Montour # 4

Read Bob Ciminels' report on Montour #4.

 
Located at Milepost 31.05, Hills consisted of Station 135, No. 4 Mine, and 136, the Montour - PRR Interchange.
 
There were very few restrictions regarding the mine in the 1940 employee timetable, other than that engines would not clear the tipple. The interchange consisted of two tracks, with the outside track for deliveries to the Montour and the inside track for deliveries to the PRR.  Both tracks held 55 cars and the lead between the Montour main track and the inside switch could hold 30 cars and could be used for either Montour or PRR deliveries.  There was a bill box at the PRR end of the interchange and conductors were required to include the car number, initials, contents, destination, date and hour of every car dropped at the interchange.
 
One interesting tidbit in the timetable was the restrictions on cutting engines into the middle of a train.  This was only allowed when moving PRR coal between Library Junction and Hills, and then the helper locomotive could be cut in behind the cars going to the PRR. The 1947 timetable restricted engines on the No. 3 track in the mine's loaded yard.
In the 1968 timetable, that restriction applied to track No. 2.

The Montour No. 4 mine sat on the McMurry Syncline, where the coal seam was at 700' to 740' MSL, dipping upward to the northeast.  The original mine was located along the creek below Lawrence and was about 100' deep.  The Hills shaft accessed the coal down dip toward the southwest and was about 140' deep.  The aerial photo shows the Hills Shaft before they began hauling waste out of it.  It was just a load out for the Montour, as there were no facilities for the miners there.

Montour #2 was opened around 1914 according to the 1913 Penna Bureau of Mines Annual Report. The report states 'Montour 1, 2 and 4, new shafts open just down to the coal.

Click on the images to get a high resolution view.

No. 4 as it appeared in 1956	One of the little treasures given to me yesterday, another angle from the Feb 1957 mishap in the loaded yard at Montour 4.  A Super photograph with a abundance of Montour hoppers loaded with gigantic chunks of  Champion Coal...  Even though this is a low res scan, look west and see if you can spot the water tank... Gene P. Schaeffer
This is a back lit view of the tipple at Montour 4 in February 1957, one of a few that excaped my preservation efforts from long ago, but came into my possession. The 1 - 2 - 3 that you see indicates the loaded yard track numbers that we talked about sometime back...starting the numbering sequence from the track closest to the main,  and note loaded track 4 has yet to be constructed. The date of the photo is Feb 1957 which resulted from a  serious accident probably where the difficult to see circle is at the frog.   Can you image seeing a entire empty and loaded yard full of Montour hoppers ? Common practice during those years... Gene P. Schaeffer	Found this photo of the loaded yard at Montour #4 looking west. I have others looking east but the locomotives are blocking the track layout. - Gene P. Schaeffer

Montour #4 Train Orders - Gene P. Schaeffer

When empty's were delivered - since most came from west of #4 - Champion - McDonald - even Hills Transfer - would that mean that train orders would state "run by back in" ?

Yes, most train orders stated, Run By and Back In. Which depending on the size of the train You could go 25 car lengths by or 125 car lengths with Run By and Back In.
 
When issuing the Run By and Back In, you had to keep in mind any crews coming west from Mifflin or Library as a Run By and back In could put you into a troublsome situation if you issued a order to a westbound to the West End of Thompsonville as the distance between the East End (empty yard) of Montour #4 and the West End of Thompsonville was less than a mile. Westbounds would usually recieve a meet order on the 77 East that read...
 

A FRA Inspector I knew well from all of his visits to the property, scolded me in the use of Run By and Back In. I told him this wasn't my doing, but the doings of  Company as this is how I was taught. He informed me using run by and back train orders was a "no-no" and you could easily put yourself into a cornfield meet situationas your overlapping train orders.

Train Orders to the end of the main line at Salida could not contain Run By and Back In as the property ended at Salida. So train orders were issued Run Extra Champion to East End Salida.

Would a train of empty's be doubled to shove back into the yard or shove the whole string?

Most often empties were shoved into the yard in one bunch unless a single unit crew was pulling in Boyce and the typical 100 car orders that a single SW-9 would have trouble pulling. This may of been different prior to 1970 when VHF radios were in use on the Montour RR.

Did #4 receive many cars from east - Salida or Snowden?

When the Mifflin Extension was constructed, the Bessemer Agreement was created allowing empty hoppers coming from Mifflin, mostly B&LE cars in later years, a trip under the tipple at Montour 4 as well as down the Library Branch to #10 so stop off coal could be returned to Champion, unloaded then the B&LE cars reloaded East.

If the empty yard was full of empty's - were extras stored at Thompsonville?  Or was the amount of cars monitored closely so this did not happen?? 

When #4's empty yard was filled, extras were left on Hills Transfer. Thompsonville was used for crews coming out of Mifflin with empty's. Thompsonville was also used when problems occurred out on the main and #4 loaded yard need relieved, so loads from #4 were shoved up to Thompsonville until crews were available to move coal to Champion. You only had to be careful when sending empties to Westland or Montour #10 as there was no place to leave them if you sent too many.
 
