Good video. Well, you asked, so I'll give you what I know...Up at the power plant, the south end (where you were at first) was the power side, where the transformers and switchgear were. North of that were the turbines and generators and finally the boilers. The boilers were fired with coal fines using a system much like today's co-gen plants, called fluidized bed combustion. The plant used mine water fed from pumps in the water tunnel down over the hill. It supplied electricity to all of the Susquehanna Coal Company facilities along Big Lick Mountain. It also supplied steam to the breaker and to the hoist house for the shaft. First firing was in 1922 and after mining ceased in the late 30's, PP&L took over operation to continue to generate power for the area for a number of years. The breaker was located to the south around the corner. I believe the structures you found way up on the mountain with all of the pipes were bases for large water tanks. These were filled from either mine water or from the creek below. The catwalk would have gone up to the top of the tanks. Those steel trestle things would have carried steam lines around the complex (I think they're visible in some of the photos). Between the cool building that you like (which I'm told was perhaps a lamp shanty) and the brick building is where the drift opening for Short Mountain tunnel was. Only the top is still visible anymore I think. Sort of directly above that water tunnel if I remember correctly. The brick building is owned by Medco Process, which is a division of Reiff and Nestor Company, a manufacturer of high speed steel taps down in Lykens. This building was the hoist house for the shaft. The shaft is located directly east of this building, but might be difficult to find now that they built the big settlement pond. It would be fairly obvious as large concrete slabs, one of which used to have a metal access door in it. I think it might be visible in google maps, directly out from the hoist house. There was an air slope located on the hill above the hoist house somewhere, but I can't remember where. Might have been sealed. As for the waterfall on the creek, my guess is that it was a very early (1915) attempt to aerate the water. They recognized it was bad and tried to stir it up. Originally Bear Creek from the valley, which was basically clean(ish) water merged with the mine water from Bear Valley tunnel (which drains all of the workings up through Bear Valley on the North side) and all of it flowed down over that waterfall arrangement. Quite spectacular years ago. There's still some stuff for you to find when you get back up there. I will try to send you some pictures taken back in the late 80's if I can find them. Happy wandering!

Pennsylvania has a lot of cool history. I'm physically unable to explore as much as you, but I love following along on your videos. Thanks.

Jan. I enjoy. Your. Wanderings. So. Much. Keep. Us learning. Your. Places.

Ive been watching your videos for a couple months now and stumbled upon this one today. You're in my neck of the woods, how cool is that! 😎

Wife and I just recently came across your channel. We love it. You do an awesome job narrating and showing us things that we are unable to travel to and see. We are trying to watch as many as we can and get caught up. We really appreciate all the hard work you put into doing these.

We would not see any of these fascinating areas if it were not for your explorations. I can not believe the incredible technology we had over one hundred years ago. As far as the damage that was done, they did not know what effects their progress would have on the future of the area. It is a large part of our history. Thanks again.

I’m in Australia love seeing America, thanks for the great videos👍🏼💋

Thank you again for taking us on a amazing journey. My husband was from Pa, eastern part.now we live in Az. Pa is an amazing state lots of history.

The object you referred to as a conveyer belt was one piece of a maze work of catwalks that lined the inside of the power plant. The thing was gigantic by local standards. As I recall it was three floors or more tall. The upper floors had those catwalks on them. I know because when I was a kid, we would enter the building through one of those huge industrial steel framed windows in the picture you showed. Maybe that was 1962. Even by then those walkways were anything but safe. There were paper documents all over the floors as though they left in a hurry. The building was home to wild pigeons. I have lived in Florida for the past 35 years, and before that Vermont and Virginia, and still find the Lykens area fascinating though I never go there anymore. (My wife went there with me once many years ago and thought I was nuts for 'wasting' vacation days like that.) Chalk it up to nostalgia. That is my family's ancestral homeland. As a child I hiked those hills and also 'Greenland' beyond Indian Love Rock, Pee Wee cave and the Lykens reservoir every time I could. Naturally, I love your videos.

Great video! So much history in PA. I’m glad this was a longer video. I hope you do more like this. Can’t wait for the next adventure!

you’re a good person and it comes through in your videos. that’s when I hit subscribe. keep it up doing what you love. watching from California 👍

One awesome video there. Its unimaginable how many hours that had to be spent pouring all these concrete piers and tunnels and even now they are still there, however most of the workers have long since passed.

