Buck Mountain Coal Co Tunnel (Rockport PA)
Buck Mountain Coal Company Gravity Railroad Tunnel (1840-1862)
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 the fall of 1839 and completed within 12 months at a cost of $80,289. The first load of anthracite was shipped via gravity railroad to canal boat in November 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. Later, a single steam locomotive was delivered from Philadelphia to power the empty coal cars from canal to mine.
The gravity railroad brought coal to Rockport for 22 years until a flood ravaged the Lehigh Canal on June 4, 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, replaced by extensions of the Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad by 1867.
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. Further, the Hazleton Railroad would transport the anthracite to interchange with the Lehigh Valley Railroad at Penn Haven Junction (seven miles down the Lehigh River from Rockport). In consideration, Buck Mountain Coal would furnish its first 1,000,000 tons of coal for transport and remove its gravity railroad track to Rockport.
Buck Mountain Coal shipped via the Hazleton Railroad (acquired by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1868) for the next 20 years. With nearly 3.5 million tons of coal shipped since the company's founding, and a belief that further supplies were limited, Buck Mountain Coal Company ceased operations in November 1883.
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 from west to east, depositing mud and debris. Fallen rock at the tunnel's east portal has caused sediment to collect throughout the bore, reducing the tunnel height to just four to five feet in the eastern half. Any remnant of the inclined plane descending from the east portal has been lost to erosion.
Note: This text and accompanying photos are the copyright of Christopher Muller and may not be reproduced in whole or in part on any website, message board, or other medium.
Read MoreRockport, 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 the fall of 1839 and completed within 12 months at a cost of $80,289. The first load of anthracite was shipped via gravity railroad to canal boat in November 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. Later, a single steam locomotive was delivered from Philadelphia to power the empty coal cars from canal to mine.
The gravity railroad brought coal to Rockport for 22 years until a flood ravaged the Lehigh Canal on June 4, 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, replaced by extensions of the Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad by 1867.
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. Further, the Hazleton Railroad would transport the anthracite to interchange with the Lehigh Valley Railroad at Penn Haven Junction (seven miles down the Lehigh River from Rockport). In consideration, Buck Mountain Coal would furnish its first 1,000,000 tons of coal for transport and remove its gravity railroad track to Rockport.
Buck Mountain Coal shipped via the Hazleton Railroad (acquired by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1868) for the next 20 years. With nearly 3.5 million tons of coal shipped since the company's founding, and a belief that further supplies were limited, Buck Mountain Coal Company ceased operations in November 1883.
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 from west to east, depositing mud and debris. Fallen rock at the tunnel's east portal has caused sediment to collect throughout the bore, reducing the tunnel height to just four to five feet in the eastern half. Any remnant of the inclined plane descending from the east portal has been lost to erosion.
Note: This text and accompanying photos are the copyright of Christopher Muller and may not be reproduced in whole or in part on any website, message board, or other medium.
