
Figure 14.—Loapinc Boats on the Lehigh Canal; from an old woodcut. (L.C.N.C.) 
Great Mine 
21 Mule wagons 
44 Dirt wagons 
308 Coal wagons 
9 Miscellaneous wagons 
Room Run 
21 Coal wagons 
13 Dirt wagons 
An unusual method of railroad operation required 
the listing of mule wagons in the inventory. The rail- 
road was a gravity road and the loaded coal wagons 
plus mule wagons (each holding four mules) rode 
down the track (fig. 13). After being unloaded, the 
empty coal wagons were returned by mule power to 
the summit mines along with the empty mule wagons. 
The speed of the loaded wagons down the track was 
between 5 and 7 miles per hour.*® 
The coal wagons were square boxes widened at the 
°L.C.N.C., Annual Report for 1828 (Philadelphia: S. W. 
Conrad, 1829), p. 7. 
PAPER 72: ANTHRACITE IN THE LEHIGH VALLEY 
top and mounted on cast iron wheels of 18 to 24 inches 
in diameter. The axle holding the wheels turned as 
the wheels turned. The wheels were constructed with 
a 4-inch flange and an inner lip to keep them positioned 
on the rails. 
A lever was fixed to each wagon near the left front 
wheel and extended above the side of the wagon. By 
pulling this lever back, every wheel was clasped by 
two semicircular pieces of wood. The friction thus 
applied retarded or instantly stopped the wagon. In 
a trainload of wagons, these levers were tied together 
with a rope so that the trip operator could control the 
speed of the entire load. Average trainloads consisted 
of 14 wagons, each with a capacity of one and a half 
tons of coal. 
The problem of getting coal from wagon to ark was 
° Hazard’s Register of Pennsylvania (vol. 2, no. 31, Au- 
gust 2, 1838). 
107 
