With a metallic gasp, the chute opens its metal jaws and deposits precisely 230,000 pounds of coal into the railway car. The pour is carefully calibrated to create an aero dynamically efficient heap; sealant is sprayed evenly across the coal's surface to limit dust release. Fully loaded, the car moves along to be replaced by another; it takes two-and-a-half hours to load the two-mile-long train. Four trains, each carrying 15,000 tonnes of coal, leave the Spring Creek mine in Montana every day, often destined for midwestern power plants, where the fuel is burned to light the homes and power the kettles of Minneso-tans and Michiganders. Some goes elsewhere, including to a Canadian port, bound for China or South Korea.
展开▼
