I love it when friends collaborate. One of my oldest friends, Tony Organek, shot great photos of the Wanamie, PA steam operations in the 1960's. One of my newest friends, Chris Murley of the Underground Miners, has given them a home on the web.

Check out: http://www.undergroundminers.com/oldwanamie1.html

There are 5 pages of Wanamie steam and CNJ mine runs. Really, really great stuff. Thanks, Chris and Tony!

Rob Davis

Rob, thanks for posting the Wanamie Link. Those are great photo's Tony Organek took there. Thanks should also go out to Chris Murley for hosting the site. I am glad I got to experience Wanamie myself, what a great place it was. Those Lokies sure could talk coming up the hill. One could close their eyes and imagine a 2-8-2 coming at them, that is, until that tiny whistle blew and broke the illusion.

Tony and Chris strike again, this time with snowy pics from March 1967. WOW!!!!!

http://www.undergroundminers.com/oldwanamie6.html

Rob

Great stuff! This was narrow gauge as I recall, but what gauge? Are any of the locomotives still around? What about the CNJ depot? Or the CNJ Alco or caboose?

Les

Hi:

Boy, what great photos! And taken so late in the hard coal mining "game." When was the Wanamie operation abandoned?

'Nother question: where was the ultimate destination of the coal coming out of the Wanamie mine? Was it the Huber breaker in Ashley? I can't tell from the photos where the coal went.

A look-see from google earth reveals a breaker or two and some mine workings still in Ashley and Nanticoke it appears. Am I correct in assuming that these are inactive facilities?

Thanks!

In January 2007, the National Canal museum in Easton, PA featured films of Wanamie at its annual "railroad film" night. It was amazing to see the little Vulcans wandering all over the rough track, see ashes dropped right on the ties and watch strings of cars braked with the "running application" of a skate, by a conductor/ brakeman hanging on the crude coal wagons for dear life...

I think they are in the NRHS national collection, if memory serves me. If you ever get a chance to see the films, do so!

These films, assuming they are the ones I am thinking of, were put out on a mixed bag tape by the Hawk Mountain Chapter. Not sure if copies are still available.

Three foot gauge. We discussed the possible disposition of the Wanamie steam locomotives before; here are the threads:

http://rypn.sunserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19229

http://rypn.sunserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22819

I think we still don't know for sure if #8 is at the former Wanamie site, or if it has been scrapped. As the second thread states, either #4 or #9 may have been converted to diesel-hydaulic drive by Shop Services and sent to the Fiesta Texas amusement park in San Antonio, Texas. As I mentioned in the second thread, I have been there once before, but did not get a good look at the locomotive that may be one of them. I haven't been back since, but will try to check it out in the future.

I was sent a copy of the Hawk Mountain video; it is great. No sound track, just music.

The 8 has been scrapped. Chris Murley saw it cut up several years ago.