Fascinating history. Thanks so much for sharing. Love your videos. 😀

Great adventure Cliff!!! I enjoyed watching this video!!! You do a great job and I appreciate all of the efforts you put into your videos!!! Thank you for sharing!!!

incredible place to explore lots to see you could spend all day there and not see everything sometimes i worry about you going alone the tressels were cool painting the inside of that building was unusual thanks for taking me along

You are an intrepid explorer. Thanks man.

I so enjoyed that. What a fantastic area with so much to discover. Be nice if you come back here some time. Thanks for taking me along. Take care

That was fantastic. Thanks for taking me along

Nice. That power plant is awesome!!!

Huge operation. Awesome video!

Since you go exploring all around Pa you should get a US Geological survey topographic map. These maps are available from the USGA for a modest cost. They are organized in Quadrangles with some city at the center. Then when you are hiking around an area you use the map and see what those concrete structures were - the maps show elevation, quarries, mines, roads, streams, structures and other land features. Might help you to discover what the structures you find are. What the ruins are. Nice videos. thanks RJS.

Excellent video 👍

Found your channel the other day. I love your content! I know this is an older one but keep it up!

Another cool video!!! I'm really looking forward to your series on the Union Canal. Keep up the great work and please be safe out there.

Looked chilly but there is something about being in the woods when it is cold and you can see a long way that is beautiful. If you were trying to survive it may look different but if you know what to do it may well be fun. Thanks WWCliff. And those pipes must have carried water to the power plant and perhaps provided water for steam engines for the coal? Just wondered but those structures were cool. I imagined building a house on top of those trusses, cool. DaveyJO

You're a hardy soul. So cold I could almost feel it on this 1st day of summer.

Awesome exploration.

[ Reflection after Reflection after Reflection .... ] is called " Recursion " >> >> >> Great Video !! We also have 'Orange Running Water' but over here its caused by water run-off from the train tracks; the iron getting into the waterways.

What a wonderful explorer you are! I enjoy watching every adventure. You need a scarf and some ear muffs. My ears are getting cold just watching.

Great video's! I watch until I get motion sickness 🤣

Those concrete structures by Bear Creek looked like bridge supports of some kind. I know there's ones similar to those in Pittston, PA along Laurel Street just before it passes under the Pittston Bypass/South Township Boulevard and becomes Main Street for those from the area looking to see something similar to the ones in the video.

Thank you Cliff.

This is what im talking about... i enjoy the short videos but i really like these long ones... great video... thanks for bringing us along.. hey when you going to do a sit down and have lunch with us in the woods? curious to see whats in that pack you carry and how you use it... thanks again...

Interesting find, I've come across similar concrete piers around Derry/Latrobe area close to the old PRR mainline. I assumed they were used for loading/unloading.

Is that public land? You could do a stealth camp overnight there.

The tunnel with the orange water was too eerie looking but inviting!

It’s hard to believe all the structures and how big those structures were in the area where your standing. Pa does have a lot of history. Just wish the weather were a bit more forgiving. Oh well such is Life.

Very COOL!!

Used to ride down that hill on scooters with my friends and one time I fell off and scraped my leg on the ground real bad

Broke it down into smaller sizes to shoot into the furnace 14;00

"All who wander are not lost..."

The pier things you walked under is where they unloaded train cara

the metal ramp is probably the entrance to the top of the breaker.

25:30 It looks like a catwalk/service access

My mom told me that they would go to the culm banks to pick for coal they could use for heating (very poor)

I joined some National Speleological Society members touring a Montana mining camp. One resident. Not counting rattlesnakes. We'd all been advised to avoid being alone with that person. Who bartered mine relics for beer, food, and tobacco. Amid broken walls and rubble We entered a pitch black stope. Steep walking descent . Beside ore car rails and rusty cables. We carried lamps ; both electric and calcium carbide fueled. Massive timbers supporting damp shaft walls. Halted at one level to look into an emergency shelter. Fire fighting gear, axes, pry bars, and more underfoot. Rusty. Steel lockers filled with moldy clothing, bent lunch buckets, and black rubber boots. Many empty metal and wood cases. Some were military surplus . On exit our individual exhaled breath caused the Geiger Counter to peg in a red colored extent radioactivity exposure. Yup, we should have been glowing in the dark, but go figure. Native Americans, mainly Navajo, had excavated this mine for ore. That when refined has since fueled power plants. Aboard US Navy Submarines.

Really sad of the toxie water, orange. That I don't understand. Boy the history is just awesome in Penn. So much history. Its amazing that anyone would build in the woods.

your never to old to build a fort!

