Engine coal question

[NW Mailing List]

Regarding the engine coal question raised earlier and the post from  Bruce
in Blacksburg regarding the Empire Mine:

I feel fairly certain that the Empire Mine and the Altoona Mine were two
different mines located on slightly different areas of Little Walker Mountain.
 Every source I've found indicates that it was the Altonna Coal & Iron
Company that constructed the narrow-gauge railroad leading from the
Virginia & Tennessee RR at Martin's Station (present-day Pulaski) to the
mine site known as the "Altoona mine" in 1878.  A source from 1886 mentions
the Belle Hamilton as being another mine operating near the Altoona mine
and a 2003 source indicates that the Belle Hamilton mine was also known as
the Empire mine.

Re: the (only) coal mined in Pulaski and Montgomery counties was anthracite

I think in-general it's true that in terms of large-scale, commercial
production of coal (particularly post-1900)  that the region was primarily
known as a producer of semi-anthracite/anthracite coal.  But I believe
there was also production of soft-coal done during the pre- and post-Civil
War periods that shouldn't be ignored, even though production was likely
limited and consumption mostly local.

Multiple sources indicate both semi-bituminous and anthracite was found in
the region. One account from the Altoona Mine that states that both soft
and hand coal were found at the site and specific mention was made
that the soft
coal was used in furnaces for the manufacture of salt (at Saltville) while
the hard coal was used by the furnaces of the Bertha Zinc Company.

To avoid sending 1000+ words to the mailing list: I put a page online with
all my notes (that I could quickly find) on the Altoona mining operation,
along with a 1856 V&T map showing the "Altoona Coal Field" and several
"coal pits" in the area, together with links to the books that served as
sources of information on the subject at:
http://wvrailroads.net/index.php/Altoona_Coal_%26_Iron_Company

J. P. Lesley wrote an account concerning the coal fields found along the
route of the V&T that was published in the 7th Annual Report of the
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. If someone has access to that report it
might reveal some insight into the subject of coal along the V&T.
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