Superior Prep Plant

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Scotts-dale Division Site

The Superior prep plant is located in what was the unincorporated town of Superior, WV. It is located at NS station Huger, just a few miles east of Welch, WV.

About the Plant

The official name of the plant is True Energy Superior Preparation Plant, and is operated by True Energy Coal Sales, Inc. of Welch, WV. It is an older plant that was originally built by Lake Superior Coal Co., but has changed ownership several times. The plant is on the opposite bank of the Elkins Creek from the NS mainline and US route 52. Between the creek and the plant are the coal storage piles. The plant has sufficient tracks for 50 empty coal cars or 60 loaded cars. The plant has single car loading facility. It is one of the last plants that uses the older loading method where cars are loaded directly under the plant.

About the Town

The town of Superior was probably built with the plant. However, now all that remains are a few old homes, several trailers, and two churches, one of which is closed.

The town is located about 4 miles east of Welch, WV the county seat for McDowell County. Welch is a fairly large community by southern WV standards with a population of about 2700.

View a Topographic map of this location

View a higher resolution aerial photo of this location

Layout Design Element.

This LDE is still under development.

Pictures

The Superior Prep Plant is on the opposite side of Elkhorn Creek from US 52; the foliage between the plant and the road makes taking pictures of this plant very difficult in the summer time. My pictures below provide specific details of the plant, but not a good overview. For a good overview, see the Superior Plant page on Coal Camps USA.


This photo show the upper portion of the main building where the processing of the coal is completed.	This photo shows some of the support buildings near the main building. Looking at the tank, it would seem to be from an old railroad car.	This picture is of another support building. To the left of the building the coal piles can be seen. There were several coal piles between Elkhorn Creek and the plant. Also note the large number of power lines coming into the area. Prep plants seem to be large electric consumers.

This is another picture of the same support building, but with more details visible to aid in modeling the structure.		This picture shows the slack coal (leftovers) bin as well as some of the conveyors. From the road, the sick bin is to the right of the main prep plant building.

The concrete barriers and traffic light in this picture indicate that the raw coal is trucked in.	This picture shows the conveyor with its covering. The covering is for winter conditions, but also simplifies modeling the conveyors.	This picture shows the railroad bridge over ?? between the town and the plant.