1930s Art Young aerial phot taken from a Taylor Cub.
The Sullivan Trail Breaker was built around 1936 to replace an older structure operated by the Clear Spring Coal Company from 1882 to 1911. The old breaker was a dry preparation facility employing about 110 men and an output of 1,000 tons per day. The new breaker can produce about 1,500 tons per eight-hour work day with a work force of six.
The breaker utilizes two primary Menzies Cones as its cleaning method. Larger sizes of coal are separated in a 12 foot unit, smaller sizes in a 10 foot unit with a proposed 12 foot cone as a reserve. Raw coal was delivered to the breaker from the Clear Spring shaft located about 250 feet south of the foot of the main conveyor.
The breaker was torn down in early 1996. It was the last breaker to be lost in the Wyoming Valley before the Huber in Ashley.
Contributors: John Pagoda
1995 photos from John Pagoda showing the breaker before and during demolition.
