Lower Anthracite Transportation System Lower Anthracite Transportation System The Lower Anthracite Transportation System (LATS) is a small transportation system serving Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania and the surrounding area, primarily of Northumberland County. The LATS route system, based out of Mount Carmel, operates two routes that meet at Coal Township Plaza, weekdays and Saturdays, serving outlying communities of Mount Carmel, Atlas, Natalie, Marion Heights, Kulpmont, Walmart, Locust Gap and Ashland on Route 1; and Shamokin township on Route 2. A third route, operated seasonally, serves Knoebel's Amusement Resort in neighboring Elysburg. LATS implemented an adult base fare that is paid upon boarding the bus. Children pay
Anthracite difficulty of igniting it. This was a particular concern in smelting iron using a blast furnace. With the invention of hot blast in 1828, which used waste heat to preheat combustion air, anthracite became a preferred fuel, accounting for 45% of US pig iron production within 15 years. Anthracite for iron smelting was later displaced by coke. From the late 19th century until the 1950s, anthracite was the most popular fuel for heating homes and other buildings in the northern US, until it was supplanted by oil-burning systems and more recently natural gas systems. Many large public buildings, such as