If you want to understand the Coal Region, sometimes the best place to start is underground.
Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train in Ashland has been welcoming visitors since 1962 and offers a direct look at the anthracite industry that shaped the region.
A mine you can actually enter
The attraction takes visitors into an old anthracite mine in Mahanoy Mountain. The tour explains how coal was mined and what underground work was like.
The steam train adds another layer
Pioneer Tunnel also operates a narrow-gauge steam train experience tied to the area’s mining heritage. Railroads and coal were inseparable in the anthracite era, so the combination makes sense.
Why it matters
Old mine maps and photographs are valuable, but walking or riding into a mine makes the scale of the industry easier to understand. For local families, it can also connect younger generations with the kind of work their grandparents or great-grandparents may have known firsthand.
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