In the late 1960's, the apartment building across the street from my parent's house still had a coal fired furnace/hot water system. The side of the building had a cast iron chute/door and every so often, a truck from Lill Coal & Oil on Broadway would stop by. There was no parkway in front of the chute, just a wide concreted area that sloped to the street. The truck would back up, the driver lifted the lid, swung the chute down to it and let rip. Huge black clouds would rise up from the rumble.
The dust usually ticked off the owners of the cars that parked too close to the drive.
Rob McNay
Chicago IL
From: Thomas Mitchell <conductor67@sbcglobal.net>
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, February 28, 2012 2:13:54 PM
Subject: [CBQ] Re:
Fuel oil deliveries to homes via truck were quite common in Detroit, Mi in the 50's & 60's. My parents had the tank in the area where the old coal bin & chute were located. The old octopus furnace had been converted from coal. I still remember helping friends shovel the ashes out of their coal furnaces after school.
Tom Mitchell
conductor67@sbcglobal.net