Now, this weekend that we picked up our daughter from the NJ airport, that happened to coincide with my 'in-between' vacation weeks... 

(Meaning - I would have this week off and then have to go to work for a week before having another week off... just in time for the PulpFest in Pittsburgh, PA.)

I also wanted to meet up with Rob for some beers and a late birthday before going to Pittsburgh.  I had no idea at this time though that these events that were all lining up was a prelude to my own personal hell.

Intermission ... for my own sanity.

Hell Week.

And here we are...

The weekend before we were to leave for Pittsburgh (this now being the end of July), I met up Rob for a late birthday and beers at the brewery he lives upstairs from.  It was a great time as I got to tell him about my adventures in Pennsylvania and especially at the site of the old Huber Breaker.  I got him a few things for his birthday... just things that were kind of humorous to me although it was my wife that found the wooden circular advertisement sign.

We didn't stay very late at the bar and after I left, I decided to take the scenic route home as there was a slight chill in the air which I thought was odd as this was a  late July evening.  I had to turn the heat on a little in the Jeep as I thought back to the story I told Rob of my miraculous discovery at the Huber Breaker just a week earlier. 

Yes, I know I jumped ahead a bit here but now I can go back and finish up that story of how I was seeing fresh blue dye on the ground in Ashley, PA.

As I mentioned in a few posts above, I had been desperately searching for examples or samples of Blue Coal that was processed at the breaker in Ashley and thought I had lucked out when I found those 4 salesman sample bags.  But seeing this fresh dye on the ground that Monday afternoon as we were headed back home from NJ was just over the top for me.  I absolutely lost track of time and I was unknowingly making my wife nervous who was patiently waiting in the Jeep with my daughter as I was stealing history some yards away.  As I was seeing more and more sporadic evidence of this blue dye on the ground, I figured that somehow, someway that was the real deal and it was right here, almost miraculously waiting there for me to discover. Like I said earlier, from the ground, I had collected a few pieces of the broken windows that was made of reinforced glass and I also collected some scattered pieces of Anthracite as well.

So it was just a natural thing to do, but I sat there among this rubble and, using the blue dye I was finding in various spots, I proceeded to make my own Blue Coal! 

In case anyone was wondering, after the Anthracite was cleaned, sized and sorted within the coal breaker, it was then loaded into the rail car hoppers and then those were moved through the breaker underneath a large sprayer that would spray the car load of coal with the blue coloring. This is a model train example of a Blue Coal hopper...

I was able to also preserve some of the dye as well... for me, at this moment, I was in another state of existence.

Once I got back to the car, my wife had to tell me that she was getting worried because I had been gone so long and I told them that I would only be a few minutes seeing how I initially thought I was only going to be taking a few pictures.  I had this huge grin on my face and I had to tell my wife and daughter that they had no idea what had just happened back there... I was just somehow given an opportunity to touch history at the exact moment that I needed to. 

Additionally, I may have stolen it too...

July 17th (Monday), 2023 at 5:32pm EST

I had spent just about a half hour at the old (Maxwell) Huber Breaker site and was walking back to the Jeep parked next to the big yellow house... as I mentioned when I got back, I had to explain to my wife and daughter what had just happened.  First I had to rinse off the blue dye that was all over my hand using bottled water... even though I really didn't want to.  After we left the area, I made our way to a McDonald's in Wilkes Barre.  Through all of my excitement, I had worked up a bit of an appetite and got the family a bite to eat too.  Afterwards, it was time to finish off the last stretch of this trip back home.  This was when I explained to my daughter just how relevant I thought that the Blue Coal sponsorship of the Shadow radio program was to the formation of pop culture and the "super-hero" genre.  I couldn't help but to be fascinated by the discovery of the blue dye and kept talking about it to my wife... I'm sure she was thrilled by this discussion.  She theorized that perhaps it was placed there by locals as a novelty or maybe just a hoax.  As plausible as that might've been, something seemed off about that seeing how this area didn't look like it was part of a current 'tourist trail'.

I needed to find some answers but first I just needed to get us all back home

As difficult as it was, I tired to put my mind at rest on this mystery of mine, knowing that I would pick it back up in a day or two as I was on vacation for that entire week.

The Maxwell Breaker in Ashley was damaged during a strike in 1937 and was ultimately replaced by the the Glen Alden Co., Huber Breaker in 1939.

