Guide to the Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Collection c1917-c1978
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Records
- Creator
- Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Collection Number
- MSS 0622
- Extent
- 3 linear feet (3 boxes)
- Date
- c1917-c1978
- Abstract
- The Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Company (which would become CONSUL Energy in 1991) is the fruition of a merger between Pittsburgh Coal Company and Consolidated Coal in November 1945. In the years preceding this merger, Pittsburgh Coal Company maintained a central machine repair shop in Library, Pennsylvania. This shop continued to repair machinery after the merger for Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Company mines. This repair shop functioned to perform significant repairs on various pieces of mining equipment. The Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Company Records consist of manufacturer blueprints and operation manuals for various pieces of mining equipment, such as generators, klaxons, cranes, and mining cars. Also included are locomotive repair forms for trains produced by companies such as General Electric, Jeffrey Manufacturing, and Westinghouse. These records also contain expenditure forms and purchase orders that annotate various expenses incurred during daily operation, such as machine part expenses and labor costs.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
The Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Company (which would become CONSUL Energy in 1991) is the fruition of a merger between Pittsburgh Coal Company and Consolidated Coal in November 1945. In the years preceding this merger, both companies had experienced economic difficulties due to a decreased demand for coal following the First World War. Although they benefited from an increased need for coal throughout World War II, Pittsburgh Coal and Consolidated Coal (who were at that time the two largest commercial coal companies) merged with the hope of staving off post-war economic hardships. Unfortunately, this new merger did not completely circumvent the adverse effects of the post-war market for coal, as rates of production following World War II dropped by 40 percent. This led to the closing of company mines and the laying off of tens of thousands of miners. Throughout this time, Pittsburgh Coal Company maintained a central machine repair shop in Library, Pennsylvania. This repair shop functioned to perform significant repairs on various pieces of mining equipment. In this shop, equipment blueprints were on file to assist machinists as they repaired mining machinery. As of 1922, this shop conducted repairs on equipment from 55 Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal mines within a 30 mile radius.
Scope and Content Notes
The Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Company Records consist of manufacturer blueprints and operation manuals for various pieces of mining equipment, such as generators, klaxons, cranes, and mining cars. These blueprints and manuals are organized into files according to the pieces of equipment they depict. Also included are locomotive repair forms for trains produced by companies such as General Electric, Jeffrey Manufacturing, and Westinghouse. These forms are filed according to the manufacturer and model number of each locomotive. Purchase orders in this collection document the machinery acquired by the shop to be of use in repairing mining equipment. The dates of these orders range from 1917 to 1928. In conjunction with these orders, these records also include expenditure forms that annotate various expenses incurred during daily operation, such as machine part expenses and labor costs.
Conditions Governing Access
None.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift from Ernie Thomas in 1990.
Archives accession # 1990.0046
Preferred Citation
Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Records, c1917-c1978, MSS 0622, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Sierra Green on 10/21/2011.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Subjects
- Pittsburgh Coal Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Consolidated Coal Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Pittsburgh Consolidated Coal Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Library (Pa.)
- Bituminous coal industry
- Coal mines and mining-- Electronic equipment
- Maintenance and repair-- Mining equipment and supplies