On the northern edge of the borough of Frackville lies the ruins of the Mahanoy Plane. The plane was a railroad incline plane that brought coal up the Broad Mountain from the borough of Mahanoy Plane to Frackville.
The plane opened July 16, 1861 and was operated by the Mahanoy and Broad Mountain Railroad. The plane traveled at a 28 degree pitch at its steepest point and rose 524 ft over a distance of 2460 ft. It was powered by a 2500 hp engine that could hoist a three car trip equivalent to 200 tons in three minutes. After a fire in 1886 new 6000 hp engines were installed. Approximately 800 to 900 rail cars would pass over the plane every 24 hours.
The Mahanoy Plane ceased operations on February 27, 1932 due to the decline of Anthracite and an easier route through the Mahanoy Tunnel.
Trailhead coordinates are listed for two different points of entry to the woods and parking coordinates are also provided. The terrain rating at the ruins is no joke, there are broken walls, drop offs, and low clearance areas. Take care if attempting this cache if there is significant snow or ice on the ground, there are lots of places to slip or catch an ankle in a hole. This should also not be attempted at night.
Take time to look around and explore to enjoy a bit of the history of the anthracite coal region, there are rooms, out buildings and chambers to explore. There are even some abandoned rail cars on site.
Logging requirements:
The listed coordinates will take you to the abandonded railcars I mentioned earlier. How many are there? Message me the answer and a photo of you somewhere among the ruins. (you do not have to include your face). If messaging the information for a group please include all members of your group with your answer. Any names not listed will have log deleted.
Have fun exploring the ruins of some great history of the anthracite mining industry. Be safe and watch your step.
Enjoy.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.