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| PeabodyEnergy Bear Run Mine began production in 2010 and is the largest surface mine in the eastern United States. Bear Run has 240 million tons of provable and probable reserves. |
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| Jim Evans posted Robert Dyar: 2550 at Bear Run would have it dusted out and idled. |
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| Brian Love commented on a post I work with her sister [Big Kate] up at bear run |
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| Dustin Cox commented on a post |
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| Jim Pearson Photography posted Sitting this morning at bear Run Min at Dugger, Indiana waiting for an Indiana Railroad coal train to start loading. |
Bear Run Coal Mine sits in southern Indiana’s Sullivan County.It is operated by Peabody Energy and began production in 2010.The mine is widely regarded as the largest surface coal operation east of the Mississippi River.It extracts bituminous thermal coal from the Illinois Basin.Output reached a little bit under 7 million tons per year.Coal from Bear Run feeds power plants across the Midwest.The operation relies on draglines, shovels and haul trucks.The site employs about 500 workers on continuous shifts.It was built to secure long term coal supply contracts.Reserves remain substantial, supporting ongoing production.The Bear Run coal mine continues to play a key role in regional energy supply.Its scale and output keep it firmly on the map of major U.S. coal operations.
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| SteelRails posted On August 26, 2023, the Indiana Railroad's INRD 7004 EMD SD70M locomotive loading a 14-car coal train at the Bear Run Coal Mine in Dugger, Indiana. Brandon Lee Chattin: The customer they go to can't handle very many at one time we give them to csx at terre haute they give them to the brc and I think they end up in Wisconsin somewhere. SteelRails shared |
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| Jim Pearson Photography posted A short Indiana Railroad coal train, EHWBR (Empty Hiawatha to Bear Run) loads at Bear Run Mine, at Dugger, Indiana, on August 26th, 2023. The short load of 14 cars is destined to a customer somewhere in Wisconsin. According to Wikipedia: The Indiana Railroad (reporting mark INRD) is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles (249 km). This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road’s Indianapolis Subdivision, comprises most of the former IC/ICG line from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois; Illinois Central successor Canadian National Railway retains the portion from Newton to Effingham. The company was formed in 1986 by entrepreneur Thomas Hoback, who retired as president and chief executive officer in 2015. CSX Transportation now owns a majority interest in the parent company. The company's executive and administrative offices are in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 180. Worldwide Railfan Productions shared |
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| David Owens Flickr "The dragline began its 18-mile "walk" from Farmersburg Indiana Mine earlier this month. "The walk will continue 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at a pace of less than one-tenth of a mile an hour, explains a Peabody Energy press release. "One of the most massive machines in the world, the Bucyrus-Erie 2570-W dragline will cross the countryside and two Indiana state highways during its month-long journey to Bear Run. "At 13-million pounds, the 2570 weighs more than 150 Boeing 737-700 jetliners. It towers 220-feet high and swings a 335-foot boom with a maximum operating radius of 300 feet, the length of a football field, adds the press release. This boom carries a 115-cubic-yard bucket capable of moving a 335,000 pound payload. The machine sits on a tub spanning 80 feet in diameter and walks with two 'shoes' measuring 72 feet in length by 14 feet in width. The size is necessary to lift and advance the dragline's massive frame. "To relocate the dragline, a crew of up to 20 staff will support the machine's operators, including maintenance personnel and electricians responsible for the 22,900-volt cabling that powers the dragline's progress. |
Not a good vid. From a cell phone and trying to fly at the same time. But here it is anyway.
Charles Jones I didn't think Peabody wanted them "windmilling" the draglines??????
Matt Booe They do it a lot.
Mitch Rabe Charles Jones they windmill both. I rode on the 2550 while they were doing it.
