I NEED TO KNOW HOW THEY WORK
Your question doesn’t have an easy answer as posed. Depending on what era and specific geographic area you’re interested in the answer could vary. Generally western coal mining hasn’t functioned much differently than what you might find in the East, the underground processes as well as above ground structures served by the railroads are pretty generic, at least from a modeling perspective. Several railfan magazines have featured good articles on rail operations, especially modern stuff from Wyoming’s Powder River basin.
For some info on the extensive coal mining operations in central Utah, check out http://utahrails.net/utahcoal/utahcoal-index.htm . There are links to a bibliography at the bottom of the page. Also check out the photo albums at http://utahrails.net/albums/albums-index.htm for the photos of the Geneva coal mine and the coal hauling Carbon County Railway. From the links page http://utahrails.net/links.htm you can get to more information on the coal hauler Utah Railway. A couple of shots of modern coal loaders can be seen here: http://www.trainweb.org/utahrails/photos/ph7.html .
I NEED TO KNOW HOW THEY WORK
Your question doesn’t have an easy answer as posed. Depending on what era and specific geographic area you’re interested in the answer could vary. Generally western coal mining hasn’t functioned much differently than what you might find in the East, the underground processes as well as above ground structures served by the railroads are pretty generic, at least from a modeling perspective. Several railfan magazines have featured good articles on rail operations, especially modern stuff from Wyoming’s Powder River basin.
For some info on the extensive coal mining operations in central Utah, check out http://utahrails.net/utahcoal/utahcoal-index.htm . There are links to a bibliography at the bottom of the page. Also check out the photo albums at http://utahrails.net/albums/albums-index.htm for the photos of the Geneva coal mine and the coal hauling Carbon County Railway. From the links page http://utahrails.net/links.htm you can get to more information on the coal hauler Utah Railway. A couple of shots of modern coal loaders can be seen here: http://www.trainweb.org/utahrails/photos/ph7.html .