whirlpool in the river and started shoving rail cars into the hole to plug it up. It is known as the Knox mine disaster. and that is what put a stop to underground mining in the wyoming valley. There were several small stripping operations for a while. Now it's all gone.
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones My wifes grandmother is from over that way, her dad worked in one of the mines back around the 1900s
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Originally Posted by In Utopia Might have been the fire in Carbondale. Can't find info on it, but I thought they cut a channel to it but when the water started flowing it just turned to steam. One of my grandfathers worked that Carbondale mine back in the 20's. I worked with the Department on the design to put the Carbondale fire out. Pretty interesting to go through the property and check temperatures. It will be all reclaimed shortly, if it isn't already.
Re: Centralia PA...we took this one down to the bones Originally Posted by Popeye an old miner There isnt much to see, just a bunch of steam and smoke comin up, the town for the most part is gone they tore most of the buildings down. Kids used to go up there and paint the one road, i think they close it off and buried the road this summer One young boy did fall in a hole his older brother or cousin pulled him out, there is an article about it if you google it Say it isn't so. I've been through there a few times and remember seeing the road.
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