LIRR Coal Ops: Types of coal and uses

Perhaps folks could expand the coal types transported onto the Island, why, when volume, etc. Blue, hard, soft, kettle, etc.

For example 1945-46 car loads:
anthracite 2262
bituminus 295

http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/lirr%2 ... 5loads.gif


The tonnage/carload data from 1951 Moody's Investor Guidebook of total LIRR inbound loads.
carloads tonnage %

Hard Coal hopper 18,608 1,080,223 21.3%
Soft Coal hopper 6,376 369,447 7.3%

Steve, I'm old enough to remember seeing coal trucks around my old neighborhood in Queens, NY circa 1950. My grammar school, PS 14 in Corona, got deliveries of anthracite coal by truck. There was a kind of chute device extending from the truck, and the coal just slid down the chute into a bin in the school's basement.

Some homes in the neighborhood were still heated by coal at that time, but oil burners were coming on-line big time.

I believe bituminous, or soft, coal was used mostly by the electrical generating stations (Con Edison) and out on the island, LILCO.

The most common type burned residential, is of course Anthracite. The most common size was Range, which is a mix of nut and pea sized coal. This was done in the retailers yard, as coal came by rail one size at a time. Theres almost a dozen different sizes of anthracite. Another thing is the yard would bag there coal as well for some users, in 25lb paper bags (I have 2 sitting behind me), this is now done with 40lb plastic..

The brand of coal (Blue coal, Lehigh Valley Coal, Lehigh Coal & Nav, Reading Anthracite, etc..) depended upon the retailers yard. Most yards also stocked Ice, and sometimes wood and sand.

Alot of the power plants out here used Anthracite until it started to decline in the 50s. Most of this was shipped by barge to the NY area plants. Bituminous was used at the hospitals, Kings park got there's from Consol Coal..which, I imagine was LI's last coal by rail customer by thte time they converted in 87'.

[quote="Ocala Mike"]Steve, I'm old enough to remember seeing coal trucks around my old neighborhood in Queens, NY circa 1950. My grammar school, PS 14 in Corona, got deliveries of anthracite coal by truck. There was a kind of chute device extending from the truck, and the coal just slid down the chute into a bin in the school's basement..."

Thanks Mike! So here I go... back in Islip, the big supplier was Islip Coal & Feed (1916 - late 1960's)
Islip Coal & Feed c. 1968 view SE Photo: Steve Lynch

A good sized bunker, I would venture to say. Perhaps, the largest in Suffolk County. They would deliver via the local coal trucks and swing the chute device in through a basement window into a coal bin. I recall seeing this until c.1960. With fuel oil conversion, ours was done in the early 1950's, coal was on the wane as you all know. The oil burner was huge, perhaps 12' diameter. It just came out of the Islip house last year having been cut up by welders to get it out of the basement, BTW.