Charles Jones When I was working at Lynnville Mine, the time study engineer tried to tell me that it was inefficient. Terry Traylor told us dragline operators not to do it. I had to get rid of a lot of mud, so I windmilled with the 1150. We were reopening an old shovel pit that had set there since 1943. The 3rd shift Pit Foreman said I had mud going back 5 to 6 spoils back in the old shovel spoils. Traylor practically lost his mind. Had to get rid of it somehow!!!!! I heard when Peabody Energy open Farmersburg Mine that they discouraged windmilling with the 2570.
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| Todd Springer commented on Matt's post |
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The mine was developed at an estimated cost of $400m, and it is expected to generate $6b in revenue. They have 17 year contracts with a couple of electric companies. "It produces high-sulphur coal from three seams namely Danville No7 and Hymera No5 and No6. The sulphur content varies from 3lb to 6lb." This source says it has two Bucyrus-Erie 2570-W draglines, one of which was moved from the Farmersburg Mine in Oct 2010. [mining-technology]
It produces 8-12 million tons per year. [InIndianaWater] Although those numbers are going down. It produced 6.9mtpy in 2018. [InsideIndianaBusiness]
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| Photo courtesy of Peabody via InsideIndianaBusiness Nov 6, 2019: Peabody is laying off 35 workers or 7% of the work force at Bear Run. |
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| Jim Pearson Photography posted July 21, 2020 - The old and the new sit in contrast to each other at the Bear Run Mine in Dugger, Indiana, as Indiana Railroad locomotive 9011 loads CBRME (Coal Bear Run to Merom Power plant), as it creeps along while picking up another load of coal for the Merom Power Plant outside Sullivan, Indiana. This Bucyrus-Erie 2570W dragline was used at Peabody’s now closed Hawthorn Mine which todays Bear Run Mine borders. The old Hawthorn Mine was served by Conrail and Soo back in the day. According to what I've found online at one time Bear Run mine officials said this dragline hasn’t been used in many years, but there are no plans to scrap it. So it is in long term storage on a secure site just in case it is needed again. From the looks of things, I'd say it's doubtful! Bucyrus-Erie was an American surface and underground mining equipment company. It was founded as Bucyrus Foundry and Manufacturing Company in Bucyrus, Ohio in 1880. Bucyrus moved its headquarters to South Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1893. In 1927, Bucyrus merged with the Erie Steam Shovel Company to form Bucyrus-Erie. Renamed Bucyrus International, Inc. in 1997, it was purchased by Caterpillar in a $7.6 billion ($8.6 billion including net debt) transaction that closed on July 8, 2011. At the time of its acquisition, the Bucyrus product line included a range of material removal and material handling products used in both surface and underground mining. Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, Nikkor 70-300 @ 115mm, f/4.8, 1/1250, ISO 110. |
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| Jarred Bailey, Feb 2017, cropped |
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| 1 2570, north pit Myron Dudenbostel: Are they broke down, repair job, because the bucket is in the spoil, the drag and hoist ropes are slack? Alex Taylor: Myron Dudenbostel probably since the back doors on the house are open. Matt Booe: Alex Taylor door on top is open too to let the crane come out. Must have not been something small. Jeremy Longest: Myron Dudenbostel It was a swing motor this day I was there. Downtime of 5-6 hours. Ben McIntosh: Like how they got the 200 shovel in the background. It looks like a baby lol |
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| 2 2570, north pit Ben McIntosh: And there's my little 2800 shovel in the background lol |
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| 3 2570, north pit |
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| 4 2550, south pit |
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| 5 2550, south pit |
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| 6 2550, south pit |
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| Mining Mayhem posted, cropped Cool photo! Chris Knepp: Looks like Bear Run right outside Carlisle/Dugger IN. Alex Taylor shared That's one good-looking 2570! |
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| Chris Stephens commented on Mining Mayhem's post Taken by me a month ago same machine. |
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| Chris Stephens commented on Mining Mayhem's post Another view |
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| Nate Nowak commented on Mining Mayhem's post |