Picture taken from:

http://www.halslamppost.com/Miscellaneous Mining Items/slides/Maxwell Breaker L and WB Coal Co 1910.html

Intermission...

(I know... how can this be intermission already without any posting?!)

Well...

I guess all of the rules have been broken.

Seriously though...

I met up with Rob this evening and it was the first time since the midsomer months. 

Yes, I spelled it that way for a reason.

We decided to meet at one of our local spots and I was shocked to see these two awesome pinball machines when I entered the establishment as I hadn't been here in a year.

Seeing these was absolutely a good sign as it told me that I was on the right path here...

For once, I arrived first and sat down with a nice Marzen beer and Rob showed up within a matter of 15 minutes. It wasn't more than 45 minutes in to our get together when I received a call from my wife as she thought that an electrical fire had started in our house.  Ultimately, after talking with her for a few minutes, I excused myself and hurried back home.  Trying to find the correct circuit breakers in the house is a challenge but once that was identified and shut off - I removed the faulty dimmer switch (that was what had actually sparked) and then went back to the brewery I left Rob at.

It was a bit of a reserved meetup but he did give me this awesome book and the story behind it is pretty cool.

He told me that ten years ago (yes, that's 10 years ago), he purchased a book for me from Comiclink and forgot all about it until now.  The book is a CGC graded copy (8.0) of Tales of Suspense #80 and the first appearance  of the Cosmic Cube!

He showed me the invoice and had paid $66 for it in 2013.

I'll certainly have more to add on this later...

And for tonight... back to intermission.

Goodnight.

Weekends are really tough on me, especially Sunday evenings.  I'm guessing that will be this way for the rest of my life now...

It was very good to get together with Rob yesterday as it was a nice reminder of what my life was before... the person I was before, but I noticed myself slipping as the night dug deeper. 

We ended the night at the brewery by playing a game of shuffleboard and Deadpool pinball. Rob won the shuffleboard match and I won the pinball match so I guess that's called a wash. 

It was a nice way to close out the evening.

So...

Have I mentioned how entranced I was by this blue dye that was found near the great chimney at the old Huber Breaker?

Like I wrote in the previous post, I had to find the answer as to how in the world I was able to find (what looked like) Blue Coal blue dye on the ground in various spots.

Since I was on vacation for the week, I was able to invoke my inner Shadow and do a little detective work. 

That effort enabled me to discover the Huber Breaker Preservation Society... also known as, my new friends.

More info here:

http://huberbreaker.org/home/home/

On July 17th, I took this picture...

And a little over 24 hours later, I sent an email to the Huber Breaker Preservation Society.

I wasn't expecting an answer, as that is how things seem to go these days, but I did receive a response... one which I read with great enthusiasm!

My email to them was basically mentioning that I had been to the site and was impressed with the amount of information that was made available.  I then went on to mention that I had ventured 'off the trail' and discovered what looked like blue dye and was curious how that could be possible.

This is exactly what I got in response...

"David, The blue dye was in unopened bags that were scattered when the breaker was torn down in 2014.  We the members of Huber Breaker Preservation Society are trying very hard to make improvements to the park.  This week, a contractor was grading the north and south property lines in preparation for fencing..."

This individual sent me many pictures to buttress his response... and here is one of them.

You'll see the time stamp on the bottom right hand corner...

In other words... they had just gone through this area to prepare it to be fenced off and then I showed up, out of the blue (coal), and started stealing history!

I'll call this serendipity.

No, this is Tom Middleton... not Tom Hiddleston.

So that one sliver in time... that one particular moment where I was able to experience the last final breathes of the ghost of this great industrial marvel that (again), in my mind, was responsible for that which was so important to me throughout my life... (yes, that's a bit dramatic) was made possible based from a whole sequence of events.  Trying to untangle exactly where it was when these series of events first materialized would be more than enough to drive anyone mad. 

This is a bit of a departure but a story worth telling as it kind of reflects on this point.

Many years ago now, as I was working (driving my truck where I was employed at the time), I was just a mere 15 minutes from my home terminal on route back from Erie, Pennsylvania. 

If I remember correctly, it was around September... I'm sure that I was listening to music - perhaps something like this... something new that I probably discovered accidentally while flipping through YouTube videos.

Anyways, as I'm driving along the interstate, listening to good music while thinking about what I wanted to do as soon as I was off the clock... I approach an overpass.

It's just an overpass. 

One that I pass everyday at this approximate time.

