Ditney Hill mine

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Ditney Hill mine

Structure

The phrase 'while it lasted' in the previous commentary indicated that the contract between U.S. Steel and Lynnville Coal Co. was rather short in duration, and so it was - the whole operation continued for less than three years, terminating in October, 1955, when Lynch built its own washer at Corbin, Kentucky. Thereafter, the NYC received Gary coal from the L&N at Cincinnati, as previously described. These shipments, however, were sporadic, and their sum total was only a trickle compared to the 1,200 cars a week which poured out of Wansford. There was no longer a compelling reason why the coal should be routed via the NYC, hence it was parceled out among the various competing routes to Chicago from the L&N gateways at Cincinnati, Louisville, and Evansville. Of course, the Lynnville washer was not permitted to lie idle, nor did the E&I sink beneath the rust and weeds of disuse. Both washer and railroad continued to do a very respectable business handling coal mined locally. In this scene, the piles of smoking 'gob', the empty yard, and the tipple constitute a portion of the operations at Ditney Hill, the only shaft mine on the E&I (located eight miles from Straight Line Junction, the end of line near Evansville). This mine was one of the steadiest performers of all the mines in E&I territory, although its output was less overall than that of the more extensive diggings at Enos, Kerwin, and Tecumseh.

Jeremy Taylor

Jeremy Taylor

2-1/4x3-1/4 neg

12/1953

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Ditney Hill, IN