Buck Mountain Gravity Railroad
Rockport, PA
This is a neat little cave to visit. Its located in Lehigh Gorge State Park by Rockport PA. If you don't like spiders, you won't want to walk through it.
Buck Mountain Coal Company Gravity Railroad Tunnel
(1839-1862)
Rockport, Pennsylvania
The Buck Mountain Coal Company was incorporated on June 16, 1836 to mine anthracite coal near the border of Carbon and Luzerne Counties in Northeast Pennsylvania. To bring its coal to market, the company established a 4.3-mile gravity railroad along Laurel Run to the Lehigh Navigation Canal at Rockport. Railroad construction began in 1839 and completed within a year. The first load of anthracite was shipped via gravity railroad to canal boat in 1840.
At the base of Laurel Run, the gravity railroad required a 135-foot tunnel through a bluff above the Lehigh River. From the east portal, an inclined plane lowered coal cars approximately 70 feet to a water wheel-powered breaker and the Lehigh Canal. A second plane was required at the railroad's western end near the mines. With the exception of these two short planes, loaded coal cars descended by gravity and empties were returned by mule power along the same route.
The gravity railroad brought coal to Rockport for 22 years until a flood ravaged the Lehigh Canal in 1862. The canal quickly reopened to
Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), but destruction of dams and locks prevented navigation to Rockport and points north. Buck Mountain Coal
concurrently filed suit against Lehigh Coal & Navigation and sought an alternate path to market. The "Upper Grand" section of the canal from
Mauch Chunk to White Haven would never reopen.
On November 4, 1862, Buck Mountain Coal reached an agreement with the Hazleton Coal Company that would spell the end of the gravity railroad. Hazleton Coal would construct and operate a 3-mile railroad from Clifton, just below Buck Mountain Coal's mines, to its own Hazleton Railroad at Hazle Creek Junction, two miles northwest of Weatherly. In consideration, Buck Mountain Coal would remove its gravity railroad track to Rockport.
Now abandoned for 150 years, the gravity railroad's lone tunnel stands at Rockport as a reminder of early mining, railroad, and canal history in
Northeast Pennsylvania. Water flows through the tunnel, depositing mud and debris. Fallen rock at the tunnel's east portal has
caused sediment to collect throughout the bore, reducing the tunnel height. Any remnant of the inclined plane descending from the east portal has been lost to erosion.
At the base of Laurel Run, the gravity railroad required a 135-foot tunnel through a bluff above the Lehigh River. From the east portal, an inclined plane lowered coal cars approximately 70 feet to a water wheel-powered breaker and the Lehigh Canal. A second plane was required at the railroad's western end near the mines. With the exception of these two short planes, loaded coal cars descended by gravity and empties were returned by mule power along the same route.
The gravity railroad brought coal to Rockport for 22 years until a flood ravaged the Lehigh Canal in 1862. The canal quickly reopened to
Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), but destruction of dams and locks prevented navigation to Rockport and points north. Buck Mountain Coal
concurrently filed suit against Lehigh Coal & Navigation and sought an alternate path to market. The "Upper Grand" section of the canal from
Mauch Chunk to White Haven would never reopen.
On November 4, 1862, Buck Mountain Coal reached an agreement with the Hazleton Coal Company that would spell the end of the gravity railroad. Hazleton Coal would construct and operate a 3-mile railroad from Clifton, just below Buck Mountain Coal's mines, to its own Hazleton Railroad at Hazle Creek Junction, two miles northwest of Weatherly. In consideration, Buck Mountain Coal would remove its gravity railroad track to Rockport.
Now abandoned for 150 years, the gravity railroad's lone tunnel stands at Rockport as a reminder of early mining, railroad, and canal history in
Northeast Pennsylvania. Water flows through the tunnel, depositing mud and debris. Fallen rock at the tunnel's east portal has
caused sediment to collect throughout the bore, reducing the tunnel height. Any remnant of the inclined plane descending from the east portal has been lost to erosion.
Date: 9/3/2014
Time: 12:30pm Duration of Investigation: 30 minutes Solar Activity: n/a Moonphase: Waxing moon; 63.52% full Temperature: Mid 70s Weather: Sunny Humidity: Low |
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