Except on this day, there was something different.

As I approached this overpass, I saw a young girl with a flannel over-shirt standing over the fenced area in complete tears.  When you basically live on the road, you instinctively know what this is.  As soon as I passed through the over pass, I pulled my truck over and immediately called 911.  I informed them that there was a potential 'jumper' on I-90 at this particular mile marker.  I informed the dispatcher that I was just a few yards away and could intervene. The dispatcher told me that there was a patrol just a mile away and that they would handle it.  Nervously, I stayed on the line with this dispatcher as I watched this young girl from outside of my truck.  Sure enough, in a matter of minutes, a state trooper showed up and I saw him exit his vehicle and approach the young girl.  Once I saw that she was now on the 'safe' side of the interstate, I got back in my truck and proceeded to return back to my home terminal.

For many weeks I thought of this girl and what may have been...

But then I had to think back to how these series of events lined up in order to potentially save her life.

This timeline that I constructed, ultimately led back to the moment that I decided to pursue a new career in truck driving... in the early 1990's.

Do you see what I mean?

And actually, that story and that decision goes further back in that time line as well.

That's the part that can drive you mad.

Is (was) your whole existence just to save the life of a random young girl that you'll never know?!

So that was kind of my thought process as it relates to this miraculous discovery in Ashley, PA. at the old Huber Breaker, with the fortunate discovery of the actual BlueCoal dye.

So that was the week that was... the actual physical discovery and evidence of BlueCoal.

Exactly two week before PulpFest.

But as this had happened there was yet another fortunate event about to reveal itself relating to CGC.

Some time ago, I mentioned that I had found a copy of the Mexican edition of Daredevil #1 at my local LCS for a very fair price. 

Well, once I looked up some comps on this book, I decided to send it in with a couple of other very important books.

And that's worth yet another story!

In the middle of June of this year (2023), I sent in three books to CGC to be graded.  The aforementioned Mexican edition of Daredevil #1 along with two issues of Street and Smith's Shadow Comics with great Bob Powell covers.  One of the issues is just a fantastic classic cover featuring The Shadow in the swamp and the other is a great underwater cover that I thought had some potential for a fairly mid to high grade.

CGC listed the books as Received on June 28th and my hope was that I would be able to  get these books back in time to be able to list the Daredevil and use whatever proceeds I got from that book for PulpFest.  Again, when I first bought the book, I just thought it would be a nice novelty to stash away in my personal collection... but that idea changed when I saw a semi recent sale and what the book was listed at on eBay.

Surprisingly, I got the books back on July 13th, just 15 days after they received them... they were submitted under the Vintage Fast Track tier.

I posted this before, actually in the middle of July, but this is what I wrote at the time...

The 1948 comic, I was hoping for a 3.5 but expected a 3.0 ... I got a 4.5

The 1949 comic, I was hoping for a 8.0  but expected a 7.5 ... I got a 7.0

The 1966 comic, I was hoping for a 5.0 but expected a 4.0 ... I got a 6.0

That last one that's highlighted in red, that was the Daredevil #1 and I was beyond happy at the results of that one as that meant that my copy was now the second highest graded! 

Here are the books that I submitted back in June / July of this year (2023)...

I know in years past I would write endlessly on that issue of Shadow Comics vol.9 #3 (the underwater Bob Powell cover)... I think I would even assign it a point value based on the overall composition and feel of the cover and elements within.  Well, I'll just say that this particular book, with this particular cover, has a point scale value of...

Awesome.

...

...

But the book I was mostly excited about was that 1948 swamp cover.  The reason behind that is probably because it hearkens back to another favorite swamp book of mine that I regrettably sold... All-American Comics #61 and the first appearance of Solomon Grundy.

I just wish that CGC hadn't gone to this random process of placing these books in these right side formatted inner wells. 

Right now I'm at that point were I felt like I couldn't stop writing on that night 3 months ago. 

The point where I had no idea... perhaps it was a manic reaction to something so dark.

I know I'm stepping so dangerously close.

This isn't intermission.

This is something so much more...

I don't think I can fall any further down into this underground abyss that I'm currently placing myself... but on-wards we'll continue.

...

...

