<small>Rail cars haul coal on the Ashley Planes. </small>
<small>Submitted Photo</small>
<small>Helen Karlo’s sister, Margaret Shulo, far right, poses with her friends by the ‘dummy car’ used on the Ashley Planes. </small>
<small>Submitted Photo</small>
<small>Bill O’Boyle </small>
<small>Submitted Photo</small>
<small>Helen Karlo, 92, holds photos of the Ashley Planes in her home across the street from the site of the former Huber Breaker in Ashley as she talks about growing up during the coal mining era. </small>
<small>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</small>
ASHLEY — At 92, Helen Karlo likes to bowl and talk about life.
She grew up in Ashley and still lives in the same neighborhood across from the site of the old Huber Breaker.
Helen remembers the coal mining days — her father was an engineer for the Glen Alden mining company.
She also remembers the Ashley Planes — the rail line that hauled coal up the mountain. Helen has photos of those days and many cherished memories.
Back in the 1950s and ’60s, strip mining was tearing apart our natural landscape. I remember those huge holes with gigantic steam shovels digging into the mountains, taking away trees and vegetation and forcing the wildlife to relocate.
That was called surface mining, but coal was still being mined in those deep, dark, cold shafts. Miners were still heading into the mines before dawn, working until after sunset.
Anthony Balita lived up the street from me. He would walk down each morning carrying his lunch pail and his helmet as he headed to the mine. He would be gone all day, finally returning after dark wearing the black coal dust that he had to scrub off each night before sitting down to dinner. And then off to bed to rest before the next day arrived.
Helen remembers men like Mr. Balita. She knows how hard they worked. She knows that they built this region.
So Helen showed me a bunch of pictures of those mining men and of the Ashley Planes run. There are pictures of the old Huber Breaker and of the miners walking to their job. There’s even a picture of Helen’s girlfriends standing and smiling in front of the rail cars.
Those old pictures really do tell a thousand stories with a common thread. The people in the photos are always looking at the camera and they are smiling. You can see the pride in their eyes.
It was hard work for not much money back then. A work ethic second to none. Families living in peace and neighborhoods where people helped one another.
Helen recalled special events, like when a miner celebrated his 25th anniversary of working in the mines, he was paid in silver dollars.
Like many women back then, Helen worked in dress factories. Sometimes she would have to walk a couple of miles to or from work. She did that for 50 years. She married George Karlo and they had one daughter, Ann Marie, who died in 2007.
People like Helen Karlo are the fabric of what built this area. They are hardworking, moral people who never complained. They did what they had to do to make ends meet. To raise a family. To grow a community.
Helen likes to talk about those “good old days.”
And she likes the current days. She bowls in two leagues and she still throws the same 13-pound ball she always has. The same ball she scored a 712 series with on Dec. 10, 2014. Her three games were 201, 254, and 257.
Helen was the first woman inducted into the Wyoming Valley Bowling Hall of Fame. She taught herself how to bowl at age 16.
Helen showed me a picture of her with her father. They are holding their bowling balls. She still has the score pad from the time she and her dad went bowling. Helen narrowly outscored her father.
Helen still drives. She does her own shopping. She said she eats everything. She cooks and bakes and gives a lot of her culinary creations away to neighbors. Helen doesn’t smoke or drink.
She has two lifelong friends, both named Helen. One of them died and the other is having difficulty traveling. But not Helen Karlo.
“I still like to go to the casino on Sundays,” she said. “I like to play the slots.”
Her house is immaculate. “I like to keep myself busy,” she said. She watches television, tuning in on sports, and she follows “Wheel of Fortune.”
Helen loved telling her stories. She was happy to have the opportunity to talk about her life living near the Ashley Planes. She gave me the photos she had in case the newspaper wanted to publish them in future stories.
“Keep those photos,” she told me. “Because after I go, they might get tossed in the garbage.”
The history of Wyoming Valley should never be “tossed in the garbage.” The memories of people like Helen Karlo should remain intact for present and future generations.
That’s why the late Jim Burke established the Anthracite Heritage Foundation. Burke was a passionate man who wore his enthusiasm for preserving our region’s rich, coal mining history on his sleeve. He wanted to ensure that we, and future generations, never forget our roots.
Burke told me once that when coal was king, more than 500,000 miners toiled in the coal patches of Pennsylvania. They came to those coal towns from dozens of nations, seeking a better life.
As Luzerne County became the epicenter of the anthracite industry, more than 35,000 miners died in mining accidents, thousands more were injured or maimed, and still thousands more would die of black lung disease.
He said this about coal miners: “Their enviable courage, faith, work ethic and perseverance have since defined this community’s character — its very DNA.”
That’s why I sat and listened to Helen Karlo talk about the Ashley Planes and The Huber Breaker and the coal miners she used to know. And that’s why I accepted those photos from her.
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
This article was in this mornings paper.
