Before students at the Belfry Area Technology Center got a chance to try out the underground coal mining computer simulator aboard the Success Xpress, curiosity brought one local man out of an actual mine to get a firsthand look at the innovative mobile training unit.

Todd Young—who has eight years experience in operating underground coal-mining equipment—said the state-of-the-art continuous mining machine simulator on the Success Xpress is “close to the real deal.”

“It will help a lot of people, and it’s better than going straight out of mining courses and underground,” Young said after trying his hand at the controls of the computerized simulator.

The Success Xpress’ simulator features a virtual reality helmet that allows trainees to experience the sights and sounds of an underground coal mine. As trainees use a hand-held control panel that is an exact replica of the control panel on an actual continuous mining machine, they see and hear the hulking machine cut underground ribs of coal into smaller chunks that fill the cars that transport coal out of the virtual mine.

Young also carefully inspected the electrical training panels in the Success Xpress’ hands-on lab area. The panel, manufactured by Joy, Inc., is filled with working electrical equipment identical to that found on actual continuous mining machines and other underground equipment.

“It’s easier to learn how to work on this stuff in an environment like this than when you’re cramped up in a four-foot space in the mud,” Young chuckled.

An employee of the Patrick Processing mine in nearby Stone, Young said he read about the Success Xpress’ two-week Belfry stay in the Williamson Daily News newspaper. He said he is glad he decided to pay the facility a visit as it trains students in his hometown.

“It’s a great training tool,” Young said of the Success Xpress. “I went straight of out school and went underground, but this will help people learn about what to do before they have to do that.”

For additional information on booking the Success Xpress for a visit to a mining operation, high school, vocational and technical school, or any other location, contact Crawford Blakeman at 606-436-5751.