Saturday, July 31, 2010
Pioneer Tunnel-Ashland Pa. Thursday 7/29
We took a small detour to explore the anthracite coal region at Ashland and ride an old-fashioned Narrow Gauge steam train. The tunnel runs 1800 feet straight into the side of the Mahanoy Mountain.We rode in open mine cars pulled by a battery-operated mine motor.The temperature inside the mine averages 52 degrees-jackets/sweaters are provided if needed. Deep inside the mine
we left our car and followed the miner-guide and were given an explanation of how coal is mined.We saw coal seams and various configurations of passageways,some so narrow was accessible only by crawling on your belly. The Henry Clay ,built 1920's took us on a 3/4 mile ride around the side of Mahanoy Mt where we saw the remains of strip mining.On the mountain is the remains of a :bootleg” coal hole.These were dug by men who defied trespass laws and danger of cave-ins to obtain a few bags of coal to heat their homes.
Franklin Pa. Wednesday July 28
Not just any small town De Bence antique music world,on Liberty Street in downtown Franklin Pa. The museum houses a collection of more than 100 antique mechanical musical instruments dating from 1800-1940's. Mechanical is defined as any music produced by other than human hands. Player Pianos,Nickelodeons, Carousel Organs,and Music Boxes are mechanical music instruments. We were treated to the playing of at least 20 of these,they being one of a kind or 100 year old antiques. We've enclosed some of video clips of what we saw and listened too.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Leaving Jackson Center Ohio July 26-27 2010
Minor repairs and warranty touch ups finished, we did an afternoon of touring in adjacent towns outside of Jackson Center. We came across a nice sculpture of the 100th anniversary of Boy Scouts done in sand, some of it had begun to deteriorate, but still worthy of a photo.
In one of the service bays at Jackson Center there was a motorcycle that had been constructed by and donated to Airstream by Jesse James. Note the workmanship of the aluminum side car.
Monday, July 26, 2010
7/21/10 Wed. Riverboat - Betsey Northrup
Nice day to kick back, again very hot, so we decided to take a riverboat ride out of St. Paul on the Mississippi River . We saw barge activity on the river, our push boat had a hydraulic lift style pilot house, and we went up river to Fort Snelling which was our turn around point. Fort Snelling was where Taber had done reenactments as an Indian agent back in the 1880s - one summer Carl visited Taber at the fort , playing a steam boat engineer and found himself landing in jail , because he was trading liquor to the Indians for firewood to be used in the steamboat's boiler !!!
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