Bucket List Item, Centralia

 Friday, July 23, 2021

One of our Bucket List items was to visit the ghost town of Centralia.  This town that once had 1200 residents has only five or fewer residents left.  In 1962 in an effort to clean up the town trash dump it was set on fire.  That fire caused the mine tunnels beneath the town to catch fire and is still burning today.  There really is nothing there but some empty streets and a house or two where the last of the residents who refuse to leave live.  There are three cemeteries.  The famous tourist attraction known as graffiti road was destroyed just a short time ago.  It was a section of Route 61 that buckled from the heat but drew the curiosity of tourists and four-wheelers etc.  It was covered with graffiti.  The road has since been covered with mounds of dirt and is now impossible to see.  We waited a little too long to go and see Centralia.  Just goes to show "don't put things off."  Some other smaller roads have been hit with graffiti but it just isn't the same.

Coal Mine fire ventilation pipes.

The bottom picture is from the internet.  That was what Graffiti Highway looked like a few years ago.  The top two pictures we took on our visit there.  The highway has been completely obliterated.

Just outside of Centralia was this Shrine.  The Byrnesville Shrine of the Blessed Mother.

The second part of today we visited the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine in Ashland, PA.

This was an anthracite coal mine that ceased operation in 1931.  In 1963 it was retimbered and was opened to the general public.  You ride into the mine in old mine cars rebuilt to carry passengers.  Once inside the mine, you alight from the cars and follow a guided tour to learn about deep mining methods.  Our guide was an experienced miner of over 20 years.

After the mine tour, we were able to ride a narrow-gauge steam train aboard the Lokie Henry Clay.  Lokie is a colloquial term for the small locomotive.  It travels 3000 feet along the side of Mahanoy Mountain.

Our train operators.  The man on the left was our mine tour guide.

Bootleg Mine

On our way to the Lost Mine Brewery, we came across this covered bridge, Johnson No. 28, built in 1882.

Our last stop of the day was the Lost Mine Brewing Company and Restaurant.

Notice the coal car flight holder.