Taken at the St. Nicholas Coal Breaker in Mahanoy City, PA. One of many pairs of boots, still sitting in the locker room, the men wore while working the breaker each day.

lori mike and I visited this fantastic place today.

The Old St. Nicholas Coal Breaker, located just outside of Mahanoy City, was constructed in 1930 and began operating in 1932. Half of the village of Suffolk was relocated in order to create room for Reading Anthracite’s Old St. Nicholas Breaker, the largest coal breaker in the world. 20 miles of railroad track were laid, 3,800 tons of steel and more than 10,000 cubic yards of concrete were used. A mile and a half of conveyor lines, 25 miles of conduit, 26,241 square feet of rubber belting, 118 miles of wire and cable and 20 miles of pipe were installed. When the breaker was constructed it was divided into two sides. Each side could be operated independently, producing 12,500 tons of coal a day. Once the raw coal enters the production process within the breaker it took just 12 minutes to pass through the entire breaker. For 31 years, the Old St. Nicholas Breaker prepared all sizes of famous Reading Anthracite for the markets of the world.

Nikon D80, 17-55 lens, 1/8 sec., f/2.8 @ 34mm, ISO 200 As Shot.

Shot and uploaded 4-26-10

Featured in Rusty Crusty & Falling to Bits

Featured in Welcome Pennsylvania

Featured in Cee’s Fun Artsy Friends