Our Attractions

Steam Train Ride

Travel through time behind a vintage narrow-gauge steam locomotive. Built in 1927 by the Vulcan Iron Works, Lehigh Valley Coal Company #123 will take you on a scenic three-quarter mile ride around the side of Mahanoy Mountain.

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At the end of the line, you'll enjoy a stunning vista and learn about bootleg mining and strip mining. You'll see the Mammoth Stripping, an area where an unusually thick seam of anthracite known as the Mammoth Vein, out crops to the surface of the earth.

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This tour lasts approximately 30 minutes.​

Pioneer Tunnel is a horizontal drift mine. You'll ride 1,800 feet into the side of Mahanoy Mountain in an open-air mine car pulled by a battery-operated mine motor.

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Deep inside the mine, when you're 400 feet below the earth, you will exit your car and follow your tour guide as you learn how coal was mined from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

We have story boards inside the mine depicting the former mining operations. Your tour guide will point out our numerous coal seams and describe various configurations of the passageways, some of which were cut from solid rock to reach the coal.

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This tour lasts 35 to 40 minutes.

Educational Programs

Pioneer Tunnel offers specialized educational programs for children in preschool through twelfth grade. Our programming is directly linked to local history and Schuylkill County's industrial time period.