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| Mining Photography Archive posted Peabody Energy Bucyrus Erie 2550W (Bear Run Mine) |
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| Kevin Christian posted Bear Run Mine Matt Booe: On its way there. About a mile into the trip about to cross IN 48. |
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| Kevin Christian posted Bear Run Mine Guy Kasper: What size buckets do the draglines have? Alex Taylor: Guy Kasper 88-90cy buckets on the 2550 in the photo. One is a Esco and the other is a Cat bucket. In this photo the 2550 is using the older 75cy bucket. Brett Clem: Still a 2550 and 2570 working at Bear run mine. AC Cofer: I believe this is one they relocated from one mine to another, taking several weeks to move it. Matt Booe: AC Cofer not this one. This was the first 2550 built just north of Vicksburg. They worked with it to the west and then south until it was idled for a while. After Bear run started up, it ran in the same area for a while before moving to a pit farther south. The one moved to that mine was the 2570. It came from Farmersburg and from Chinook before that. |
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| MSHA-fatality-alert |
On September 7, 2018, a 60-year-old haul truck operator with 1 year of total mining experience was transporting spoil to a dump site when a bulldozer operator saw fire on the truck. The bulldozer operator called the haul truck driver and he stopped the truck. While exiting the truck, the haul truck driver received burns and he was taken to the hospital. He died on September 12, 2018, due to complications from the burns. [MSHA-overview]
I wondered what the scope of "#7" is. Fortunately I found the "Additional Information: This is the seventh fatality reported in calendar year 2018 in the coal mining industry and it is the first classified as Fire. As of this date in 2017, twelve fatalities were reported in the coal mining industry, with none in this classification." [MSHA-fatality-alert]
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| Chad Smith commented on Miachel's post Here it is down at Bear Rum. |
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| Linda Powers Morphis posted Old Glory Old Glory crossing interstate 70 courtesy of the Coal Mine Museum in Lynnville Michael Montague: March of 1994; back in the day when she was known as "The 2570". I believe "The 2550" was parked and the 2570 having finished all that was permitted on the north side of I-70 was heading south to finish all that was permitted south of I-70 to SR 46. Alex Taylor: Michael Montague thanks for the additional information! That's what we call the 2 draglines at Bear Run Mine now (our 2550 is a different 2550 than was at Chinook.) Despite getting the name "Old Glory" while it worked at Farmersburg, when it was repainted in new Peabody colors prior to its deadhead to Bear Run, the name on the back was painted over and no one at the mine calls it by the old name that I know of. John Kigin: Notice the widening of I-70 at the point of the crossing. The Federal Aid Interstate Administration designed this widening of the median for this exact purpose when laying out the interstate. The Administration allowed up to three (3) crossings to AMAX through the estimated life of the mining operations. To my knowledge from others, this was the final permissive crossing. Billy Land: This picture is looking to the west I think Aaron Lewis: Remember she got stuck once she went across the east bound lanes seems like it took them a week or two get get it out. Those dozers cleaning out under it looked like match box cars! Timothy M Talley: The big “ stuck” came next! Nila Armstrong: I remember they found some quicksand just south east, when they were moving it. It was fun watching it. They even built a few ponds on the way. Highway Engineers planned for that move. Great picture!! Thanks for sharing. Naomu Charles Tashiro: Location, 39°26'44.7"N 87°12'52.4"W? Timothy J Garrett: Denise Julian this crossing was east of terre haute on i70 in 1994 , amax Chinook mine. It was later moved farther south to farmersburg mine, and then later moved again to dugger. Brian Jones: I helped move that machine from Amax to farmersburg mine when black beaty bought it William Hagemeier: machine now at bear run mine bucktown in Museum Of The Coal Industry shared with the comment: Thanks Linda Powers Morphis for visiting the museum and sharing this classic photo from 1994 of the Bucyrus Erie 2570W dragline at the AMAX Coal Company Chinook Mine in the process of crossing Interstate 70 east of Terre Haute. The Interstate was built while the mine was already in operation and went across the mine's property. The state had