Centralia

[Stu]

During my PA trip/house hunt over New Year's, I decided to return to Centralia to get some decent photos. For those who don't know, Centralia is the town that has been burning from underneath since the 60's.


http://www.stuofdoom.com/centralianew.jpg

http://www.stuofdoom.com/centralianew7.jpg

http://www.stuofdoom.com/centralianew8.jpg

http://www.stuofdoom.com/centralianew17.jpg


Full page can be found here (http://www.stuofdoom.com/centralia.html).

[james ungehajer]

nice pics stu,havent been by there in years,anyone still living there?while in the area(summer)there is a great oldtime amusement park in ely,knobels,great wooden coasters,free admission,pay as you go.also a tour of the yuengling brewery in pottsville.both places are on rt.61

[LongIslandPiney]

For some reason the photos wont show up.

[Stu]

There are about 30-40 people left there and just a handful of houses.

[james ungehajer]

:) hi stu,jimbo,talk about dangerous living!!!!!!!!!!

[woodjin]

There is a late 80's, early 90's movie staring Chevy Chase, Demi Moore and Dan Ackrward (spelling), John Candy. It takes place in an abandoned coal mining town off the Atlantic City expressway (obviously not based on a remote facts) In that town a mine fire is burning underground. It was a horror/comedy and not very good.. very weird movie. This thread reminded me of that movie.

Jeff

[james ungehajer]

wow,i never saw that movie,coal under the sands,stoke up the pot bellied stove,amazing they would come out with something like that.

[Boyd]

There is a late 80's, early 90's movie staring Chevy Chase, Demi Moore and Dan Ackrward (spelling), John Candy.

That would be Nothing But Trouble: http://imdb.com/title/tt0102558/

Wow, I haven't seen that movie for a long time but I thought they were on the NJ Turnpike instead of the AC Expressway. Whatever, it certainly does a lot to reinforce the stereotypes which some people have of New Jersey. But IMO, this isn't necessarily a bad thing if it helps keep the population from growing too fast and discourages people from trashing the woods :)

[james ungehajer]

:) the nj turnpike(especially the northern stretch)has left an unfair impression,i try to steer people away from it,telling them to drive a little further to the gsp,and get a different perspective.

[omega]

That was a Bizzare movie, I can remember Ackroyd's character rolling over in bed and firing a few off... and the "things" that lived out in the "yard" were just freaky.

I was in Centralia back in the 80's when I worked in TV news, that too is kinda bizzare.

[james ungehajer]

:mrgreen: hey,on the full page pics and description,the kids love ac/dc,they have highway to hell written on the road.

[MikeBickerson]

Awesome pictures, I've seen it from a distance, but I've never gone.

[Stu]

I have a crappy short movie file I took with my digicam of that rift in the middle of the highway. I'm thinking about putting it online...just worried about bandwidth.

[omega]

I have a crappy short movie file I took with my digicam of that rift in the middle of the highway. I'm thinking about putting it online...just worried about bandwidth.


that's what youtube is for. ;)

[Badfish740]

My brother goes to Lock Haven and said he take me out there one of these days. He said its one of the creepiest places he's ever been.

[Stu]

that's what youtube is for. ;)

Can't do it. I'm so self conscious that the thought of a voting system scares me away. If you could disable voting I would considering posting my vids up there; I have a few from various places I want to put up somehow.

[lgench]

Came through there a few years ago at night on my motorcycle. Very scary, very smelly!

Len

[entropysedge]

A book Unseen Danger by David DeKok discribes the bureaucratic decisions that led to how the fire went out of control.

[Hewey]

never heard of that place but looks very interesting,knobles grove is awsome haven't been in years and yuengling tour, that would be cool:guinness:

[james ungehajer]

:mrgreen: hi hewey,jimbo,if you haven't already done so,just go to the yuengling website to find out the days and hours of operation,the best part is,free out the tap cold ones after the tour.:mrgreen:

[Hewey]

:mrgreen: hi hewey,jimbo,if you haven't already done so,just go to the yuengling website to find out the days and hours of operation,the best part is,free out the tap cold ones after the tour.:mrgreen:

nice, couldn't be any fresher!

[lgench]

Or, a little closer! Saturday afternoons at Flying Fish in Cherry Hill. This time of year: Grand Cru. Yum.:guinness: :guinness:

[Badfish740]

You guys are killing me. I swore off beer for at least 60 days as part of an effort to lose about 20 lbs. I'm 215 right now and my 36s are getting mighty tight :cry: The last beer I had was River Horse Belgian Frostbite, brewed in Lambertville on the banks of the Delaware. Mmmmmm...I can almost taste it :guinness:

[james ungehajer]

:mrgreen: badfish,jimbo,i never had that beer,is it like guiness?lambertville is just a hop away from me,matter of fact,i have to take the kid over his friends house in yardley later,it looks like 95 north,dropoff,over the scudders falls bridge to rt.29 north to lambertville,got my taste buds aroused.

[Badfish740]

Belgian frostbite isn't a stout, but its got a lot of carmel malt, very full and dark, a perfect winter beer. They make a few different varieties though-I recommend them all!

If you're coming north on 29 the main drag, Bridge Street, is a left (Big gas station on the corner-Exxon I think) and the brewery is the last right before you go over the bridge into New Hope. They have tours and sampling everyday 12-5. Lambertville is a really cool old river town to visit too-great restaurants.

www.riverhorse.com

[james ungehajer]

:mrgreen: in the early 80's,i recall eating in a restaurant called the frog rock inn,north of lambertville,is it still there?

[LongIslandPiney]

So there's no way to put that fire out? If they could bulldoze the entire area, expose the mine, then let the rain put it out, maybe that would work?
This is the first time I have heard of a fire that burns for years and years (with the exception of the Iraq oil wells).
Must have been alot of coal down there. I'm suprised they haven't at least tried to put the fire out. I guess it's yet another example of the dangers of caol mines.

[Badfish740]

They have thought of a lot of ways, but there's just no feasible method. From what I've read, the fires burn pretty deep in most places. The spots where you see smoke, steam, and cracked/heaved earth is just where the seam is close to the surface. There's at least one other coal fire burning in Pennsylvania and more than a few around the world. There's one in China that emits more carbon dioxide in a month than all the cars in the world do in a year or something like that.

Anyway, speaking of coal has anyone read anything about coal liquification? The Governor of either Minnesota or Montana (can't remember which) is pushing it pretty hard since Montana alone could satisfy our energy needs with coal for something like 60 years. The process turns dirty coal into clean burning diesel fuel. The only problem is it releases carbon dioxide in the process but apparently they're working on ways to capture it and use it somehow. South Africa used to use it (and I think they still do) to produce fuel since at one time the world pretty much refused to sell them oil because of Apartheid. The Nazi's invented it because they were starved for fuel until Hitler was able to take control of Romania's oilfields.

Apparently we have enough coal to last for something like 800 years. Most of it is just sitting in the ground because it is high sulfur which we don't burn anymore because of acid rain. So, we'll see I guess...

[james ungehajer]

never heard of that place but looks very interesting,knobles grove is awsome haven't been in years and yuengling tour, that would be cool:guinness:

there is also a place on rt.22 west of hamburg in lenhartsville called roadside america,biggest train platform i ever seen,houses,mostly everthing made by hand,great for kids,they can operate alot of the displays,i think it puts northlandz to shame,worth a visit.

[lgench]

Glad to hear Roadside America is still there! They have let Northlandz go to hell.
Len

[james ungehajer]

Glad to hear Roadside America is still there! They have let Northlandz go to hell.
Len

i have heard that about northlandz