Search Results

'The Gaston Gas Coal Company, Gaston Mine Plant. Located one half mile South of Hunsaker Bridge on West Fork River. Owned by James Otis Watson and successor to American Coal Company's mining plant, built in 1852 at the Baltimore  and Ohio Railroad Depot. This mine founded in 1875, closed in 1925. Picture shows 15 drop-bottom railroad cars called 'Hoppers.' These cars average 55 ton coal carrying capacity.'

1. Miners at Gaston Mine Plant

This miner is mostly likely testing for gas  in the Bethlehem Mine at Barrackville.

2. Miner Testing Air in Barrackville Mine, Marion County W. Va.

'An overall view of the new plant at Williams No. 98 Mine of Consolidation Coal Compnay (W. Va.) is shown. Coal comes from the mine on a 558 foot conveyor belt at the left to the top of the plant past the old tipple (shown dark against the new structure) which is now being removed. Through intricate processes it is screened and sized and loaded into railroad cars on four tracks which pass under the tipple (center). Impurities removed from the coal are carried on another long conveyor to a hilltop slate dump shown in the extreme upper right corner. This mine is named for Eugene Williams of Romney, W. Va. Mr. Williams is Chairman of the Board of Western Maryland Railroad. Williams Preparation Plant, convering over three acres of floor space on eight levels is a steel and concrete structure 100 feet high and fully enclosed without a single window. this windowless 'factory' is a mystifying innovation to all who visit the plant. It is equipped with a ventilating system, fluorescent lighting, and a complete vacuum type dust collection system that gather in all air borne particles at their source. All of these measures promote health, safety and good housekeeping. The raw coal is delivered to the preparation plant at a rate of 450 tons per hour by a 558 foot belt which picks up the coal at the rotary mine car dump at the bottom of the slope. After the coal is crushed down to 5 inch top size the raw coal is fed into a 15 foot diameter chance cone yielding 278 tons of 'float-kleen' coal per hour. The washing process operates on the principle of gravity separation, a fluid mass of sand and water being utilized as the density medium. Designed and built by Fairmont Machinery Company placed in operation March 31, 1953;  No windows, dust collection system; track storage, 100 empties, 80 loads; Present daily capacity, 8500 tons; potential daily capacity, 15,000 tons; coal reserves, 80,000,000 tones, Pittsburgh seam; slack dried, centrifugal and thermal dryers; oil treating facilities for stoker grades; served by two railroads, WM and B&O; Plant named for Eugene Williams of Romney, W. Va. Board Chairman of the Western Maryland Railroad.'

3. Williams Preparation Plant, Consolidation Coal Company

Marion Shovel Model 28 during strip mining.  Donkey is pulling a cart.

4. Marevsky Strip Mining Operation

Hutchinson Mine is located in Marion County.

5. Horse Drawn Coal Car and Miner in Hutchinson Mine, Hutchinson, W. Va.

Marion Shovel Model 28 at work.

6. Hardesty Strip Mining Operation