Company houses

[NW Modeling List]

Ron,

If you are doing the 50's some miners would have cars but not all. I have 
company store records from 1957/58 from the Peerless store in Bottom Creek 
(it is in sad shape but still there as of 5/2006)
In these records the company store would let out on credit for tires and 
auto parts at the nearby towns.

Knowing a mining family from that era grandpa did not have a car but the son 
did!! remember a lot of mining families rented apartments in town close to 
the mine head. A lot of these apartments would be over busineses in town.

As a side note grandma did not like the steam coal trains as everytime one 
went by you had to sweep off the porch and everything else to get rid of the 
cinders. There was no such thing as white laundry it was Grays!!

You can still drive down highway 52 through the hollow and see how close 
things are and were in towns like Northfork, Kimball  and many of the other 
mining camps.

So,,, go ahead and populate your towns and thanks to mini metals and others 
it now easy to do!!

Mike Ritschdorff




>From: NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>

>Reply-To: NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>

>To: <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>

>Subject: Company houses

>Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:39:10 -0500

>

>I know this is a little different for a topic, but I am looking for some

>information.  I recently built a coal mining facility complete with several

>company houses and a company store.  My question is:  When did automobiles

>start to show up owned by company house residents?  A friend of mine said

>they did not have cars before the late fifties or early sixties.  I have

>seen pictures of company houses with cars at a much earlier date.  Since 

>I'm

>modelling the N&W in the mid-to-late fifties, I would like to have cars and

>trucks but would like to be somewhat accurate.

>Thanks for any insight,

>Ron K.

>

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