Wilkes-Barre Record Almanac 1950 Condensed History of Ashley Planes The following information is posted for the sole purpose of family research within the Yahoo Group, The Court House Gang. It is not to be published to any other web site, mailing list, group, etc. without prior written permission and guidelines from the group owner, to ensure that proper credit is given to the group and all of our volunteers that helped with this project. The Ashley Planes were closed on July 6, 1948, while tests were conducted with Diesel- electric locomotives over the back track. Tests continued during the summer and winter and the final fate of the more-than-century-old wonder that opened Wyoming Valley's vast coal fields to tidewater still has not been settled. Additional Diesel-electric locomotives have been added to the line since the first tests. The Ashley Planes provided the first rail entrance to Wyoming Valley, being put into operation for the first time on May 23, 1843. The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company had the planes built. Coal cars had moved by rail in Wyoming Valley as early as 1834 from the Baltimore mine to the canal. Under the original provisions of the State charter granted the L. C. & N. Company, it was required to construct a slackwater dam to Stoddartsville to connect with the Easton and Wilkes-Barre Turnpike. So rapid had been the strides toward steam transportation, the company had its charter changed to permit the construction of a rail line from the dam at White Haven, completed in 1835, to WIlkes-Barre. The railroad was known as the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad Company and was chartered in 1837. Actual work was started in the spring of 1838, with E. A. Douglas and Lord Butler as supervising engineers. Plans of the road called for a rail line to be constructed from the canal terminal at White Haven to Mountain Top, where a series of three planes would make the descent of the mountain through Solomons Gap to Ashley and thence again by rail to Wilkes-Barre. The Wilkes-Barre terminal of the railroad was the North Branch Canal. The purpose of the railroad was to facilitate the movement of coal from the area to Philadelphia and New York. The construction of the road shortened the distance to Philadelphia by 20 miles and to New York by 80 Miles. Included was the construction of a tunnel, one -third mile in length, as well as the three planes, nearly three miles long. These planes overcame a rise of 1,000 feet from the valley to Solomons Gap on Wilkes- Barre mountain. The road was designed so canal boats could be transferred from the Lehigh Canal at White Haven to the North Branch Canal at Wilkes-Barre. Such a move actually was made in 1862. The section of the railroad from White Haven to Solomons Gap exclusive of the tunnel was opened in July, 1840. Wagon teams were used to complete the trip to Wilkes-Barre. Horses furnished the motive power for cars on the railroad. By 1843 rails had been laid over the complete route with the exception of the tunnel, around which a temporary railroad had been laid. In the first season of operation of the line from White Haven to Solomons Gap, 1840, 736 tons of freight were moved and 1,512 passengers carried. With the opening of the planes and the line to Wilkes-Barre in 1843, 1,540 passengers and 750 tons of merchandise were moved in that year. The volume of traffic did not warrant placing into service the huge stationary steam engines located at the tops of the three planes and which were designed to raise and lower the cars. Horses were used to haul the cars up the planes, four good animals being required to haul one car loaded with three tons. Cars were let down the planes by using hand brakes and placing cast-iron shoes under the four wheels of the leading car. By this means sufficient friction was created to permit safe descent of three cars on the top and middle planes and five cars on the lower plane, each loaded with three tons. Passengers also were carried. The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company board of managers at its February 1, 1843 meeting adopted a resolution to grant free use of the planes for that year. The resolution stipulated that cars used be approved by the company's agent at White Haven. All rules of the railroad had to be followed and the merchandise carried on the line had to be shipped farther on the canal system of the company. If the last two stipulations were not followed, full toll charges were to be made. In 1844 the tunnel was completed and the Wilkes-Barre line extended to South and South River Streets. The next year, 1845, two of the planes were put into service with steam power and the third plane the following year. Horses still supplied motive power on the remainder of the line. In 1846, the first year of full steam power on the planes, 5,886 tons of coal were shipped from Wyoming Valley and the next year saw the total nearly doubled, 10,247 tons. This increase in business warranted the purchase of steam locomotives and orders were placed for two in 1846. These were placed in service in june, 1847, superseding horses as motive power. As early as 1855 surveys were made for a back track around Ashley Planes from Solomons Gap to Ashley. Actual construction on this line was started in 1863 and completed in May 1866, giving an all-locomotive route over which passengers and certain freight were hauled. But the planes, 2.17 miles in length, were not supplanted by the 12.31 miles of track. The planes continued to haul coal and as the anthracite