Colliers in Mahanoy Valley. L.V.R.R.

Before the coming of the railroad in America, ladies' dresses and gentlemen's watches were invariably products of some cottage industry. Soon after the arrival of the railroad, businesses became dependent upon trains to rapidly move both raw and finished goods to market. The railroad made a nationwide system of manufactures possible. In heavily industrial areas such as mining or manufacturing centers, trains literally stopped at a business's "back door" to load products in the most efficient manner. This photograph of tracks running directly through a mining area illustrates the tight connection between the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Pennsylvania coal mining industry.