Pulling loads out of Montour #4 loaded yard often required atleast one long double, by many times crews doubled over as many as 3 times to have enough tonnage for their westward train, or making the moves to keep MET and STEAM coal in blocks. When Montour 4 and Montour 10 were working steadily, with crews still going to Mifflin, Montour 4 could be a congested place with 2 or even 3 road crews trying to get through there at one time. Some of the train orders were written stating;
 

 
Or
 

 
The voices of many Montour RR employees who are no longer with us are wonderful reflections about how this little railroad operated. Listening to Train Dispatcher Bill Gregory and his demanding voice left quite a impression to a young boy growing up with big eyes full of Montour RR anticipation...

This is a 1939 aerial view showing the relationship between Montour No. 4 and Thompsonville Siding. The Montour main track curves off to the left in the upper part of the photo and the Hills Interchange with the PRR's Chartiers Branch goes off to the right. At this time, the Lawrence shaft and production facilities for No. 4 mine were still active and the center of activity.

Flooding eventually terminated operations at No. 4 mine, the McMurray borehole is used to monitor the water level in the No. 10 workings, and  is approximately at the point where mine No. 4 abuts No. 10. By monitoring at McMurray, CONSOL can determine if they need to increase pumping at the Hahn AMD plant on Hahn Road to prevent overflow into Chartiers Creek. The Hahn AMD (Acid Mine Drainage) plant draws water from the lowest point in No. 4 mine. The lowest point in No. 10 mine was at the Murdock borehole, which I have not been able to locate. - Bob Ciminel

Topographic map of the Montour No. 4 area

#4 Mine Portal Found
Bryan Seip

 

 

 

 
Looking down inside the portal

This map shows the tipple and dump track at Montour No. 4.  When minin stopped in 1980, the mine extended southwest to the Hahn Portal on Hahn Road.  The Pittsburgh coal seam at that location is about 660 feet above sea level; the elevation of the seam at the conveyor belt is about 740'..  So the mine trains had an 80-foot climb from the working face to the dump track. The low elevation of the coal seam is why the hoisting and supply shafts, as well as the air shafts, are all located in stream valleys - not as far to dig to reach the mine workings.  The surface elevation at Hahn Shaft is 918'.  That put the mine workings about 260' underground.  Bob Ciminel

 Map of the tipple area of Montour 4

Here's a shot looking down the tipple portal. I used to recall how many steps to the bottom, just not sure the exact count now???? 324??? I shoulda' wrote it down.

The mine fans were still on, the cold air rushing past, picking up fragments of coal dust disturbed by my movements, the rattle of corrugated metal, squeaking and clanking of various components of the tipple created an eerie environment to being there alone that late evening. The humming of the power house heard through out the valley still filled the cool night air.

Just walking from the tipple to the portal was an event in daylight, the walkway had open grating, one could look past their feet and see the Montour main track far below. At night, shadow's from the tipple lights would distort this scene adding to the one's imagination's. I can recall looking back over my shoulder on many occasions, noises causing shivers to flash up and down my spine, as I explored the tipple for the final time. Tim Sposato
 

Hickman Fan & Substation

FIRE

Around 11:30 a.m. on Friday, June 10, 1960, a fire of unknown origin started near an automatic car spotter at the discharge end of a conveyor belt.  The area was a neutral air zone, equipped with an airlock that allowed only enough air flow to prevent methane accumulation.  Consequently, there was insufficient air movement to remove the smoke from the fire, which prevented fire fighters from reaching the blaze.
 
There were nine men working on the section and the first concern was to safely evacuate them.  Although opening the airlock would have allowed fire fighting to begin immediately, it would have allowed combustion products (particularly carbon monoxide) to reach the miners on the section.

It took about an hour to get the men to safety, but by that time the only way to reach the airlock required responders to wear oxygen-breathing apparatus.  The airlock wasn't opened until 3 o'clock that afternoon, giving the fire three-and-half hours to burn out of control.
 
Firefighters used water to fight the fire until 9 p.m., at which time they switched to a high-expansion foam generator.  By that time, the fire had spread over a large area, causing massive roof cave-ins and generating high concentrations of combustible gases.  The area of the fire was eventually sealed, although the use of foam did protect the fire fighters and stopped the spread of the fire into the pillars supporting the mine roof.
 
Fire fighting equipment available in Montour No. 4 consisted of a wheel-mounted 150-pound dry chemical extinguisher and two 20-pound dry chemical extinguishers in each working section, along with 1.25-inch waterlines extending to the coal face.  The waterlines could deliver 35 gallons per minute at 450 psi.  Each mine locomotive was provided with a 20-pound extinguisher.
 
The mine had five portable fire cars located at strategic places in the mine.  Three fire cars were equipped with 2,100 gallon tanks and 600 feet of fire hose and the remaining two cars had 900-gallon tanks and 350 feet of hose.
 
Two high-pressure pumps supplied water from a dam to the area affected by the fire.  Water in the dam was supplied from a well with provisions to tap into a city water line if needed.  Both of these sources were used during the fire described above.
 
(Source: "Use of High Expansion Foam On a Pennsylvania Coal-Mine Fire," U.S. Bureau of Mines Report, T. J. McDonald, 1961)
 
 
Bob Ciminel