output grew the tonnage increased. The State Lehislature authorized a railroad from White Haven to Mauch Chunk on March 4, 1863, and 12 days later authorized another line from Mauch Chunk to Easton. Work was started at once and completed to Easton in 1867, a connection being made with the North Penn Railroad at South Bethlehem and an all-rail route established to Philadelphia. Early in 1868 a bridge was completed across the Delaware River at Easton, connecting with the Central Railroad of New Jersey and completing the all-railroad link to New York harbor. In 1871 the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad was leased to the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey. This lease is continued by the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania , a subsidiary of Jersey Central Lines. The total rise of the Ashley Planes from Ashley to Solomons Gap is 1,013,75 feet. The average rise a 100 feet varies from 5.7 feet for the lower plane to 14.65 feet in the middle plane. The total distance is 13,020 feet. The planes are 5,000, 3,000, and 3,700 feet respectively, on the ascent--a total length of 11,700--there being 1,320 feet of connecting track between adjacent planes. The wire ropes used in the operations of the planes are 4,640, 3,670 and 5,780 feet in length. Capt. Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, producers of wire nails, and cannon balls during the War of 1812, operating as the firm of White and Hazard, manufactured the first wire rope used on the planes, and either they or their successor, Hazard Wire Rope Company, made all those subsequently employed until recent years. White and Hazard were instrumental in developing anthracite beyond the confines of the mining region. The first anthracite was taken to Philadelphia in 1800, but the hauler was unable to sell it. In 1812 nine wagonloads of anthracite were hauled to Philadelphia. Those that examined it pronounced it black stone. The hauler, Col. George Shoemaker of Pottsville, sold two loads and was forced to give away the others and flee to escape arrest. The two loads were bought by Hazard and White, whose plant was at Falls of the Schuylkill. Initial efforts to burn the coal were unsuccessful and after working all night it is recorded " the hands shut the furnace door and left the mill in despair " One worker returned for a forgotten jacket and noticed a white heat in the furnace. Other hands were summoned quickly and an old account states " four seperate parcels of iron were heated and rolled from the same fire before it required renewing ". Here was an important discovery of fact--anthracite needed little attention for sustained heat. This quickly led to the development of the fuel for industrial purposes. White and Hazard, pleased with the new fuel, encountered difficulties in obtaining adequate supply of anthracite, save at great cost. To procure the fuel cheaper, they purchased a large tract of land near MAUCH CHUNK IN 1817. THE same year they leased the Lehigh Coal Mine Company, then idle for 20 years, and agreed to mine 40,000 bushels of coal a year for use in their wire mill. The lessors anxious to get transportation facilities to Philadelphia and to develop a market for anthracite to enhance their property, charged " one ear of corn annually and upon demand " for the property. Hazard and White were joined by George F.A. Hauto and constructed a canal to haul their coal. Later Hazard and White formed the Lehigh Navigation Company. In 1846 the firm moved its blast furnaces to Mauch Chunk to be nearer the source of fuel and subsequently moved to Wilkes-Barre, where it continues as a unit of American Chain and Cable Company. Some other method was needed to haul the cars over the planes then by attaching a cable to the front. As the size of the cars became larger the need was more apparent. A satisfactory answer was found in the " barney ". This seven-ton car, by means of sliding axles, is able to descend the planes, pass under the waiting cars on gradually narrowing rails and re-emerge behind them on standard-guage rails. The " barney " is attached to the hoisting engines atop each plane. These engines are powered with 1,200 horse power verticle steam engines. Each cylinder is 40 inches in diameter and has a 48-inch stroke. The wire rope attached to the " barney " passes beheath the car and on up the slope to the hoisting plant, where it is wound three times around a drum 22 feet in diameter. A tail rope attached to the rear of the " barney " extends to the foot of the planes, where it passes around a large bull wheel and back up the adjacent plane to the second " barney ". The bull wheel is counterbalanced by weights to keep the tail rope taut and thus take up the slack in the mail cables. The planes are capable of speeds from 12 to 30 miles an hour and can handle 35 cars an hour. The steam engines were renewed several times, each being the most modern available at the time of installation. No. 3 Engine house and boiler plant was destroyed by fire on October 12, 1922, and two days later locomotives were used to push cars up the first plane. Three locomotives were needed to push three loaded cars up the plane, and occasionally four locomotives were used to push four loaded box cars. Later in the same month, October 24, a large mud drum at the base of one of the boilers in Engine house No. 2 exploaded and killed one workman and injured two others. This plane was able to operate on the remaining boiler, which was not damaged in the blast. Typed by Pat Hillon, October 2004