Coal Age Magazine - For nearly 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.
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1950-1959 "King of Spades" The world's largest horses, the Anheuser-Busch Champion Clydesdales, and the world's largest electric-powered shov- el, Peabody Coal Co.'s "Big Paul," recently compared stature at Peabody's River King mine at Freeburg, Ill., 30 miles southeast of St. Louis. Total weight of the horses and wagon is 10 1/2 tons. "Big Paul," the "King of Spades," can scoop 195 tons in one bite, or enough earth to fill two railroad cars. *Coal Age, February 1958 nies were determined to squeeze all possi- ble efficiency out of the new shovel as they worked to produce 2 million to 3 million tons per year. When three-shift operations began, the shovel uncovered "overburden averaging 45 ft to expose the 4 1/2 ft west- ern Kentucky No. 12 seam. With the No. 12 removed, the River Queen will remove an 8-ft limestone parting to expose a 6-ft for- mation of the west Kentucky No.11 seam. The two seams were to be worked simulta- neously." With a 145 ft boom and an 86-ft dipper stick, the River Queen was able to dump overburden as far away as 300 ft from its dragging point. The working weight for the machine: 2,424 tons, or the equivalent of a Navy destroyer. Later that summer, Coal Age reported on the "biggest shovel ever," a Marion Type 5760 shovel that about to begin operations at the new Peabody Coal River King mine in Freeburg, Ill. Equipped with a 70-yd buck- et, and designed to remove overburden up to 80-ft deep, the shovel and new prepara- tion plant at Freeburg were part of Peabody's $38 million coal development program in southern Illinois. In the January 1958 issue, associate editor Flowers report- ed that the newly named "Big Paul" shovel, also known as the "King of Spades," was wearing a mighty crown uncovering coal at the rate of 2 million tons per year. "It digs, hoists, swings and dumps a 105-ton bite in 50 seconds." Located near St. Louis, the groundwork for the mine was laid in 1955 when Peabody started developing barge sites in East St. Louis as the company devel- 104 www.coalage.com oped plans to mine out of its massive reserves in the area. Potential output was designed for 4 million tons per year over a 50-year period from both surface and deep operations. Underground Mining: Roof-bolting & Continuous Mining Change the Game In the 1940s, new equipment began flood- ing the best equipped mines. New loaders, better haulage machines and shuttle cars coupled with longer conveyors allowed more coal to flow to the surface. But two machines would change the 1950s: the con- tinuous miner and the roofbolter. Together, productivity soared along with safety as the number of roof falls decreased dramatically through the decade. Coal Age reported on the new 3JCM-2 Joy continuous miner late in the 1940s. "With a design capacity of 2 tons per minute," it was currently being produced in two models, a low seam unit for cutting in 40-60 in. and a higher seam model for cutting in 54 to 96 in. coal. The unit consists of a swinging front end comprising the rip- ping head, intermediate conveyor and nec- essary power units, plus the main chassis mounted on crawlers and including a hop- per and swinging rear conveyor. Both can be swung 45° each way. By the early 1950s, CM units were quick- ly being deployed throughout the nation, particularly as labor costs rose. In the March 1950 issue, J.J. Snure, production manager, Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Co. wrote a piece titled, "How Continuous 100th Anniversary Special Issue Mining Works: Its Results, Problems and Future." "In the past, equipment has been considered the smaller part of a mecha- nized operation, with well-trained person- nel and efficient management the greater. Today, receding realization and markets, extremely high wage rates with all the trim- mings, and the general attitude of the work- er, which is one of not assisting the industry in supporting our present $15.70 average daily rate, have completely reversed this percentage. At this time, our only hope is the development of continuous mining." The miner machine's cutting and loading head was composed of six standard cutting chains that ran vertical to the seam. Coal was conveyed to the rear and dumped into one of two standard cable reel shuttle cars that work behind the miner. Better shuttle cars were also being deployed. In the January 1950 issue, James W. Woolf, electrical engineer with Joy Mfg Co., discussed how new cars were being equipped with dynamic braking for operat- ing over long steep grades and that cars could now operate over distances as great as 2,000 to 5,000 ft. Speeds had improved, but were still dependent on grades and loads, and averaged only 4 ½ mph. Beginning in the September 1949 issue, Coal Age began publishing feature pieces on the new roof-bolting technique. The maga- zine reported that small bolts inserted into bad top at a Pittsburgh seam mine had reduced roof falls by almost 80%. Quickly roof-bolting spread throughout the indus- try. In the April 1950 issue, Coal Age pub- lished a piece "How You Can Get More From Roof-Bolting." Written by Edward Thomas, mining engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Mines, he compared pneumatic vs. rotary drilling methods, bolt designs, anchoring methods and prevention of cor- rosion as well as how to overcome problems with dust. "Best results from roof-bolting have been obtained in highly mechanized mines in which efficient production cycles have been established." Calling for more experimentation, Thomas vowed the Bureau would help develop and prove vari- ous tools to enhance the new technique. In total, from 1942 through 1951, the industry had invested approximately $2 bil- lion or more in new mines and new equip- ment including preparation plants and power equipment. But fully half or more of that capital had been spent on mechanical mining and stripping equipment. Tons per man per shift in the bituminous industry had risen from 5.12 in 1942 to 7.04 in 1951, an increase of 34%. The outstanding record August 2012