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1950-1959 ed together to create the American Coal Shipping Co. to carry coal from U.S. ports to foreign destinations. Capitalized at $50 million, using mothballed Liberty Ships, the consortium viewed ACS as a way to control freight rates and ensure American coal prices would not be further hampered by exorbitant ocean shipping charges. Excluding Canada, exports would increase to 58 million tons in 1957, only to fall back into the mid-1930s for the rest of the decade. Another era formally ended as Coal Age reported in the August 1958 issue that the Norfolk & Western Railroad, the last major railroad to rely mainly on coal power, had decided to scrap its fleet of 262 ultra-mod- ern steam locomotives and switch to diesels. Championed just a few years before in the December 1954 issue as the Alamo of steam power, at the time the N&W; was the nation's second largest originator of bitu- minous coal and dozens of coal users were located along its rail network. The compa- ny had also invested heavily in design and development of new coal-fired steam loco- motion. But, by the end of the decade, no iron horse existed that was able to success- fully compete against diesel power. As late as 1925, American railroads had 65,006 steam engines in service and 352 electric engines. On April 1, 1958, there were only 2,113 steam engines left with more than 27,500 diesels and 560 electric locomotives in operation. That number would drop to zero by 1960 as both steam engines and the railroad coal market went by the wayside. No longer buyers, railroads began to insist that coal do more to pay the freight. As those rates rose through the 1950s, coal consumers started switching to barging instead. In the August 1958 issue, editor Given heralded June 14 of that year as a milestone. On that date in Paducah, Ky., "the tugboat Chippewa passed with the first complete barge shipment of coal des- tined for Tampa, Fla. Originating at the Peabody River Queen mine on the Green River in western Kentucky, the eight barges of coal traversed a 1,100-mile route down the Ohio, Mississippi and, after transfer to ocean-going equipment at New Orleans, across the Gulf of Mexico. Destination: an electric utility changing from oil. This trip, the forerunner of others, reflects vividly the broadening horizon for coal in generating electricity." The shipments to Tampa from western Kentucky were part of a 20-year contract and, since success always has it imitators, many more millions of tons of Midwestern and Appalachian coal followed up and down the beckoning Inland Waterway System. Bolstered by various new lock and dam projects, it was more than up to the task. In the December 1956 issue, the editors illus- trated how "slick, low cost barge loading swings coal to river transport." Many Midwestern producers were keen to locate their new operations along the river system. In the April 1959 issue, associate editor Raleigh reported how barging was keeping coal competitive, particularly as it eliminat- ed "high-cost rail transport" that was fast becoming "a block to new customer sales." The "new 981-mi Ohio River system" stretching from Pittsburgh, Pa., to Cairo, Ill., now featured more than 50 new locks and dams and maintained a minimum 9-ft chan- nel the whole length. Traffic grew from 11.5 million tons in 1951 to over 22.3 million tons in 1957 on the Ohio and from 49.6 million tons to 78.8 million tons along the whole of the Inland Water System during that time. By 1959, coal had become "the premier power-plant fuel." And, in fact, the utility market was the only growth sector for the industry throughout the decade as the U.S. economy contracted throughout the later part of the decade. In 1958, utilities pur- chased 152 million tons and had become the coal industry's biggest customer. In the October 1959 issue, the magazine reported that new coal-fired utility plants were being built out west as well, closer to coal deposits though further away from population centers. New high capacity transmission wires made transporting elec- tricity to market cheaper than hauling coal instead. The main subject of the piece was the recent opening of the Dave Johnston steam plant of the Pacific Power & Light Co. at Glenrock, Wyo. The new 100,000-kW power station, built in sight of still visible wagon ruts from the Oregon Trail, was powered by deposits of nearby 7,000 Btu subbituminous coal. The citizens of Glenrock, according to the magazine, had requested the new power plant be built in town after a large oil refinery shut down. Ground broke June 30, 1956 and the plant was dedicated December 20, 1958. "Now instead of watching their town decline, the people of Glenrock are seeing construction of a new housing development for the addi- tional employees that will be needed at the new Dave Johnston plant." Bituminous production, however, was down to approximately 400 million tons by that point, a figure that would stay steady for several years to come. However, fatali- ties had fallen all through the decade, to new lows of only 477 in 1957 and 356 in 1958. Still far too many, but a remarkable decrease since the war years of the 1940s. By the end of the 1950s, most of the high- cost non-mechanized producers were out of business. Remaining were the large-scale fully mechanized outfits using continuous mining machines, roof-bolters and other safety machines to ensure a smooth pro- duction cycle. Barge loading installation owned by Ceredo, Truax-Traer Coal Co.*Coal Age, December 1956 98 www.coalage.com 100th Anniversary Special Issue Coal, Coal Age and the Environment The questions of what to do with mined out land, how to treat acid mine run-off and other environmental concerns have long troubled the coal industry. Though not a regular feature topic until the late 1940s, Coal Age first began reporting on reclama- August 2012