drgnhrt1979

I was in Centralia about a month ago and didnt know it and didnt have time to explore the area. So, I am planning a trip this month to go down again with more time to explore and maybe get some wheeling in.

For those who dont know, Centralia was a coal mining town back in the 50's and 60's and due to a mine fire that has never been put out. PA tried to close the area and evacuate the people living there, to this day there are still a hand full of people still living there in their homes.

I am planning on driving down to explore the town in about 2 weeks. I am gonna leave my house in Rensselaer, NY about 0630 and could meet folks on the way.

I am going either way, but if anyone else is interested let me know.

The trip will be on May 22.

ktmracer419

not much there for more than a couple hours of exploring

theres lots of land owned by a coal company surrounding it

you need a $100 pass to legally be on that land and they are usually sold out early in the year

drgnhrt1979

do you know where one can get a pass? is it from the state or the coal company? as I understand from my research on the area, the state has been buying up the land as it has become available if no other private party was interested.

timber96

Like was previously mentioned... not much to see there. The old Road, Rt. 61 is a cratered, crumbled up mess with lots of grafitti. (See forgottenPA on facebook... some cool pics there.)
The other area which is near Trevorton Pa. is also old coal mining country, however there is a proposal to make that a huge offroad park run by the Commomwealth of PA. That is down the road, but many folks do use it, as they should have paid the 100.00 fee to the Reading Anthracite Cola mine.

drgnhrt1979

ok, I googled the coal mine company you said, and asked them about the land in Centralia and so far it looks like you do not need their permit as they do not own any land in that area... i have reemailed the contact back to see if she does know who owns the land there as I do want to stay legal.

drgnhrt1979

After doing some more research on the Centralia area, I have found out that the Reading Anthracite Company does not own any land in that area. They do however own a bunch of land that they allow access to if you buy a permit from them to do so. I would consider getting a permit IF I lived closer or planned on going down there more than once or twice.

timber96

You missed some of my previous response. The Reading Anthracite mine owns the land in Trevorton, Pa.... not Centralia. The strip mines near Trevorton require a permit to stay legal that is. Many folks use it and use it hard as it rocks!, but use caution, there are many serious injuries there. The injuries are of course because folks do some dumb things, but hey, we're all human right.

drgnhrt1979

not that i missed your previous response, as i read it, i thought that you meant that centralia was owned by that coal company... my bad, i misunderstood what you meant. I understand that there is not much left to see in Centralia, but i still want to go and explore a lil b4 it is completely gone for good...

teggy84

Centralia was on the history channel yesterday. i wanna go check it out as well. a real life silent hill, who wouldn't want to go see it. the history channel said that they believe there is enough coal in the mine to burn for the next 250 years.

drgnhrt1979

Checked the weather and it will be in the mid to upper 70's for Sat with a chance for "isolated" T-storms.

As mentioned before, I will be leaving my house about 0630 and stopping at the first fuel plaza on Rt 87S past exit 23. I will wait there for about 30min before getting back on the road. After that there will be one stop for fuel in Scranton area in PA, then I will stop again for another 30 min once I get to exit 119 on Rt 81. I am planning on being at the fuel plaza by about 0700 and exit 119 by about 1200. The exact route I am taking is 87S to 84W to 81S then the back roads to Centralia.

If you have not already said you going, just show up at the times and places mentioned. I will have FRS and CB both set to channel 16 for commo. Give a shout out on either. If I am on the road, I will be flipping between CB channels 19 and 16. I look forward to seeing everyone there.

I do realize that there may be some that are concerned about being legal and all, I have looked into it and other than the few residents that still live there, there is no land that I could find that was privately owned. So unless there are posted signs or the like found there should be a good time wheeling for all. In addition I do plan on getting out and looking at the closed section of the original Rt 61, this would be on foot of course.

Now as far as I know, the trip list look like this...

Trip list:

drgnhrt1979- XJ with Cell, CB, and FRS for commo

Andy and Lori- regular car with cell for commo (they will ditch the car and ride in Bandit1's jeep when we get to centralia)

drgnhrt1979

There is a gas station in Ashland, PA that I will stop at to wait instead of down near exit 119 on 81. the address I could find for the gas station is

300 Centre St,
Ashland, PA 17921

I will be there shortly after 1200 and will wait 30 min unless you chime in on the FRS or CB to let us know you are coming. in addition, if you are going and have not said so here yet, PM either me and i will give you our cell number if you dont have any other form of commo.

I will check back to see if there are anymore posts or pms friday nite, after that, just show up.

drgnhrt1979

ok, this will be my last post here about this trip. after this, just show up at the designated places and times or catch us on the road. I have to change the FRS channel because of the 3 radios i have one of them only goes to channel 14. so to make sure we are all on the same page, here is the trip info.

I will be leaving Rensselaer about 0630.

I am planning on getting to the New Baltimore service plaza on I87S by 0700
from there I will wait about 30 min for anyone else to show up then it is back on the road.

I will be getting off of 87 at the exit for I84W towards Scranton
From there, I should be in the Scranton area by about 0930 and following for I81S

I will be following 81S to exit 119 and hooking up with Rt 61 to Centralia

There is a gas station in Ashland, PA right were 61 makes a 90* left. I believe the address is 300 Centre St, Ashland, PA 17921. At that gas station, I will wait another 30 min then off to centralia.

While on the road, I will be monitoring CB channels 16 and 19. While I am stopped and waiting, I will monitor CB channel 16 and channel 14 on the FRS Radio. My handle is Bandit, give a shout if you are close to see if we are still sitting or not. I am hoping to be in Ashland shortly after 1200 and in Centralia by 1300.

I look forward to seeing whoever shows.

Jackillac92

How is the wheeling there, and the town of Centrallia? And where do you wheel around there? Maybe some google maps locations possibly : )

drgnhrt1979

the wheeling was fine, though a few of the "trails" were just barely wide enough for an ATV let alone our jeeps. I was in 2wd most of the time, though there was 2 or 3 small spots were I did have to pop it into 4H. I will post some pics over the weekend if i get the chance otherwise early next week they will be up. there was a yj and 2 kjs along with my xj on the trip. the town itself has maybe a few houses left and not much else. there are 3 cemetaries you can visit and look at the old tomb stones but thats about it. once i figure out the google maps thing, i will post something up with it.

Jackillac92

That sounds awesome! Cant wait to see pics.