He wanted us all to take a coal mine tour one summer... but we didn't. The idea of dark and dirty didn't appeal to the rest of us - so we outvoted him! Recently, however, Terry and I took a little road-trip into hilly Pennsylvania...
... and the idea of a coal mine tour came up again.
So we did it!
We took this little train (not sure if that's what they call it) into a former working mine in Scranton, Pennsylvania. For generations coal mining was the economic backbone of the area.
A knowledgeable guide explained how anthracite (hard coal) was mined. It is harder to mine than bituminous coal - which is why most Pennsylvania mines have closed down.
He also reminded us of some of the dangers of the profession: the wooden poles don't hold up the ceiling - the sound of them snapping is a warning sign that the mine is caving in!
We learned that "miners" were not the same as "mine workers": miners drilled holes for dynamite and set it off, while "mine workers" collected broken bits to be taken to the surface. We were reminded how young miners often were when they started. (They were smaller and could crawl into tighter spaces to get coal.) How awful economic conditions must have been in Europe in the 1800s and early 1900s for people to view mining in America as a better life!
Imagining these generations of boys and men spending their working lives in the dark underground left us all with a renewed appreciation for the profession and a reminder of the daily risks miners did - and still do - take.
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