an agreement with AMAX to allow them to cross the interstate and this section of the interstate was built with a large separation between the lanes to allow for this crossing to take place. This machine is the 6th model 2570W built and is the same model machine as "Big Kate" but is larger in size and capacity. It would later be purchased by Black Beauty Coal Company and was walked ~18 miles south cross-country for use at the Farmersburg Mine. While at Farmersburg a contest was held to come up with a name for the machine and "Old Glory" was the name that won. It would wear this name on the machine while it worked at Farmersburg. In August 2010 it would again be walked another 18 miles cross country from the Farmersburg Mine south to the Peabody Energy Bear Run Mine where it continues to operate today. Today it looks like a completely different machine thanks to the fresh paint job it received in 2010 prior to its 'deadhead' south. |
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| Pat Harrison commented on Linda's post She got "a little bogged down" right here.😳 |
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| Melvin Blythe posted Bear Run maintenance? Walked out of the pit and boom on the ground. Brandon Melvin: I work on it maintenance almost done Alex Taylor: They should be raising the boom back up today [Oct 23, 2023]. |
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| Chad Smith commented on Milvin's post |
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| 3:34 video @ 0:51 Peabody's Bucyrus Erie 2570W at the Bear Run Mine 1/28/23 [I wonder what made the hole that it is filling in. Normally they would dump behind the crane.] "Built in 1977 near Staunton Indiana at the Amax, Chinook mine. It mined coal on the north side of I-70 until 94' when it crossed the interstate and then worked on the southern part of the mine property. Several years after the mine closed, it was walked to Black Beauty's Farmersburg mine where It worked for some time. When Farmersburg closed, there was extensive maintenance done to the machine, some planned, some not, before being walked farther south to the Bear Run mine where, along with the 2550, it continues to work today." |
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| 2:58 video @ 0:15 Bucyrus-Erie 2570W Drag Line On The Move Near Shelburn Indiana [The walking starts at 0:33.] |
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| 3:48 video @ 1:02 Gary Downen posted his is a You tube video of a BE 2570 dragline working for Peabody at their Bear Run Mine in Indiana. As far as i know, it is still in production. For all the old surface coal miners, this is a different setup that what we used in southern Illinois. If you look at the highwall of this mine, they are mining I think 4 seams of coal. So the dragline has to set up on the spoil side of the pit, to allow the other 3 seams to be mined first. In southern Illinois, most if not all the the dragline set up on the highwall side of the pit. Melvin Blythe: There are 2 draglines operating at this mine. I think the other is a 2550? Brett Clem: Melvin Blythe Correct on 2550, it's the machine that was first built and started in the dirt in the late 60's at what was then Ayrshire coal company and would later become Amax coal co. Minnehaha mine and then Kindall #3. |
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| Mining #Shorts posted Often mentioned in U.S. coal discussions, the Bear Run Mine still holds a very specific title in 2026. It remains the largest surface coal mine in the eastern United States, a distinction tied more to geography and mining method than pure national ranking. Located in Indiana’s Illinois Basin, Peabody's Bear Run was built for scale. At full stride, the operation has been capable of producing close to 8 million tons per year, supplying coal primarily to power plants across the Midwest. Even as coal demand has shifted, the mine continues to operate at multi-million-ton levels (4.7 million tons in 2025), keeping it firmly at the top of eastern surface mining. That said, context matters. The “largest” label applies only to surface mines east of the Mississippi River. It doesn't place Bear Run among the biggest producers nationwide. Out west, Wyoming’s Black Thunder Coal Mine operates on a different scale entirely, with annual output measured in the tens of millions of tons. Still, within its region, Bear Run remains a benchmark. Size, consistency and strategic location continue to define its role in the eastern coal landscape. - Photo: Peabody Energy [Does the adjective "surface" mean that there is a larger underground mine in the East?] Melvin Blythe: Pretty cool that it's actually two older mines combined into one. |
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