14 percent

Railroads altered American society and economic life in fundamental ways. In short, they made transportation of goods and people much cheaper and quicker. They enabled the shipping of bulk goods like farm produce and coal from one end of the country to another. Amtrak.

Railroads accounted for over 70% of coal shipments to power plants in 2005. The balance moved by truck, barge, and conveyor. Most coal moved by rail because coal mines are often distant from power plants, and rail is usually the most economical means for moving bulk commodities long distances.

Anthracite Coal

The coal train corridor extends from mines in Montana and Wyoming through Sandpoint, Idaho to Spokane, down through the Columbia River Gorge, then up along the Puget Sound coast, passing through Longview, Tacoma, Seattle, Edmonds, Everett, Mt. Vernon, Bellingham, Ferndale and all points in between.

In 2019, the national average sales price of bituminous, subbituminous, and lignite coal at coal mines was $30.93 per short ton, and the average delivered coal price to the electric power sector was $38.53 per short ton.

Coal trains cannot be covered because the trapped gasses can explode (Robinson). The coal dust blown off of the trains causes contamination of nearby water sources, farmlands, and other ecosystems. It also lands on nearby homes and living environments, putting people’s health at risk.

The coal arrives in these yards in 225-car trains, rumbling down the mountain passes from the coal mines. It takes two or three such trainloads to fill a ship, and when the empty trains head back for the hills they consist of only 180 cars each — all that the engines can pull up the mountain grades.

There are two basic ways to unload coal from a rail car at the power plant: rotary dump or bottom dump. To bottom-dump coal efficiently while in motion, unit trains require a mechanized self-clearing, quick-dumping car – one that unloads in a matter of seconds – controlled automatically or semiautomatically.

A Capesize ship can carry over 200,000 tons (including the weight of the ship itself) and a Panamax ship can carry over 80,000 tons. The depth of a coal ship (below sea level) is similar to that of a six-story building.

Approval for the new coal export terminal was granted by the NSW Government in April 2007, with finance signed up in January 2008 and construction commencing in February 2008. Construction of Stage 1 of the terminal was completed in just over 2 years and was officially opened on May 3 2010.

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Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group Pty Ltd

port of Newcastle

The Port of Newcastle is the largest bulk shipping port on Australia’s east coast and Australia’s largest terminal for coal exports….Trade Export Destinations.

Upstream operations – Coal Production Coal is extracted from both open cut and underground mines in the Newcastle, Hunter, Gloucester, Gunnedah and Western coalfields of New South Wales.

Queensland

In NSW this high-quality coal is primarily mined in the Southern Coalfields of NSW, in the Illawarra region south of Sydney. This coal is used to create coke, one of the key inputs for the production of steel, alongside iron ore.

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Production commenced at HVO in 1949 at the current West Pit, which was then part of the Howick mine. The Hunter Valley No. 1 mine began production in 1979. In 2000 Coal & Allied merged the Howick and Hunter Valley mines to create HVO.

NSW has more than 15 billion tonnes of recoverable coal reserves contained within 40 operating mines, and over 20 new major development proposals.

Major industries near Singleton include coal mining, electricity generation, light industry, vineyards, horse breeding and cattle production.

We have found it to be a nice quiet little town with lots of families, friendly people and plenty of great things to do and places to see all within a short drive. The locals were very welcoming and we found it easy to meet and make new friends.

Singleton is a beautiful riverside town in the Hunter Valley, with rolling vineyards, colonial heritage and outdoor adventure. Just north is beautiful Lake St Clair, a popular waterway for fishing, kayaking, sailing and waterskiing.

coal mining