West Virginia and McDowell County Mine Photos
Gary Hollow Coal Mines. // If you have any coal mine related photos PLEASE send them to me to post here. Thank you. |
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Gary Coal Cleaning Plant 1950
This is a 1991 article written by Greg Jordan; Old U.S. Steel processing plant in Gary comes down; Gary, Wv. - Once the largest in the world, the old U.S.Steel coal processing plant at Gary,Wv., has been demolished. Constructed in September 1948, the plant initially opened as a course coal cleaning plant,according to Michael Hornick, a McDowell County coal historian who once worked at the plant. In 1957, the plant was expanded to clean fine coal and recover what originally was lost in the cleaning process. Much of the refined coal dust was burned at power plants that used jets to inject coal dust into their furnaces, Hornick said. Thats the way we fired our dryer plant. We would use oil to get it going the first of the week and after that we`d use coal dust instead of buying more fuel oil. When it had two shifts, the plant employed hundreds of people, said Anthony Yanesh of Bluefield, who started his career at the plant in 1948 as a laborer. He spent his last 13 years there as superintendent. In its heyday we had about 200 people back in the old days, I think when it wound up and shut down permanently we had about 120 to 130 people here. Recession and lower demand for coal shut down the plant in 1982. It re-opened with a single shift of workers in June 1983 and the workforce increased to two shifts in 1984. Two mines fed directly into the plant with conveyor belts - No. 2 and No. 10 mines. Then we got coal from railroad cars from No. 4, No. 9 and No. 14 mines. The plants capacity was huge. We could process about 1,500 tons of coal an hour. Our recovery rate depended on the product we got in. If you had higher ash, you got a lower yield. With low ash, you got a higher yield. Running both shifts at full capacity the plant could process 40,000 tons a day, Hornick said, though Yanesh said that would be awfully high. The plants current owner, USX Corp.,ordered it demolished.
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A typical West Virginia Coal Mine.
This is Noah "Bugs" Robinson JR. on the right with his crew in a West Virginia Coal Mine . This is what West Virginia is all about !! Bugs class of 62 never played football , never marched in the band , but he dug a lot of coal !! as did many GHS Alumni. |
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Its Miller Time !
Noah "Bugs" Robinson JR. relaxing after working a double shift in a West Virginia Coal Mine . It was a tough but rewarding life.! |
The end of another shift in the mines !
The end of another shift in the mines and time to celebrate surviving another day in the mines!! Noah "Bugs" Robinson JR. |
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A day in the mines !!
A miner named Rommie relaxes as a mine machine passes by, notice the height of the top. !! Could you do this ? |
The "Face" of a typical mine !!
The pillars or posts hold up the top you hope as you pull back in a recovery operation and let the coal fall as you run !! .....Not a fun way to make a living !! |
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Mine Instruments
This drawing shows a map of # 9 (Filbert) mine, the sanlick haulage. Item on left is a safety light , Latern nick name Possum Light, used to check for black damp, air without oxygen , one can run into this several places under ground, the flame will go out you will too if you don`t get out of this area, its also used to find methane a type of gas underground, will blow up easy and fast, flame will start to rise.; Middle item is a anometer(anemometer) used to measure velocity of air underground, telling you how much air movement you have in any one place, plenty of air keeps methane and black damp down.; Item on right is a methane detector, spotter, used to locate methane. This came out later, around 1977. This drawing was made by John Hornick Sr. and provided by Noah "Bugs" Robinson Jr. |
No. 9 Mine inside Watson Heading
These are some pictures of the Watson Heading Haulage behind the shop. It goes through the mountain and comes out over on Long Branch. No. 9 Mine closed down in 1986 and has never reopened. Remarkably, it still looks exactly like it did in 1966 when Buddy French started working there. Only the trolley wire is missing. Many times Buddy French ran locomotives through the mountain. These photos are of the mine taken recently. Contributed by Buddy French, courtesy of Pete J. |
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No. 9 Mine Watson Haulage
This mine operated for over eighty years , many tons of Coal came from this mine , it was closed forever in 1986. Its kind of strange for me to look at these pictures knowing my Dad worked in this mine for over thirty years , also his Dad and his brother Steve worked in # 9 mine as well, they must have passed through here many times. He used to talk some about # 9 mine , I wish that I would have paid closer attention to what he said. |
No. 9 Mine Watson Heading Portal Today
It seems to me that when the mine was closed that things were left where they sat. Nature seems to be reclaiming the land , the portal will eventually cave in and all will be forgotten with time. Its sad that so much History will be forgotten. This photo contributed by Buddy French GHS 62 |
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Filbert No. 9, as it looks today.
Filbert today is quiet and sleepy compared to what it was in its prime. I can remember the noise, trains and coal everywhere. Mostly retired folks now , not many kids running around like the old days. Photo provided by Buddy French |
# 9 Watson Heading Portal 1994
Deterioration of the Mine just inside the portal. Provided by Buddy French |
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# 9 Spice Creek Portal
Large rock blocking entrance of No. 9 East Side Portal which led to Spice Creek. Contributed by Buddy French |
# 9 Maintenance Shop
This is whats left of the shop, tracks leading to the shop are gone. |
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