Small Day Trip to Centralia

[tomustang]

A little history lesson for anyone who doesn't know about this little borough: (borrowed from the Wiki)


Centralia was incorporated as a borough in 1866.
In 2002, the United States Postal Service revoked Centralia's ZIP Code, 17927.

Centralia is a borough in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005[1] and 9 in 2007,[2] as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since 1962. Centralia is now the least-populous municipality in Pennsylvania

The anthracite coal industry was the principal employer in the community. Coal mining continued in Centralia until the 1960s, when most of the companies went out of business.


The borough was served by two railroads, the Philadelphia and Reading and the Lehigh Valley, with the Lehigh Valley being the principal carrier. Rail service ended in 1966.

More info here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania</a><!-- m --> and the town it claimed <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byrnesville,_Pennsylvania">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byrnesville,_Pennsylvania</a><!-- m -->

Without further ado:



















MY Wife saying hi to everyone

[Dan85]

Nice shots Tom, I have wanted to visit that area for some time now. I subscribe to some photography feeds that focus on abandoned places and this place has come up quite a bunch.

- Dan

[tetters]

It's been burning since 1962??? So that wispy stuff coming from the ground that I thought was a form of geological thermal venting (steam) is actually smoke? Holy crap! Seriously? That's crazy!

Learn sumtin' new everyday.

[Go Big1]

Wow, not only is that amazing that the ground is still burning, but man is that some barren looking soil!

Thanks for the pics, it was both interesting and educational.

[Trucklover]

that is incredible that a fire could burn that long! how big is this underground mine? How in the heck does a fire burn for 47 years and not run out of fuel?

[sgtcarl1]

It may eventually burn itself out, but not too likely that it will. When caol burns, it creates a gas that is combustible. So, in a sense, it is creating its own fuel. I have never actually seen a place that is over a mine fire, but I have heard of this happening. Had a friend from Kentucky who told me about them. There are several burning in various areas around the U.S.

[tomustang]

that is incredible that a fire could burn that long! how big is this underground mine? How in the heck does a fire burn for 47 years and not run out of fuel?

They were burning trash in a abandoned mine pit, which they used for a landfill, and it struck a vein. there is billions of dollars of anthracite under the town itself...

[Jenns01TA]

Hello Everyone,

Tom and I had an adventure for sure. Couple things that really stand out for me was the smell by the steam vents. The sulfur is a grotesque mix of rotten eggs and dead frogs in a drying peat bog. Nasty. This is a wicked mixture that noone should sniff for very long:

http://www.offroaders.com/album/centrali...1Paper.htm

Second was the lack of living creatures anywhere. Except three homes and a couple birds, there is little sign of life within a 5 miles radius. Eerie silence indeed. :o

As for the underground fire, I found it fascinating. The oldest known coal fire is Burning Mountain in Australia which scientist figure has been burning for over 5,000 years. Coal seam fires are very common, but because they are underground, they are difficult to detect and monitor. New technology has allowed better detection and observation. Indonesia has had over 250,000 seam fires since 1998. Coal is one of a few substances which can spontaneously ignite when exposure to oxygen causes it to react and heat up when there is insufficient ventilation for cooling. Once started, they simply go on until their vein fuel runs out or they jump to a new vein and they simply go on and on and on....... There is more than ample fuel along the vein seams in Centralia and neighboring Ashland to maintain this fire for more than a couple centuries. 400 acres of Centralia sit on or by coal seams. Plenty of fuel.

I have always been a self-proclaimed rock collector and Earth science nerd, as well as dipping my mind into a wide array of other mind bending intellectual hobbies.

So now that I posted a Hemmingway novel as my first post, I should mosey on over and look at some kit bashing and "weathering" threads.

Jenn
(aka Tom's Better Half )

[Lester Perry]

My wife and I stumbled onto Centralia a few years ago. I knew the story as soon as I saw the sign saying Centralia X miles. My wife had never heard of it. We went to check it out and it was kind of eerie seeing what was remaining of a town. I have a pic that as I remember is exactly like one of yours. I don't know where they are now. While we were there we also checked out a coal mine. It was an interesting trip.
Les

[e-paw]

What surprises me the most is that there are still people living there. The ground is toxic,. the well water is toxic, And the fumes coming out of the ground are toxic. I believe that the aria is now a supper fund site. The US government has tried to put out the fires several times with no luck. Explosives, flooding the shafts with water and foam nothing to date has worked. It might be a cool place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.

[Bigsteel]

wow,that would be so creepy to walk into an almost totally abandoned town. kinda reminds me of silent hill .but if any of you EVER go to eastern europe and want to see some creepy stuff drive near chernobyl,there are abandoned cities and towns everywhere in a 10kl radius. now that was a creepy drive,trust me.nothing but toally pristine buildings and homes everywhere just left to rot.....creepy....--josh

[TrainNut]

That's really neat. I went to MSN live search and checked it out. I kind of imagined that it would have effected a bigger area.
I can relate to the deserted type scene... When I was doing some work at the Marine Corp Logistics base in Albany, GA, I had to do an asset evaluation of an entire neighborhood they had shut down and locked up. Pretty spooky driving around the streets and not another soul in site but yet all the structures are still there.
Chernobyl sounds interesting... I'll have to see if I can find some aerial imagery on that.

Albany, GA...

[Lester Perry]

Hey josh noticed your avatar, are you a member? I used to be, My membership came due while I was recovering from my stroke and it didn't get paid. I never have gotten around to sending in the money. One of theses days I will get around to it. Have you been to Clifton Forge ?
Les

[Bigsteel]

no les,im not a member anymore.i dont have time to go to CF or do any club stuff.plus my plans for a whole C&O layout fell through.so im still a big supporter of the C&O and build models of the C&O. but have moved on to modeling my own little logging railroad instead.--josh