Hmm, I pass through the area on occasion. A year ago there was a working coal breaker visible from Rt 61 west of Shamokin (that's on my "one-of-these-days" list). Somewhere near Hazelton a few years back I encountered a dragline shovel that had to be the biggest piece of machinery I've ever encountered. At the time they had temporarily rerouted the road I was on to stripmine across the original right of way. It was the sort of thing where you could see the top end sticking up in the sky above the mountain tops. Assuming it's still active, some well placed questions should turn it up -- it would be impossible to hide (and could potentially produce some eyecatching shots).
I chased and rode steam rail excursions through much of that area in the 1960s, but it has been cleaned up a lot since that time. In the sixties it was like reliving the great depression, anthracite mining had been hard hit. There were run down houses, decaying industrial buildings, rail infrastructure and some major bridges all over the place. But alas, apparently there has been some success in bringing in new smaller, cleaner industry over the years. I'm sure the residents are happier, but it is discouraging to those of us who like old rust. Much of the railroad stuff has been ripped up. There was a Reading Railroad engine terminal near Locust Gap and rail parallelling Rt 54, but most of that was wiped out when I passed through there a year or so back. The rail station in Shamokin has recently been completely remodeled for some alternative use, although there are still tracks there.
There's Centralia with the underground mine fire, although once again, many of the houses have now been torn down so it doesn't present quite the same sense of foreboding (imagine your basement walls at a temperature of 120ºF!)
Jim Thorpe (formerly Mauch Chunk) has drawn comments like "Switzerland in Pennsylvania," a town nestled in almost a gorge with lots of interesting 19C architecture. It was home to something like eleven millionaires in the late 1800s when coal was king. The town is along the Lehigh River and Lehigh Gorge state park -- some trails, overlooks and still some rail infrastructure. There is the remains of a "gravity railway" in Jim Thorp that a group is trying to get restored, but there wasn't much left but the right-o-way (now a hiking trail) last I saw it. Rt 61 and Rt 209 will both take you through a lot of old towns that might offer something.
There is the
Eckley Miners Village in Weatherly, now a state historic site. I think the old style coal breaker there was actually a set for a movie, but it captures the flavor. There's an interesting oddity near the I-80/940 intersection east of Hazleton; an old power station that supplied a sanitorium at White Haven. It had recently been adapted into a restaurant with rough brick interior walls and portions of the boilers still in place. It still had its smoke stack and much of its exterior too. The last time we tried to eat there it was closed, so don't know what's currently happening. It's visible from I-80; on Powerhouse Road (surprise!) off Rt 940 south from I-80.
Farther north, Wilkesbarre and Scranton have lots of old industrial stuff too.
Pottsville, just south of Frackville might offer something interesting (I'm partial to the Yuengling Brewery there, but not necessarily for photos
).
Of course there's plenty of good old mountain scenery everywhere in the area.
A few maybe not all that helpful thoughts ...
DaveT
