The Old St. Nicholas Breaker, located just outside of Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, was constructed in 1930 and began operating in 1932. Half of the village of Suffolk was relocated in order to create room for Reading Anthracite’s Old St. Nicholas Breaker, the largest coal breaker in the world. 20 miles (32 km) of railroad track were laid, 3,800 tons of steel and more than 10,000 cubic yards (7,600 m) of concrete were used. A mile and a half of conveyor lines, 25 miles (40 km) of conduit, 26,241 square feet (2,437.9 m) of rubber belting, 118 miles (190 km) of wire and cable and 20 miles (32 km) of pipe were installed. When the breaker was constructed it was divided into two sides. Each side could be operated independently, producing 12,500 tons of coal a day. Once the raw coal enters the production process within the breaker it took just 12 minutes to pass through the entire breaker. For 31 years, the Old St. Nicholas Breaker prepared all sizes of famous Reading Anthracite for the markets of the world. The breaker ceased operations in 1963 when Reading Anthracite Company shifted their mining operations, and constructed the “new” St. Nicholas breaker near Minersville PA.
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