Shoaf, PA, Fayette County. Last of the Bee Hive Coke ovens to close.

Oh boy, Chip is gonna regret giving me access to his blog as now I can put out some of my earlier stuff.
About a year and a half ago, a friend of mine, Weimer and I broke out the cross bikes and headed on a little winter ride. As we rode, we passed the old Shoaf PA coke works. From what I understand, these were the last operating bee hive coke ovens in the U.S and although still profitable in 1973, they were forced to close because they couldn't comply with the pesky EPA's clean air standards. Its basically over grown now, but the oven are in remarkably good shape.
This is definitely a "return to" location as there was much more to see and we were unequipped (and cold) to explore more that day.
As always, click on the pictures to view in a larger size.




A bank of ovens.

Oven opening
The "bee hive" part


More oven banks

Dr. Weimer

This reminded me of something out of the Planet Of The Apes, not the planet, but the movie.



Tracks that the Larry cars used to ride on.

To view a nice birds eye interactive Bing map of the site, CLICK HERE.