Ever since 1962, fires have been burning within the coal mines deep underneath Centralia, and to the south and west. In some places, the fires are close enough to the surface that the ground becomes spongy and smoke billows out of every fissure. While I did not dare venture into such locations (as exciting as they may be), I did at least get to see my share of smoky fissures by wandering onto abandoned PA 54/61. The reroute of PA 61 onto SR 2002 took it below the hillock above the coal mines, whereas the original 4-lane you will see here went more gradually up the hillside, directly over some fires that have been burning for around 30 years. So as not to overwhelm you, I present a few select photos here, and via this link (also repeated at the bottom of the page), you can see the rest of the photos from this roadway.


Perfectly dentable guiderail toward the north end of the kilometer-long road (I would have used English instead of metric, but this is more concise).


Looking down at and then along the gigantic crack in the southbound lanes, by far the most interesting feature of the road. Not only is it the only place where the buckling pavement has given up and opened wide, but it's the only place where smoke comes into the road itself instead of staying in the forest to the west.


Getting closer to the ground so you can see just how far the shoulder has subsided relative to the centerline.


Now facing south instead of north, and you can also see a preview of how wavy the rest of the highway has become. (The rest of those photos are to be foun via the big link in the opening paragraph.)


I'm not sure how so much trash has managed to find its way into the crack and only into the crack, unless people throw it there to watch it burn. If that's the case, whoever threw it in the far end of the crack (first photo) was clearly disappointed, whereas those who aimed for the smoky middle of the crack (second photo) got to see their rubbish turned to rubble.

Page 2 of abandoned PA 61/54
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