Engine coal question

[NW Mailing List]

On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 9:45 PM, someone wrote:


> In regards to the question about where the N&W got coal prior to the

> opening of the Pocahontas coal field and the suggestion that the coal came

> from somewhere along its origninal route in southwestern Virginia where

> coal was being produced:

>

> Coal mining was done (to a limited extent) in Montgomery and Pulaski

> counties prior to the Civil War (1861-1865) and shipments of coal were made

> by the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad (a predecessor line to the N&W) during

> the war. Coal was hauled from the mine site by wagon to train stations were

> it was hand-loaded into railroad cars. Local tradition claims that some or

> perhaps all of coal used to fuel the Confederate ironclad "Merrimack" came

> a mine near present-day Merrimac, VA, not far from the V&T.

>

> At least two industries along the route of the V&T also began using

> locally mined coal during the period after the war. In 1878 a 8-mile long

> narrow-gauge railroad called  "Altoona" (I believe that was actually the

> name of the mine) was built between a mine opening and the Bertha Zinc

> Works and the salt furnaces at Saltville, Virginia.

>


Empire Mine was located north of Pulaski on Little Walker Mountain. It was
served by a narrow-gauge railroad that ran from downtown Pulaski up Tract
Run around the east end of Robinson Tract Mountain, then headed across the
valley floor. Va. 640, Brookmont Rd., follows the line from town to
Robinson Tract Rd., then Va. 711, Mines Rd., goes all the way to the former
mine location. The line earlier served the Altoona Mines, which was further
west on Little Walker Mountain, up Altoona Branch. The rail line continued
west along Robinson Tract Road to the hollow with the creek branch. VA. 641
heads in that direction, then an unnumbered road (according to a 1965 topo
map) runs up Altoona Branch. The actual mine shows up on an 1887 topo map I
have.



> The coal from Montgomery and Pulaski counties was apparently good quality

> steam-coal. But whether or not the local production of coal (likely being

> hauled by wagon) would have been great enough in quantity to meet the needs

> of the N&W is a question I cannot answer. Perhaps someone else can.

>


The coal mined in Montgomery and Pulaski counties was anthracite coal (or
semi-anthracite, depending on the who and how of analysis), hence the name
of the first railroad to serve Blacksburg, the Virginia Coal & Anthracite
Ry. The engines it had were specifically built to burn the coal from its
mine at Merrimac, with the necessary larger firebox. However, if this coal
was being mixed with wood to stretch both fuel loads, it probably was
possible to burn it in the steam engines of that era. Someone will have to
weigh in with more details about 1850s through 1870s motive power, though.

Bruce in Blacksburg
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