Here’s a close look at a historic photograph of the mine rescue team at the Big Lick Tunnel in Williams Township, Dauphin County reveals the old inclined “plane” railway at the former site of the Big Lick Colliery during the 1920s.
This Coal Region operation began shortly after the Civil War under the Lykens Valley Coal Company and later became part of the Williamstown Colliery in the late 1860s.
The plane once hauled loaded coal cars from the tunnel up the mountainside, where they were carried three miles east to the Williamstown breaker and cleaning facilities.
Today, only scattered ruins remain along Big Lick Mountain – quiet reminders of a mining landscape that once dominated Williams Valley.
Big Lick Tunnel today
Read more about the Big Lick Colliery
“Big Lick” – Photographs from the 1860s show a Pennsylvania coal mine with an odd name
A walk to the long abandoned rail junction on Big Lick Mountain | Dauphin County, PA
One Spark: The 1877 Lykens Mine Fire
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