A view from an old picture post card of the Short Mountain Slope of the Lykens Valley Coal Company, on the western side of Bear Gap, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, one of two slopes built to haul coal up from the mines. A large wheel under the housing was steam powered. Coal cars were pulled to the top and then released allowing gravity to send them to a nearby breaker, where refuse was removed and the coal sized in preparation to be sent to market. The steep slope in the front goes into the mine and the coal car shown has a cover on top to prevent coal from spilling out onto the tracks.
This slope was in operation from 1870 to 1915 and was replaced with a shaft containing elevators to hoist the cars up from five levels below.
The photo was taken looking south. The slope went into the mountain in a northward direction.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.