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Montour # 10

Bob Ciminel's report on Montour #10.

Montour No. 10 Mine was Station 148 at MP 36.84 in the 1940 timetable.  The speed limit between Library Junction and Snowden was 15 mph and retainers had to be set up on 75% of loaded cars traveling between the junction and Library.  There was a crossing watchman on duty at Montour No. 10 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturdays.  No watchman was on duty on Sundays and holidays.  In the 1948 timetable, the watchman's hours were changed to 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
 
The 1968 timetable adjusted mileage on the branch.  Library Station was now located at MP 37.16 or 0.32 miles farther from Library Junction.  Also, the 1968 timetable designated the Library Branch as the B&O Branch between Library Junction and Snowden, although the mine is still listed as Station 148.
 
By 1977, Library is no longer listed as a station and the branch was downgraded to the Library Secondary Track.

The Montour #10 Mine was on the western edge of the Amity Anticline and the coal seam rose from 860' MSL at the mine's western boundary to over 1,050' MSL at its eastern boundary.  The mine had two main entries into the valley wall on each side of Piney Fork.  The seam was about 1000' MSL there with the tipple at around 960' MSL. That's why the coal cars traveled on trestles into the tipple.  Piney Fork had cut into the anticline, exposing the seam on both sides.  A great place to put a mine!  The McMurray Syncline and the Amity Anticline are why Montour No. 4 was a shaft mine and Montour No. 10 was a drift mine.


Montour No. 10 Mine image from 1956


Click the image for higher resolution

The entry to the West Mains for Montour No. 10 went under Cardox Road.  There was a trestle across the road northeast of the mine entry that went to the waste dump on the other side of Cardox Road.

RJ Lane standing on the Cardox Trestle remains

There was what looked like a trail or some kind of ROW going down from the main ROW toward those three blocks of concrete in Troys photo shoot. There was a lot of coal on the ground here and what looked like part of a mine car switch [small spikes] frozen in the ground this location - Carter Roth

 
The Montour #10 and #4 pumping station is part of the mine drainage system CONSOL has to maintain to keep the two mines from overflowing into Chartiers Creek.  The creek is the low point for both mines.  Montour No. 10 is higher than No. 4, but the breeched barrier that cause No. 4 to flood in 1980 have essentially turned both mines into a single mine.
 
 
Cardox Pumping Station

Montour #4 - #10 Facility
Cardox Pump Station
 
Consolidation Coal Company
1800 Washington Road
Pittsburgh, PA  15241-1421
(412) 831-4000
 
Permit Number 6377302

 


What looks like a mine entrance just to the left of this photo was a CB retaining wall against the hillside going back into said hillside. This is what looked like a dirt mine seal and this seal at ground level was the water discharge. The actual seals for the East and West Main are far back into the hillsides.  They backfilled out to the surface after the concrete seals were installed.


Is this one of the old mine entrance?

I agree with you that there was an old mine entrance here next to the concrete block wall. It is now all blocked with a big pile of dirt. I could see a little bit down into the mine in a little "groundhog" hole above the dirt fill. There was a lot of water coming out of here. - Troy Bogdan

 


Click on the image for higher resolution


Click the image for higher resolution

 

Ruins near the No. 10 Tipple

Former Montour employee Carter Roth examines the Montour #10 tipple remains

This is the sign behind the laundromat (former company store) that needs preserved. It is made out of three sheets of painted steel with 2 bolts underneath (and probably two bolts above) each piece of metal. You can see where the elevator shaft in this building is located. - Troy Bogdan
 

RJ Lane and Carter Roth standing on the original rails at Piney Fork. This is located at the driveway to enter the Sewage Treatment Plant. Notice the ends of the rail are painted fluorescent, I mean flamboyant, orange. - Troy Bogdan