Steel mill near Scranton PA

gantrak Oct 20, 2000

  1. gantrak

    gantrak New Member

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    Where did all of the coal/anthracite go that was mined near Scranton, PA? Was there a steel mill near Scranton? if so where?

    Joe McLain
    gantrak@yahoo.com
     
  2. Peirce

    Peirce Passed away April 3, 2009 In Memoriam

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    When I was at Steamtown, in Scranton, earlier this week, one of the guides mentioned there were four blast furnaces there which mainly made steel for rails. When the ore ran out in that area they were moved to Lackawanna, NY, according to him.

    There were quite a few railroads going through Scranton during the steam era. I would guess a large amount of the coal mined there went to their use.


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    Peirce Behrendt
    Southbury, CT
    peirce@ibm.net
     
  3. wabash_one

    wabash_one Guest

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    Also Anthracite was used extensively as a heating fuel for homes and commercial uses up till about the mid-late 1950s. Because of many factors, including numerous labor disputes, and major disruptions (such as the Knox Mine disaster), the supply became somewhat less than dependable. Also about this time natural gas, propane and other methods of heating which were less cumbersome, were being introduced.
    The transportation of Anthracite was an important commodity for many railroads for many years, and it was shipped to a rather wide geographic area. Carriers who were major players were: Lehigh Valley, Erie, PRR, O&W and the DL&W to the west and north, D&H to the northeast, O&W, L&NE, DL&W, Erie(& WB&E), LV, PRR, CNJ and Reading to the east and southeast.
    When demand for Anthracite began to wane, it had a debilitating effect on those carriers who depended heavily on it for revenue. Among the first to go were the financially weakest; the WB&E and the O&W. Eventually the impact was felt by all the old line Anthracite carriers to a greater or lesser degree, depending on how much other traffic they had to depend on, such that they all fell, one by one, until there were none.
    Good luck! Hope this helps your research.
    Bill


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    "Follow the Flag"
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    Heck, I'll drink to that!

    [This message has been edited by wabash_one (edited 12 November 2000).]
     

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