I've been repeating this concept through numerous entries now that so many things were lining up in a very peculiar way... almost as if by design.  Of course I couldn't see this at the time, but now being able to reflect on the entirety of the year up to this point in July, it's very clear.  Having been able to get these graded books back from CGC allowed me just enough time to be able to list the Mexican Daredevil #1 on eBay.  I told myself that whatever I was able to get for that book, I would put into my trip to PulpFest in a couple of weeks.  I believe I put it up for a 7 day auction.  When the auction finally ended I was thrilled and shocked simultaneously.  This was my first real win in terms of a purchase of a book with an immediate flip.  When I saw what it went for, I immediately knew that this single transaction was basically going to pay for my trip to PulpFest but there was just one small (actually, rather huge) detail to iron out.

You see, I had put in to take these two weeks off a while ago... the first week to be used to pick up my daughter in NJ, as she returned back home from Japan.  Then the second week would be used to be able to bring her down to Uniontown, PA. in order to visit with her college roommate (whom she hadn't seen in months because of her overseas studies) and to connect it to a trip to Pittsburgh (Cranberry Township), PA. for PulpFest.

Again, everything was just lining up so perfectly, almost as if it was predestined.

Oh, that's such a hard word for me to wrap my mind around...

Anyways, what I hadn't factored into this plan, all of those months ago when I initially planned all of this, was that my employment work contract was set to expire on July 31st and the threat of a union strike was now becoming very real as negotiations had been stalled.  Throughout the later days of July, I was paying very close attention to this because it could possibly mean that even though I would still have my vacation time, there was now a strong possibility that I might have to go on strike once I returned and that was something I was so hoping would not happen.  That meant that I couldn't make any solidified plans to go to Uniontown, PA or to attend PulpFest for that matter. 

Sure, I would still have a vacation but to be basically unemployed following that would mean that my vacation might have to be simplified to all of us staying home.

This was very unsettling and disturbing for me as it left everything up in the air.

Well...

That 'miracle' came just a week before PulpFest was to begin as my union and management...

... came to a contract agreement!

This was fantastic news to me as it broke the gates and allowed me to finalize this family vacation I had planned. 

It meant that, as the union was strongly endorsing this proposed contract, we would not be facing a strike and that I could go ahead with what I had planned months ago!

The short version... Uniontown, PA and Cranberry Township, PA was a go... PulpFest was on!

I don't think I could've logged on to the PulpFest site quick enough following this news. 

I wanted to get a room at the hotel that was hosting PulpFest but unfortunately, now, these were all booked.  I would have to settle for a small local hotel nearby which was fine.  I did sign up for the early access as it now seemed that coming back home on Saturday wouldn't work out as we were scheduled to watch our niece at a school play on that Saturday afternoon.  What that meant is that I would have to get us back home sometime on Friday evening and that's where the early access pass to PulpFest would come in handy.

Little did I know...

And once again...

The arrangements were made, the week arrived. 

I was just as excited for this trip as when my friend Rob was able to bring me to my first NYCC  (New York ComicCon)... I believe I conveyed this to him the week before we left.

I had no idea what to expect but what I did know is that this was going to be the longest road trip we've ever taken as a family, and as it had all been planned before (almost as if by design), this would put the new ShadowMobile thorough a healthy test!

Hm.

The car radio though...

Yeah.

It's the beginning of the end.

This is where I can now go back and connect an earlier journal entry.

This one here...

(From October 2nd, 2023)

In order to do this correctly, I'm going to have to rewind the dreaded hands of time a bit further back than I had originally planned.

I have to go back to the post where I talked about my son's copy of New Mutants #98 that I purchased for him, to replace the one that was stolen from him, decided to press it myself... submitted it to CGC and ultimately got a 9.4 on it.  At the time, I thought it was a 9.0 book prior to pressing and I was really proud and happy to have been able to do that for him.

Now if I remember correctly, that post kind of tied into the post regarding that copy of X-Men #4 and the first appearance of the Scarlet Witch.  That story was one of my favorites to re-tell, to be honest.  As it turns out, in a bizarre way, I saved that book in a way that I couldn't have imagined a couple of years ago. 

So last year, my son developed some health issues and was hospitalized for a couple of months.  That was a very difficult time for all of us as we had to try to help him retain and maintain his apartment that he shared with his "friend" and roommate who, at the time, was unemployed.  My wife and I did all we could to help him during these months and ultimately, my son got better and was able to return home... what we didn't realize at the time, was that for those couple of months that he was in the hospital and going through physical rehabilitation, pretty much everything that was of value to him, had been stolen. 

And that would include that CGC 9.4 copy of New Mutants 98.