Hynst Ketchup: The Cool thing about working at a Coal Company!!

Massey sends employees to West Virginia to a few of our many mines and they get to tour the mines. I got to go this time!! Here are some pictures of our trip. There are more to come... I have to get mine developed. These are from the HR department camera.

Here is how the trip started. Monday April 21 we went to work like any normal day. We left early to make it to the airport by 5:15 p.m. to fly on our private Massey plane. We flew to the Yeager Airport in Charleston, WV. Then we went to the hotel to check in. The lady that drove us from the airport to the hotel was NUTS!! She was the worst woman driver I have ever seen!!

We checked into the hotel (I have pictures coming of that...AMAZING!!)

and then we walked to Outback for dinner.....

The Crew: Brandon, Ed, Jeff, Me, Kim, Sam (works in the Charleston office), Mike (he ditched us and never came back after dinner), Karen's seat (she is taking the picture), Rob (our tour guide. He is a mine rescuer), and Jennifer.

S-1: Safety First

We had a training class at 8:30 Tuesday morning. These were our mine clothes lined up.

Waiting for our safety person to come do our safety training.

We had to learn how to use the breathing thing. (I drooled all over the place.. eww)

These are used if there is an explosion in the mine and there is a chemical leak. You put this on and it will last about 60 minutes so you have time to get out.

Here's another picture.

Here is Kim in her jump suit.

And off we go to Horse Creek Underground mine.

This is a man trip. Difficult to get down into when you have a huge belt with your emergency kit and a battery for your light. This is on tracks and it takes you down 2 miles down into the mine.

Here is the view from the mantrip inside the mine riding down.

This is called a continuous miner. It is operated by a remote control. (I have pictures of this in action underground, I hope they turn out.) This is what breaks through the walls underground.

This one is hard to see, but Brandon is drilling a hole in the mine roof to put in a bolt. The bolt is 4 feet long and can hold a crazy amount of weight. This is how they support the roof on the mine.

Everyone getting ready to enter the Marfork Prep Plant. We had to wear ear plugs because the prep plants are so loud. Oh my gosh it was hot in there!!

The Richmond crew.

Ed, Brandon, and me at the Surface Mine waiting to see the "Shot".

Brandon, Me and Kim looking over the side of the mountain. I felt like I was on top of the world the view was amazing. (I have pictures of the view coming soon)