... and other stuff that is still there and interesting...............................518 Main Street Irwin PA 15642

 

Carpentertown PA

and "Slope Hill" Mine no. 2

The quest to find Mine no. 2 began when I was on the PA Turnpike headed east from New Stanton PA. I was driving a Subaru Tribeca with an on-board, in-dash GPS with maps on a dash display. It showed a railroad spur crossing right thru the Turnpike; right thru it, not thru an underpass. On the way back, I saw it again on the GPS map and noticed some signs of RR right-of-way on either side- an unpaved road and a tree line.

Determined to track the RR line down, I began a journey thru USGS maps, aerial photos and finally the Virtual Coal Miners Museum. http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.ancestry.com/carpentertown.html  Carpentertown Mine no. 2 was far enough away from the actual Carpentertown town that I needed a key clue to the name of the mine -- the road running to it was "Carpentertown Mine Road" -- duh !

This research did uncover a new resource - the PennDOT historical maps of PA counties. Below is a zoom-in on the 1941 map. It shows our favorite forms of transportation all on one map - railroad, streetcar and the Turnpike.

The actual town of Carpentertown is in the map square #39 off of PA Route 981. It included Mine no.1 and Coke Ovens ( which we address in a future trip ). By 1941, the Boyer Run branch of the PRR coming from Hecla ended at Mine no. 1. The red line shows the branch continuing on to Mines no.2 and 3. Note the 'crossed picks' which cartographers use to designate mine sites.

The most puzzling thing is this trestle crossing Route 981. If the southern portion of the branch was inactive by 1941, why did this trestle survive as we stand here 67 years later ???

Next we utilize the other visual tools at our disposal before we head to Mine no. 2.