Huber Breaker Preservtion Society Mine car restoration

WOW! Looks like a Lot of work Ahead of you! And it Looks like you did a lot of work too! Great Job and good luck with this resto!

Hi DON,

  Wow it is a lot o work ahead, indeed.  But with what you accomplished with the Watchman Shandy, I know this will turn out great.  Remember pace yourself.  Maybe ask ANDRE to do a model?  Just a thought.

Hey, Donny!  Seems like you'll take on any RR restoration project.  Sounds like this one is a worthy cause;  Part of your local history out there.  Wow;  First the restoration of the concrete gateman's or switchman's building.  Now this!  Where do you get the energy?  Good luck on this project and keep us posted as to how it's going.

Paul Fischer

Ah, a good old knuckle-skinner job - great project! 

Firewood posted:

Ah, a good old knuckle-skinner job - great project! Are these mine cars and/or shuttle cars from the breaker building itself?

This is a fun project. The cars are from the Franklin Mine, another operation owned by the same company. These were on the Blue Coal site during demo, but I don't think that they were used there.

laz1957 posted:

Hi DON,

  Wow it is a lot o work ahead, indeed.  But with what you accomplished with the Watchman Shandy, I know this will turn out great.  Remember pace yourself.  Maybe ask ANDRE to do a model?  Just a thought.

It's not that difficult of a job,  and the hard work is mostly done. At my age, I am slowing down, definitely some muscle pains after turning all those rusted nuts!

I am thinking of building a model myself. By the time I finish, I'll know it inside and out. 

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

WOW! Looks like a Lot of work Ahead of you! And it Looks like you did a lot of work too! Great Job and good luck with this resto!

Thank you. I am enjoying this project, and it's finally one that is fully mining related. The switchman shanty and mast signal are more RR related, but directly tied to the mining in Ashley, as the CNJ yard shared space with the coal company. 

fisch330 posted:

Hey, Donny!  Seems like you'll take on any RR restoration project.  Sounds like this one is a worthy cause;  Part of your local history out there.  Wow;  First the restoration of the concrete gateman's or switchman's building.  Now this!  Where do you get the energy?  Good luck on this project and keep us posted as to how it's going.

Paul Fischer

The mast signal, which was sandwiched in between the shanty and the mine car, was supposed to be my last project according to Theresa, but she said this is definitely my last for sure! The energy is beginning to wane. Even though I can still do just about everything I did 20 years ago, it takes more time, and causes more aches and pains. 

Here are some photos of the completed car with the first of two pickups of coal. There is a 3/4" plastic sheathing false bottom eight inches from the top.  I covered the sheathing with felt paper to hide the white of the sheathing. There are holes in each end of the false bottom to drain water, and the same in the steel bottom. The car was completed in September, and we are now making arrangements to purchase a steam lokie that hauled these cars from the mine to the breaker. The lokie will go to Youngstown for a rebuild.

That is what can assuredly be called a Job well done!

Lew

geysergazer posted:

That is what can assuredly be called a Job well done!

Lew

Thank you Lew. I, and those who worked on this project enjoyed it. We are looking forward to our stem lokie restoration next.

A locomotive, even a Porter-size is a much bigger project. Who is doing the boiler work?

Lew

Great job DON!!!  Where did YUZ GUYZ get the Lokie at?  I ran the one at Ashland in the summers of 09-12.  They had two there at the Pioneer Tunnel, one worked the other was sitting in the barn.  Good luck with the Lokie, fun engine.

geysergazer posted:

A locomotive, even a Porter-size is a much bigger project. Who is doing the boiler work?

Lew

Lew, the lokie is going to the Youngstown Steel museum. They will be doing the lions share of the restoration, and at no cost for labor. We will be responsible for supplying parts and materials. Some of the less involved work will be done locally.

laz1957 posted:

Great job DON!!!  Where did YUZ GUYZ get the Lokie at?  I ran the one at Ashland in the summers of 09-12.  They had two there at the Pioneer Tunnel, one worked the other was sitting in the barn.  Good luck with the Lokie, fun engine.

Thanks George. The lokie is privately owned by Neil Vierson of Vierson Boiler in Grand Rapids MI. Us Guyz are excited to return the #9 home. It served at Wanamie, below Nanticoke, and at the Loomis in Dundee, Hanover TWP. It last ran in 1969.

laz1957 posted:

Great job DON!!!  Where did YUZ GUYZ get the Lokie at?  I ran the one at Ashland in the summers of 09-12.  They had two there at the Pioneer Tunnel, one worked the other was sitting in the barn.  Good luck with the Lokie, fun engine.

When we visited with our Granddaughter in 2014 it was a great experience with experienced knowledgeable people describing Anthracite mining.

Lew

geysergazer posted:

laz1957 posted:

Great job DON!!!  Where did YUZ GUYZ get the Lokie at?  I ran the one at Ashland in the summers of 09-12.  They had two there at the Pioneer Tunnel, one worked the other was sitting in the barn.  Good luck with the Lokie, fun engine.

        

          

When we visited with our Granddaughter in 2014 it was a great experience with experienced knowledgeable people describing Anthracite mining.

Lew

Glad you had a great time there LEW.  Good people there.  I wish I lived closer fore I'd still be there in the summers.  But the drive along with a 12 hour day getting the Lokie up and running and then putting her to bed is tough on the body.  It was fun.

DON,

  Good Luck with the Lokie.  I learned a lot with that little engine.  Not that tough to fire up and run.  Had some problems one year with the tubes and they were all replaced.  That was an experience for sure. 

  As a side note on the Lokies from the Pioneer Tunnel.  They were purchased in 1962 from a mining operation in Hazleton, my hometown.  The two Lokies that they purchased were run by my next door neighbors who were brothers.  I didn't know this till I got the job at the Tunnel.  My MOM asked me about the engines and their numbers and she was right that the two engines were ran by the neighbor brothers.  Small world. 

Great job on the car; a great project to be involved in, and please keep us posted on the lokie progress. 

Great job on preserving history!

Firewood posted:

Great job on the car; a great project to be involved in, and please keep us posted on the lokie progress. 

 

Thank you. I will certainly post updates on the lokie.

colorado hirailer posted:

Great job on preserving history!

Thank you.

 The mine car is now filled. Nate Novak called me this afternoon to make arrangements to deliver the second and final load. Nate is a miner, and has a history of miners in the family. Thank you Nate, the mine car project is now complete! Nate is the young fellow in the photos. My wife Theresa is also featured.

Now that looks like some beautiful chunks of Anthracite.....decidedly not mine-run 

Lew

laz1957 posted:

Great job DON!!!  Where did YUZ GUYZ get the Lokie at?  I ran the one at Ashland in the summers of 09-12.  They had two there at the Pioneer Tunnel, one worked the other was sitting in the barn.  Good luck with the Lokie, fun engine.

Nice work on the mine car restoration.

It's been a long time since I went to the Ashland Pioneer Tunnel. We plan on going there this summer, I should've went more often, I live only 15 mile north of Ashland.