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| The music on this page is "Tancuj, Tancuj" |
| Why were they called Tipples? |
| "Tipple" is the term commonly used by the coal industry to describe the structure or group of structures where the mine run of finished coal is processed and loaded into railroad hopper cars for customer delivery. The coal is brought to these structures by truck, conveyor belt, or mine cars from underground tunnels, for final processing, washing, cleaning and sizing. |
| For well over a century, tipples of all shapes and sizes have come and gone in the coal regions of western Pennsylvania. They were the lifeblood of the coal companies. This is the point where the railroads interacted with the coal mines and pick up the car loadings of coal and coke, for shipment to market and the steel mills. The back roads of western Pennsylvania are dotted with both the remants of tipples from by-gone eras, as well as those that have survived the ages. |
| Mine Structures just abandoned. In most cases, the salvage value of the old buildings and structures was less than the cost of demolition, hence, "where it dies is where it lies." Unless the land is to be used for another purpose, unused structures are usually left in place after the coal company has gone out of business or when the mines played out and were abandoned. This has been an all too common practise in the coal regions, were the coal companies took everything they could from the earth and the people who worked the mines, made millions of dollars for the owners of the companies, and then folded up stakes and left. Leaving behind the remains of a half century of ravishing the earth for corporate gain, for the state and future generations to pay for the clean up. |
| While the forest eventually closes in on them and time and nature brings their collapse, these abandoned tipples are pin-point marks on a time-line of the coal industry. Each represents a unique combination of the coal-handling technology and the common materials of the day, as well as the budgets available to their builders. |
| These old remants of the coal industry represent the architectural and industrial history of this once important industry in Westmoreland County and in all of Western Pennsylvania, and are quckly disappearing from the scene, just one more piece of our industrial heritage gone forever. If your interested in this aspect of our history, plan a tour of the back roads and the regions mining patches now, before it is too late. |
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Salem No. 1 Mine Salem No. 1 Mine Tipple and coal washer plant unconstruction. (photo courtesy of Sarah Simpson and the New Alexandria Bicentennial History Committee). |
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Salem No. 1 Mine Tipple under construction. (photo courtesy of Sarah Simpson and the New Alexandria Bicentennial History Committee). |
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Keystone Coal and Coke Company Salem No. 1 Mine Tipple in
operation during the 1940's. Note the Small Pennsylvania Railroad Steam Engine, pushing the coal hopper cars under the tipple for loading. (Photo courtesy of Peter E. Starry, Jr., New Alexandria, PA) |
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The view from Salemville Salem No. 1 Mine Tipple, looking east from the Salemville Patch, ca.1956. The slate dump (boney dump) is to the right. (Photo courtesy of Stella Sapovich, Greensburg, PA) |
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Continue your Tour of Salem No. 1 Mine - Fire Ravages Mine Tipple |
| Links to Salemville, Pennsylvania History The Carpatho-Rusyn Miners of Salemville Patch
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