LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Photos and diagrams of Miners Memorial Park in Ashley show just how vast a coal mining operation used to be.
Only a few pieces of that operation remain now, largely due to the hard work of the members of the Huber Breaker Preservation Society.
"It started out as a way to try to preserve the former Huber Breaker, which was demolished in 2014," explained society president Don Kane. "They tried to go through the county, the state, federal government, but all those efforts failed, and in 2014, a company from Philadelphia came and demolished the breaker for the scrap value."
Despite that setback, these men and a few other members still work very hard "to preserve the mining and railroad history that were integral parts of the economy in this area and that fueled the Industrial Revolution," explained Kane.
"If it wasn't for the railroad, the anthracite coal would never have been shipped to market. So railroading and anthracite coal all go together," added Leo Szereck, a member of the society.
"Right now, we're installing another 30 feet of track to incorporate our two restored mine cars. First mine car was restored several years ago, and the second mine car was done by the Wilkes Barre area vocational-technical school students," explained Kane.
"They were used at the Franklin Collier in Wilkes Barre Township," added Szereck. "And those cars are maybe five-ton loaded. So, a miner had to load those cars by hand. It was amazing that he would have to fill maybe two or three of those on a shift. "
But there are many other things that were also done by hand.
Lay the railroad ties with industrial prongs, level them out, lay the rail, and then nail the rail in place.
It's very, very difficult, but some make it look easy.
"It's amazing. I still marvel at the amount of work that was done by hand," said Kane.
But we now have some modern technology to help make it much easier.
If you want to learn more about the Huber Break Preservation Society, the organization is holding an open house on Sunday, October 13th, at Miners Memorial Park in Ashley from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.