ASHLAND, Pa. — Ralph Buchspics from Ashland works at the same mine his grandfather did decades ago.
“He was a miner, so he mined coal inside of there. Most of them were digging, digging and digging, and blasting the coal out. Then loading the cars to push them up the tracks,” Buchspics said.
But Ralph isn't mining coal like his grandfather, he's working with a patching trowel.
He is building a new train station platform by hand for the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine & Steam Train.
“Well, my grandfather, when this first opened, he brought me up here and took me in the mine and took me in the mine, so that was really neat for me,” Buchspics added.
He and other volunteers are finishing up a year of work on the platform, all to enhance the experience for tourists as they learn about coal mining culture.
“It's just important to me that my descendants will know their grandparents, parents, what they did and what they sacrificed really,” he said.
Buchspics' grandfather sacrificed not only his safety but his health while working in this mine.
“My grandfather died at 60 years old from miners asthma, anthracosis. It was really difficult to watch, he couldn't breathe,” he explained.
Like many visitors, Buchspics takes his grandchildren on the ride through the mine, experiencing the conditions their ancestors worked in.
“Everybody has some kind of background in this, so it's very important to preserve all of these measures. So it's very important for all of these people to understand what the miners went through,” Tim Mcginley, Pioneer Tunnel Board Of Directors, mentioned.
Letting everyone see history in person.
“They don't realize how important it is till you get over here and realize how they were so involved in our nation's history,” explained Lorenda Kutz, Pioneer Tunnel Business Manager.
And how Buchspics’ grandfather helped make that history happen here in Ashland.
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