Coal country, defunct [10 imgs]

schmoo · July 18, 2007

Recently a friend and I drove into the mountainous depths of coal country, PA. Growing up on the east coast I have always taken this part of our history for granted. Seeing the size of the abandoned buildings - and the leftovers of the towns that sprang up around them - was more touching than I could have imagined.

One could spend all day (or several days) walking around these structures. I only had a 5 hours so things got a little hurried...

Found the Sunburst Button!

One of many conveyor belts to transport anthracite coal

Führen Sie mich

Red/blue (I have no idea what these things were but they are covered in barn swallow poop)

Les petits soldats

Ghost door

Wash room

Vintage power

Hallways of sorts. The mud here was festering with flies and stamped with some VERY large paw prints...

Maybe I shouldn't have opened the door?

DavidTO · July 18, 2007

HAH! That last one cracks me up.

Nice series. I love seeing these places through your eyes. Very cool.

digitalpins · July 18, 2007

Great series of photos, I love the 5th one with the boots lined up that one is awesome.

Great photos and thanks for sharing.

jdryan3 · July 18, 2007

Great shots. I like #3 a lot (just where does that lead to?), #5, and the last one.

On #3, I would clone out the OOF rails on the left in the background and crop it so the lower right is gone - lead the eye more down the staircase by eliminating the distracting elements. On the last one, I would crop out the top row of windows to get rid of the top of the post and the bottom since there are too many leaves/ too much foreground. Maybe a square crop?

schmoo · July 18, 2007

David! Yes when I saw the door my first thought was "Oops." I've got a lot more places coming up soon, so I hope Dgrin will continue to bear with me...

dp -Thanks! I admit the boots have been photographed many times by people who have been through this place, but luck was with me as the sun chose to come in through the window right at the moment I was standing there.

jdryan - I actually played with several crops on that last one, like this... but I just didn't like them. Something seemed to be missing!

Thank you for your CC, I love feedback.

As for where that ramp led to, eventually right here. I think of this one as "Parkour dream," because if I could, I would:

Awais Yaqub · July 18, 2007

Really want to go out for shooting with you weldone

MrParts · July 18, 2007

Where did you find this? Looks like one in Wilkes-Barre, PA near where I live.

I like your first shot of the coal breaker with the sun like that!

I'm amazed there is so much of the pipe and equipment inside this place. Around here, drug users would have stripped it down to sell the metal for scrap. Big problem for new construction sites too.

Great catch!

Skippy · July 18, 2007

schmooo wrote:

Recently a friend and I drove into the mountainous depths of coal country, PA. Growing up on the east coast I have always taken this part of our history for granted. Seeing the size of the abandoned buildings - and the leftovers of the towns that sprang up around them - was more touching than I could have imagined.
One could spend all day (or several days) walking around these structures. I only had a 5 hours so things got a little hurried...
Found the Sunburst Button!
One of many conveyor belts to transport anthracite coal
Führen Sie mich
Red/blue (I have no idea what these things were but they are covered in barn swallow poop)
Les petits soldats
Ghost door
Wash room
Vintage power
Hallways of sorts. The mud here was festering with flies and stamped with some VERY large paw prints...
Maybe I shouldn't have opened the door?

Hi there Schmooo, gosh you explore some pretty amazing places girl!
I love these shots you take, and I wonder where is she going to take photo's next.

......it's really like an adventure for not only you but us too

Thanks for sharing Schmooo

... Skippy.
.

pathfinder · July 18, 2007

Lovely

Auf Wiedersehn.

ian408 · July 19, 2007

la porte ouverte. That and soldats are my favorites.

The door more so because the scene is representative of the reclamation of a site like that.

Cool shots.

hamster · July 19, 2007

I love it! My favorite is the washroom.

schmoo · July 19, 2007

Wow thank you for the flattering comments. I am getting more used to posting photos here, so I'm glad at least a couple of folk here don't think I'm (too) nuts.

Awais - I would like that, too! someday maybe.

Nope it is not too far from Wilkes-Barre, even though I didn't know that until I looked it up just now. From what I understand there are several of these types of buildings in the general vicinity (by that I think they mean the Appalachians), and I think there may even be modern ones still in operation, with better technology.

My knowledge of the industry is a bit spotty. I tend to do the research after I come back and have seen the locations for myself. Makes me wonder about the bigger picture, with the changing opinions on greenhouse gases and the use of fossil fuels...