Almost looked like a wheel chair ramp

Where is the longest tunnel that is still possible to explore?

I wonder if any State authorities have given consideration to cleaning up these toxic, polluted streams. That water has to go somewhere and wherever that is, it doesn't deserve to get that toxic runoff. Yuk.

Thanks

Cool

What would the process be of dealing with the orange water?

I'm thinking that ramp was access to the top of a wooden water tank, those small diameter circular pipes at the base were probably the bands holding the wood together

The remnants of wooden water tanks

At 1:07, that "mountain" or "hill" behind this nice bro is a covered pyramid. 8:21 is megalithic. The red color in the running water is nothing other than COPPER running through. Hence, the Copper-colored, original Americans who built and lived here.

You must learn to use the green pass on private property! CASH.

Where did the toxic creek flow to?

Have you ever come across any old auto junk yards?

Pictures of the Mines in Bear valley - www.lykensvalley.org/tag/bear-gap/page/5/ - Additional details about Navy involvement can be found on this page = www.lykensvalley.org/tag/bear-gap/ ( Pages 1 thru 7)

What kind of camera do you use,,, and what selfie stick? thanks

Could you make black powder out of the coal dust?

Love your videos. Have you been to Lausanne? Or on Mt Pisgah?

Wow,I wonder where the rest of the bridge went..pretty cool! So all this toxic water goes into the other main rivers..kinda sucks huh?

I'm pretty sure the orange color on the rocks is caused by the sulfuric acid in the water,from the coal. Sulfur deposits.

Also, you should check out love rock

With out you showing us what this stuff is, people would wander through having no idea what the heck they were looking at. It is just a guess, but could the area with the large foundation, walkway and metal pipes be the actual location of the colliery, as it looks like they always seem to be on a hillside. Is it possible those concrete pipes were once part of a chimney that was knocked over. Anyway, too bad those mine tunnels can't be sealed up some how, to stop the pollution.

There are a lot of these drains which let out toxic water from old mines.. would it be possible to just seal them and trap the water in there?

they didn't really have a use for coal smaller than pea back before auto feed stoker boilers and furnaces....they just dumped it......after ww2 auto feed stokers that burn barley, rice and buckwheat coal became common. much of the rice coal you buy is reclaimed.

On your Shamokin video I ment the Cameron produced 300 million not 300 thousand tons of coal

Looks like a cat walk to a pump house.

The creek is orange because of the Sulfer from the mine as well. The circuler concrete tubes are probably the stacks from the plant. That was a catwalk. You think they would take all the metal. That little building is going to be some hobos little hutt.

What process do modern coal mines use to avoid creating orange and poisoned water? Another question: Is there any way to purify this water?

I’ve been trying to find the Gratz tunnel air shaft for years any way u could help me?

I have family there.

Why is water toxic. Looks like high iron content from rocks.

Apparently still in business

VERY COOL vid...it's a shame all that toxic orange water.

infiniti reflection.

I just posted a link on my fb page you might be interested in about bear gap. From what I read, it was one of the largest mining operations in the world in 1876. Hope you see my post and read the link I posted.

I have a great suggestion for you in exploring for old runes.Why don't you try www.pennpilot.psu.edu/index.html This is a great site for old time Arial photos.I looked at the area you are exploring and found those structures, Looks like they were never used or perhaps were not used very long.

What kind of toxins are causing the orange water?

I think those big cement pipe were smokestacks.

here is more information for you. coalpail.com/coal-forum/viewforum.php?f=54 i have been a member of this forum since 2006

Wouldn't a drone be awesome to use on some of your videos. For Caves. The mountains etc.. .do you have any sponsors. Answer not needed, just hopefully put a bug in the right ear 😉

Victim of cheap oil and gas in Philly and NY and Canada

You need to inquire more about things before you do a video on this. The Briquet Plant, Dye company and Washery were NOT up on the mountain. And the deep shaft you referred too where the Navy came t is where the elevator shaft was that let the miners down into different levels of the min. Contact me sometime I composed a book on the mines. My grandfather ran the elevator , so i know a little about things up there. Contact me and i will share what i know

yes where were the colliers coal cars right up and down them stanchions and then they date they put it to the cold I'm real estate transfer to the train waiting with the hopper cars yeah yeah just like anywhere else Ohio Kentucky southern Illinois Indiana West Virginia Pennsylvania where you are etc etc etc

THEY FIGHT SO HARD FOR PENNSYLVANIA AND NOW THEY HAVE PART IN RUINS SAD

Thanks