MP 7.5 - Dickson Mine

Dickson Mine sign on the Montour Trail.

The Imperial Coal Co. opened the first mine to ship coal on the Montour RR in June, 1879. About 800 to 1,000 tons a day were shipped seven miles to a barge loadout on the Ohio River. A connection was established later in that year with the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad in Coraopolis. The mine had two entrances, called Cliff Mine and Dickson. Both names were used for the mine at various times. It was originally called Cliff Mine, then Beechcliff Mine.

After its purchase by the Pittsburgh Coal Co. in 1899, it was called Dickson Mine during its final 31 years of operation. Dickson was a drift mine, meaning the entrances on the hillside opened directly into the coal seam and vertical shafts were not needed to access the mine.

The mine extended southwest of the two entrances. For more information go to: montourrr.com Mine Seen in 1915, the Dickson Mine tipple sits beside Montour Run. After cleaning and sorting, mined coal was loaded into railroad cars. Pennsylvania State Archives photo courtesy Gene P. Schaeffer. The mine portals were a few hundred feet up the hillside and mined coal was sent down to the loading tipple on an inclined plane. The tipple location was known by the railroad as Cliff Mine station. Coal cleaners, sizing screens, picking tables and chutes for loading mined coal into railroad cars were included in the tipple. Shale, slate and waste rock were dumped on the hillside near the mine entrances. The Dickson Mine produced coal for over 50 years before closing.