DAVIS, W.Va. — The last operating coal mine on the right-of-way of the original Western Maryland Railway, a facility in the mountains of rural northeastern West Virginia, is slated for closure this spring.
Mettiki Coal’s Mountain View Mine, owned by Alliance Resource Partners, announced on Jan. 29 its plans to lay off nearly 200 employees and permanently close the mine, effective April 1. If the closure goes as planned, no active coal shippers will remain on the former Western Maryland after the mine depletes its stockpiles. It is a stark reminder of the challenges facing the coal industry today, specifically on the rails of a fallen flag whose profitability was heavily derived from hauling West Virginia coal during most of the 20th century.
Today, Mettiki is served by CSX at the end of its 35.8-mile Thomas Subdivision, about 3.5 miles west of Bayard, W.Va., and about 65 miles southwest of Cumberland, Md. The only other rail customer in the area is the Mount Storm Power Station on the nearby Stony River Subdivision, a 16.7-mile branch line also of Western Maryland ancestry that connects with the Thomas Subdivision in Bayard.
With Mettiki’s planned closure, coal will still travel the original “Wild Mary” for delivery to Mount Storm, but those tons will be mined elsewhere on CSX, such as Bailey Mine on the former Monongahela Railway in southwestern Pennsylvania. Mettiki provides tons to the power plant today, but due to the mine’s proximity, that coal moves by truck.
Today, less than 50 miles of active track remains of what was once Western Maryland’s sprawling coal network in West Virginia. For several decades, the railroad remained small but profitable because of the mines it served throughout northern Appalachia, connecting its coal miners with buyers primarily on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The railroad interchanged with the B&O at Cumberland and Cherry Run, W.Va.
Officials with Alliance Resource Partners, in a statement provided to West Virginia’s WBOY-TV, say planned and unplanned outages at a facility that purchases coal from Mettiki is affecting the mine’s ability to operate.
“We have recently been informed that the plant expects additional outages during 2026 and based upon current demand projections and contractual commitments for 2026, they are not in a position to commit to purchase any additional tons from Mettiki for the foreseeable future,” the statement reads. “Due to the location of the mine and the low-volatile quality of coal the mine produces, Mettiki’s livelihood depends on this customer purchasing a minimum of one million tons per year for it to be viable under its existing operating plan. With no clear alternative customer to absorb production, issuing WARN Act notices became an unavoidable step.” The WARN Act requires 60-day advance notification of facility closures and mass layoffs.
Even if the mine closes by April 1, it would not be unusual to see coal trains continue to originate from Mettiki until stockpiles are gone. The mine produces both thermal coal for electricity generation and metallurgical coal for steelmaking.
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
