Cherry Coal Mine Disaster

Mine Site Photos Page Three
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Cherry Mine Disaster Story
Story of Disaster by Steve Stout
The Fatal Day
Story in a Nutshell
Mine Site photos
Description of Cherry Mine
James Cherry
page two mine pics
Page Three Mine Pics
Page four Mine photos
Page Five Mine Photos
Page Six Mine Photos
Page Seven Mine Photos
Page Eight Mine Photos
Page Nine Mine Photos
Bell Signals etc.
Page Ten Mine photos
New Mine photos
Aerial Views
Cherry Mine Artifacts
Sunday Morning Crowds
Nativity/Nationalities
Cherry Mine Model
Model Pics Set Two
Twelve Heroes Story
John Flood: Hero
Alex Norberg (Hero)
Read about Eight-Day Men
John Thomas Brown
George Eddy
Which Story Deserves Movie?
The Memorial and More
Miners Tombstones
Cherry Depot
Soldier Trains and more
Morgue Tent
Names of Victims
Names of Victims section two
Coal Mining Words
Map Diagrams
No Respect For History
The Day the Tipple Fell
Farewell letters
Sam Howard's Letter
More on the Subject
"Oneness" Press release
TRAPPED: Karen Tintori's new book
MODEL RAILROADING MAG
Ray Tutaj Model Projects
Last Days of The Milwaukee Road
Milwaukee Road Car
St. Paul Coal Mine Office
Remembering the disaster.
100th Anniversary/Car Show
100th Anniversary Photos
100th Anniversary photos by Candy Brown
100th Anniversary pics from Karen Tintori
We need Your Help (1909 song)
Cherry Word Puzzle
Favorite Links
About me
Tour of Mine Site
Contact Me
100th Anniversary Documentary Available and More!
Cherry Mine Disaster Historical Society
T-Shirts, Sweatshirts etc.(100th anniv.)
STORE
Train Photo CDs Available
Train Video DVD's Available
Train -e-books NEW!
Workers Compensation
Cherry MIne Enthusiasts Remembered
How You Can Help

St. Paul Mine in Cherry IL.

Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul RR.
steamengine.jpg
The railroad needed coal for their locomotives throughout the system.

The picture here of the 10-wheeler locomotive was taken on nov 20th 1909. These were the type of locomotives working the mine site. This is the same day that 21 miners were surprisingly discovered alive after eight days of hell in the earth below.

 

LOOKING NORTH TO CHERRY IL.
northtocherry.jpg
Tracks came off the branch line in Ladd IL. The Milwaukee Road RR.

THE TRACKS WENT NORTH RIGHT NEXT TO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ELEVATOR IN THE DISTANCE. ONCE NEAR THE MINE SITE THE TRACKS TOOK A LEFT AT ABOUT A 45 DEGREE ANGLE AND ENDED AFTER ABOUT 300 YARDS OR SO. THIS WAS A SPUR OFF THE BRANCH AT LADD JUST THREE MILES SOUTH.

Search gjourney on You Tube for my music

Looking directly northwest toward the mine
panoramaview.jpg
Can you see the tripod in this photo?

 

The moments were captured on film! This view looking northwest is another one of my favorites. In this view (toward left) the fire has destroyed the fanhouse when a decision to reverse the fan was made. This means no more air for miners who may still be alive. Also, since the escape shaft was adjacent to the airshaft, the flames also destroyed the stairway from the levels below. Thus cutting off an important means of escape.

Without pictures such as these I could have never built the HO scale model of the mine site. Now with the model permanently displayed at the Cherry Library people can come and visit and now get a three-dimensional perspective of the mine site. They can learn about how coal was mined in the early 1900s.

Visitors came on boxcars to see the chaos
milwboxcarwithvisitorstocherryatop.jpg
One of the ways in which visitors got to the mine site quickest was by rail.

John Fosco worked in the coal mine in Cherry
johnfossco.jpg

Contact gjourney1@yahoo.com for Digital Books of the Cherry Coal Mine Disaster
See Model Railroading magazine at task bar at left.

The Grain Elevator in Cherry is gone now.
cherryelevator.jpg
Torn down in 2001. Another landmark gone.

The Look of November 13th.

When November 13th and 14th of 1999 came, it was the 90th anniversary of the Cherry Mine Disaster. This was the weekend the Mine Model was unveiled. As I was entering Cherry early morning, it was an unseasonably warm day for the time of year. The sky was clear and I thought it wonderful to have the weather conditions exactly as they were on Saturday Nov. 13th and 14th in 1909. The picture above is a picture I took as I entered town, the historic town of Cherry on the 90th anniversary. The grain elevator was next to the track that once went to the coal mine. The track was on the left. The slag pile hills are seen in the distance behind the elevator.