Jolly Old St. Nick | And The Abandoned Coal Breaker

What does a wedding photographer do during the winter break from wedding and portraits seasons?  Spend five hours exploring an abandoned coal breaker of course!  On this 27 degree New Years Eve day, I had the opportunity to revisit one of my favorite abandoned locations.  It was a great way to end a great year.  St. Nicolas Coal Breaker is a monstrous abandoned coal breaker up in the heart of coal country in Pennsylvania.  This behemoth structure was constructed in 1930 and closed in the 1960’s.  It was at one time the largest coal breaker in the world and was capable of processing up to 12,500 tons of coal per day.   Once the coal made its way up the 1.5 mile coal shoot, it took just 12 minutes to process the raw coal down through the facility and out onto trucks.  For 31 years, the Old St. Nicholas Breaker prepared all sizes of famous Reading Anthracite for the markets of the world.  It is a surreal experience to explore an abandoned location as large and storied as St. Nicks.  Worker boots, office papers, tools and more are left throughout the breaker.  Almost as if on the day they closed, they put down their work and walked out.