THOMAS CROSS TOP
I have a story along with a photo I thought you might want to put in CJ the
next time around. It is a story of a beautiful Sim-U-954 Thomas Cross Top
glazeweld I found at an old coal mine site.
The insulator is a beaut in tan, almost yellow, coloration.
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From a lump of coal comes the discovery of this crown jewel. It's an example
of what can result from hard work and persistence. After hearing about an old
coal mine, David Adams spent a couple of months just trying to find the
location. And when initial searching didn't reveal anything special in the way
of insulators, David kept right on looking.
(inside front
cover)
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In the spring of 2003, I was told about an early coal mine located in the
northeaster part of Pennsylvania called West Shenandoah Colliery / Mine (circa
1870). It took almost two months to find the site. After walking through thick
brush and over embankments, I finally located some ruins of the site, mostly
concrete footings and railroad tracks leading into dark slopes. Since it was
such an early site I was in hopes of finding some decent glass or mining
artifacts.
Walking along the railroad spur I found common, broken, glass insulators such
as CD 133's, 145's and 162's. Most were Brookfields. There was nothing special,
but it is always a pleasure to walk the mining country and to be in the wild.
After about two hours of walking I was tired of going over so many culm banks
(coal piles) and was heading home when I tripped on some coal chunks. I looked
down and there, lying half exposed, was the Sim-U-954. It was covered with mud,
but when I wiped it off I saw that yellow porcelain. What a nice find!
Located west of Shenandoah City Borough, the West Shenandoah Colliery / Mine
was opened by a slope sunk 285 feet to the first level of a mammoth vein by
Michael Maize and William Lewis in 1869. The first shipment of coal was 11,486
tons in 1870.
Maize and Lewis operated the colliery until 1874 when it was purchased by the
Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company, which owned many coal mines
in this region. They sank a shaft to a second level. In 1891, the hoisting slope
was extended 510 feet below the third level.
In 1912, miners extended the slope to a sixth level and installed an electric
hoist. The site was pretty much out of business by the 1940-1952 period.
David Adams
203 Meng Road
Schwenksville, PA 19473
610-970-0331
email: polecat2@verizon.net
