Pennsylvania Coal Company : photographs of the gravity railroad near Scranton - Hulbert, Edward Phinney; Greene, Arthur Maurice, 1872-1953 (1950)
Consists of ten photographs of the Pennsylvania Coal Company Gravity Railroad, which was used to transport coal from mines near Scranton, Pa. Each photograph is accompanied by a typed explanation of the scene depicted. The photographs and the descriptions were used in a paper published for the Lackawanna Historical Society in 1949 by Edward Hulbert (Princeton Civil Engineering Class of 1900), titled "The Pennaylvania Coal Company Gravity Railroad." On the description of photograph no. 3 is an ink inscription indicating the purpose of the photographs and noting that they were presented to Arthur M. Greene, Jr., in July 27, 1950.
Included with the photographs is a letter, dated July 27, 1950, from Hulbert to Princeton University's first dean of the School of Engineering, Arthur Maurice Greene, Jr., reminding Greene of his talk during the recent Princeton University reunion about the gravity railroad. A penciled response by Greene to Hulbert is on the verso.
Gravity railroads preceded steam locomotives by about a decade. The term refers to cars moving along wood and iron tracks, descending down inclined planes only by the forces of gravity, and returning by a cable or pulley system. They were used most notably in the transportation of anthracite coal from northeastern Pennsylvania mountain tops. Initially, horses or mules powered the return trip, which were later replaced by steam engines. The earliest gravity railroads had single tracks, which limited traffic, and rope or hemp cables that broke frequently. The Pennsylvania Coal Company's gravity railroad was in operation between lower Pittston and Hawley (Pa.) from 1850 to 1884.
Dean Arthur Maurice Greene
Keywords: Pennsylvania Coal Company -- History -- Sources; Coal mines and mining -- Pennsylvania -- Scranton -- 19th century -- History; Railroads, Gravity -- Pennsylvania -- Scranton -- 19th century -- History; Photographs -- 19th century