Loaded cars going out of Mine | Historic Pittsburgh

1907

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Title
Loaded cars going out of Mine
Identifier
MSP33.B009.F01.I12
Source Identifier
MSP33.B009.F01.I12
Description
The Vesta Coal Company, a subsidiary of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, employed various types of rolling equipment in their mines. A coal car known as a “wagon” was used to haul raw coal from the mines to the coal breaker. These cars also transported rock from the tunnels below to the surface. Some company mine cars were equipped with side hand brakes. The brakes were always on one side of the car and were applied easily by depressing the brake handle. The Vesta No. 4 Mine, once the largest bituminous coal mine in the world, contained over 100 miles of track. Each trip of loaded cars arriving at the tipple contained approximately 500 tons of coal. Transportation of the cars was handled by an elaborate system of tracks within the mine. All trips throughout the mine were controlled by an automatic signal system similar in design to the contemporary railroads of that time. A dispatcher was present day and night to dispatch the empty and loaded trips into and out of the mine.
Genre
photographs
Subject
Vesta Coal Company.
Coal cars.
Coal trade.
Coal mines and mining.
Source
Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation Collection Photographs, 1864-1953, MSP 33, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
Contributor
Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center
Collection
Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation Photographs
Rights Information
Copyright Not Evaluated. The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
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