May 21st, 2008
To the Top of Huber Breaker
I did a very dangerous thing. It turned out okay, but I suppose, in hindsight, it was risky, especially for someone like me. I’m not exactly the kind of gal who lives on the wild side. I’ll give a little background before I write about what I did.
I started to become a little fixated with the Huber Breaker about two years ago. The thoughts of it standing like a skeleton against the Ashley skyline intrigued me. I read about it with interest. I don’t think my interest was so much about what it was and what it meant “back in the day”. I think its more the fact that it’s the last of its kind! Few living here haven’t seen that breaker. It’s visible from North or South 81 as the traffic passes through Ashley.
In January, I attended one of the monthly Huber Breaker Preservation Society meetings. I fully realize that this does not top the list of “things to do” for many people, but I went. It was fairly well attended, I might add! There was an interesting display of memorabilia and maps. The speakers related events about the Knox Mine Disaster and other such tragedies in the mining industry prior to government regulations.
Well, attending that meeting only fed the flames of my fixation. I got it into my head that I just needed to photograph the darn thing. I’m a patient sort, too, so I waited until the cold of winter broke, but before the spring growth would choke out any hopes of walking around the premises (and before snakes came out!). I stalked the gates of the breaker. I found out that I could simply drive right in from Main Street, Ashley. The darn gate is open.
So, the perfect warm and clear spring day came. I like taking pictures at the end of the day when the sun is low. Some people say shadows ruin a photo, but not me. I love them and the longer the better. So, I drove over to Ashley and drove right up to the breaker.
As I was driving around to look for a good place to park, I happened upon another visitor, clearly a photographer with a fancy camera in one hand and a tripod in the other. He told me that he was going INTO the breaker. Well, I grabbed my camera, hopped out of the car and tagged right along side this stranger.
We walked straight into the breaker and up and up and up the steps. While we climbed, this guy told me he’d been to the top of the breaker many times. Good thing he wasn’t an axe murderer, I followed right behind like a puppy. The stairwell had a few broken (sometimes missing) stairs. The wind blew through one broken window pane after another as we ascended higher and higher.
Finally, when we got to the top, I couldn’t believe the view! It’s a complete panorama of the valley and it was breathtaking. The grounds of the breaker lay at her feet. You couldn’t help but think about what it might have been like when it was processing the coal energy to the valley 40 years ago.
Although we remained together for a period of polite chit-chat, my guide eventually left me to pursue the images he was seeking. I took as many photos as I could before the sun began to set. Getting caught up at the top of this breaker was not something I wanted. I climbed back down, very carefully. I finished a self-guided tour of the grounds.
As I was walking to my car to leave, a police car drove in! Panic! But the officer took one look at a middle-aged lady holding a pedestrian camera and decided I was no threat to the future of the breaker. He simply told me the front gate would be closing and I should prepare to leave or camp for the night! So I left.
When I think back on it, I really could have fallen or been hurt. I don’t know why I do these things for the sake of curiosity, but I do. I better watch out, curiosity killed the cat.
Anyway, the Huber Breaker Preservation Society has regular meetings at 6:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month in the Earth Conservancy Conference Room on Main Street in Ashley, PA. The President of the Society, Bill Best, would love if you would come.
