Wheeling in Centralia - The "Real Silent Hill"

[PAFirefighter11]

This is about my 15th or so trip to Centralia. As usual, for those who don't know, Centralia is located in east central Pennsylvania, not far from the former off-road park Paragon. There is a coal mine fire that has been burning under Centralia since the late 60's. The coal veins under Centralia and the neighboring towns are made up of Anthracite Coal. This type of coal is the cleanest & longest burning coal in the world. It has been estimated that the coal under Centralia can burn for another 250-500+ years, and possibly wipe neighboring towns off the map. The exact thing that has happened to Centralia.

This was more about wheeling & exploring the woods than Centralia itself. These are all shots with my cell phone. I'll upload some shots off my D2x (DSLR) later.

The group (My ZJ: No lift, 30" AT's, open front/rear; Buddies ZJ: AT's, 2" lift; Buddies MJ: 31" MT's, lift, LSD in rear Ford 8.8, 97-01 XJ front grill, bumper & fogs, etc.):



Trails:














Branch removal:








Poser flexing:




Very steep, slippery trail with some big rocks - does not look bad at all in these photos:










And back in Centralia:






All in all it was a great time. The MJ had a rear passenger side shock rip off the axle side. That was the only damage aside from the usual brush/tree memories, errr.. scratches.

[justinlansdale]

jealous! looked like a good time, i wanna make it out there with my truck!

[lownslow95]

Looks like fun. I wish I had a truck to explore up there.

[Noodile]

We had a kia meet there back in october. get to see all the dicks on cock street?

[schaffer]

I live about 5 minutes from there,pass through there on an almost daily basis.



Let me know the next time you go out. I'll eventually have my truck fixed.

[Shipman]

I havent had fun in trails like that in a while, im jelly

[Vtecepidemic]

Wish I was back home in PA with my jeep. My parents place is about 45 mins from centralia. I lived going up there wheelin. Sooo much better in the summer though. The woods look amazing then.

[856jersey]

Pssshhh that's nothing, my backyard here in south jersey is better then that. Jk Jk lol. It looks like fun, i'd go exploring like that with the rex but my coilovers make my car a street only car lol...

[Erik@R/TTuning]

Is the place still a ghost town? I read somewhere that they were going to put money into the area again and try to start bringing it back from the dead.

[grimm]

man i would have loved to join you on this!

[BlackTT]

Ah nice pics! I went up there back in April of 2010 with some friends at the time. Its even better when you drive through the town with Silent Hill music XD Can't wait to go there again ^_^

[PAFirefighter11]

Most of my trips up there are on a whim. Some friends and I say we haven't wheeled, or haven't been to Centralia, in a while. We decide it would be good to go ASAP. Then it happens.

Originally Posted by 856jersey

Pssshhh that's nothing, my backyard here in south jersey is better then that. Jk Jk lol. It looks like fun, i'd go exploring like that with the rex but my coilovers make my car a street only car lol...

I love the Pines (Wharton in particular) but this is a whole other type of wheeling. I like scenic overlooks. Wharton only has Mount Jemima and the fire towers lol.

Originally Posted by Erik@R/TTuning

Is the place still a ghost town? I read somewhere that they were going to put money into the area again and try to start bringing it back from the dead.

There are approx. 4 houses, 1 church, 1 municipal services house (Fire/EMS). No new money coming in that I've seen. I don't see them building anything there as the fire is still burning and will continue for centuries. The ground is still subsiding in spots as well. Every time I visit I check out the old Hwy 61. The landscape is ever changing (minus the penis graffiti). The highway moves, the fire moves, new plants appear, some plants die.

Originally Posted by grimm

man i would have loved to join you on this!

Rausch Creek on Sun if you're interested. Greens and blues since my ZJ is a stocker. I think we have a good amount of people coming at this point as well.

Originally Posted by BlackTT

Ah nice pics! I went up there back in April of 2010 with some friends at the time. Its even better when you drive through the town with Silent Hill music XD Can't wait to go there again ^_^

Hah, I have yet to do the Silent Hill music yet. I like to hear if something breaks on my Jeep!

BTW: I know exactly where your b/f lives from looking at that first photo lol. That DQ down the street was my favorite one in the area. Nothing better than ice cream and golf lol.

[BlackTT]

Originally Posted by PAFirefighter11

Hah, I have yet to do the Silent Hill music yet. I like to hear if something breaks on my Jeep!

BTW: I know exactly where your b/f lives from looking at that first photo lol. That DQ down the street was my favorite one in the area. Nothing better than ice cream and golf lol.

Ah yea I can see why XD I have a few good pics from when I went up, videos too. It was windy and cold as hell in that April. Next time I'm going I'm making sure its nicer out =]
Oh yea? Then you know where I live as well haha XDD
His GTO is one of the loudest around, I love it!
DQ rocks! And Starbucks <33

[PAFirefighter11]

Originally Posted by BlackTT

Ah yea I can see why XD I have a few good pics from when I went up, videos too. It was windy and cold as hell in that April. Next time I'm going I'm making sure its nicer out =]
Oh yea? Then you know where I live as well haha XDD
His GTO is one of the loudest around, I love it!
DQ rocks! And Starbucks <33

It's nice when it's cold 'cause the hot air is easier to see. It's also nice with snow 'cause you get to see the areas that are hot as snow won't accumulate there.

Ah wait, I have photos of my old Wrangler there haha:

[Spawne32]

always wanted to go up to centralia

[russiankid]

I'd love to go there one of these days.

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted by Erik@R/TTuning

Is the place still a ghost town? I read somewhere that they were going to put money into the area again and try to start bringing it back from the dead.

A couple years ago, the state started forcing the remaining people out of their homes there and tearing down the houses. My mother grew up in Centralia and her family left before the mine fire started. All that is left of her former home is the front steps.

About 10 years ago, another car forum I'm on had a meet there. There was still a used car dealer's lot in the town at that time. It looked like they were still in business, but they weren't open that day. We were considering going back and buying a $300 car and see how long it would last on the trails back in the woods there. There use to be a large quarry dump truck off on a dirt trail just south of the town. It looked like it rolled down the side of a cliff. We were climbing all over it and taking pictures until someone accidentally knocked down a wasp nest. Its an interesting place to explore.

[Tonk]

That's awesome.

[JDM215]

Originally Posted by PAFirefighter11

It's nice when it's cold 'cause the hot air is easier to see. It's also nice with snow 'cause you get to see the areas that are hot as snow won't accumulate there.

Ah wait, I have photos of my old Wrangler there haha:

are your tires 33s?

[PAFirefighter11]

Originally Posted by JDM215

are your tires 33s?

Those were 33's, yes. Dunlop Radial Mud Rovers. Decent cheap MT, but the Mickey Thompson MTZ is my favorite mud tire that is still good on road.