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THE COAL TRADE BULLETIN. 47
BUFFALO-SUSQUEHANNA SAGAMORE MINE 1
By R. Dawson Norris Hal
The Sagamore mine, operated by the Buffalo
& Susquehanna Coal & Coke Co., lies on both
sides of the line dividing Indiana and Armstrong
counties, Pa., most of the acreage, the town and
plant being on the Armstrong county side of that
line.
The mine is reached by the main line of the
B. & S. R. R.. that railroad being broken by a
gap between Sykes and Juneau, which is temporarily
filled by the use of the Buffalo, Rochester
& Pittsburgh Railroad between these points. The
portion of the B. & S. R. R., between Juneau
and Sagamore, proceeds by Canoe Creek, Little
Mahoning, and Plum Creek, a distance of 21
miles, cutting off a triangular strip of Indiana
county in its northwest angle.
The only available way of reaching the coal
by drifting exhibited itself on Little Plum Creek,
the coal around the tipple running everywhere
in an unbroken field from the center of operation,
it was possible therefore and advisable
to erect at this point a large plant capable of
handling the entire field, for at no other point
was it convenient of access.
The method so often advocated, and with so
much justice, of small scattered units of lower
capacity served by a central power plant and so
arranged as to avoid the congestion too often
found in a larger plant, did suggest itself to the
management. But as the crop on Plum Creek
extends barely 9,000 feet, there seemed inadequate
room for two complete tipple outfits with
all the trackage now found so necessary, above
and below the tipple. It was therefore decided
to
BUILD THE TWO TITPI.ES
proposed into one structure, side by side. The
coal also crops in Big Plum Creek, but though
drainage at this point was a trifle convenient
for a portion of the territory, here the plant
would have been at the very confines of the field,
increase of tonnage would have been slower and
long haulages would have resulted with accompanying
additional equipment. Moreover an
economy in railroad construction was effected,
for otherwise an extension of the road to Big
Plum Creek would have been necessary- Every
care has been taken to avoid congestion by having
adequate accommodation and provision for
a large capacity. The usual problem presented
is between several plants or only one along a
river front, or between many shafts or a single
shaft sunk to a completely buried seam; and in
these cases a number of small plants is prefer-
•Paper written for "Mines and Minerals."
able to one big one. But all through central and
northwestern Indiana county, it is possible to
avoid the expense and inconvenience of sinking
and working shafts by concentrating at favorable
points in the field, and the result is that this
section has been exploited in no other manner.
Sagamore is only one of many large plants in this
section; small operations being seldom found.
The area comprises roughly 10,000 acres of excellent
coal. The bed mined is the Upper Freeport
and has an average thickness of 4 1 /. feet.
The preparation of an agricultural region, several
miles from any railroad, for the operation of
mines in their preliminary stage, prior to the
arrival of the projected means of transportation,
involves the construction of many temporary
structures and installations. Almost every large
mine has to be so constructed today that the
railroad built to remove its coal may earn a
dividend as soon as the track is completely laid.
Moreover a modern mine requires too lengthy
development to admit of the inception of its
operations being delayed.
To this end. Sagamore was provided with two
portable sawmills and four
TEMPORARY POWER HOUSES,
each of the latter accommodating two mines and
each equipped with two boilers of locomotive type
of 50 horsepower each, and one Sullivan air compressor.
These compressors were afterwards distributed
at other plants of the same company.
A large amount of stock coal accumulated between
March 22, 1905, the day when ground was
broken, and November 29 of the same year, when
part of the stock was loaded into cars from a
temporary tipple.
Little Plum Creek, having a grade of 26 feet
to the mile, like all streams on a gentle grade.
meandered freely from side to side of the valley
and for half a mile this troublesome stream was
provided with a new and more efficient channel
to permit of the erection of permanent buildings
and railroad tracks in and around the ground
formerly made useless by its irksome ubiquity.
Above the projected power house, a dam confined
its waters for use in the boilers, but now
the water from what were Artesian wells, but
which now require to be pumped, is used in preference
to the creek water.
There is nothing much demanding consideration
in the underground projection of the Sagamore
mines because the roof breaks freely and the
cover is not heavy, so no elaborate or expensive
treatment of the roof problems was necessary.
The roof is generally of sandstone but occasion-