Though still in high school, Brandon Smith got a taste of what it is like to operate one of the most crucial pieces of equipment in underground coal mining this week, thanks to the computer simulator aboard the Success Xpress mobile training facility.

“I thought it was pretty neat, and kind of realistic,” Smith, a senior, said after he took a hand-held control panel and commanded the virtual continuous miner machine’s spinning metal teeth as they tore coal from the face of a computer-generated, three-dimensional underground coal mine.

Smith is one of 26 students enrolled in the Kentucky Junior Coal Academy at Lawrence County High School who will take tests this month to try to earn certification as surface coal miners. However, Smith said he also remains interested in opportunities in underground mining, since the annual salary of an underground coal miner in Kentucky can reach $50,000.

The Success Xpress—a state-of-the-art mobile miner training facility built into a 53-foot truck trailer—will be stationed at the high school until April 20 for use by the Junior Coal Academy’s students. The Success Xpress is owned and operated by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP), Inc., a nonprofit agency that administers workforce development programs in eastern Kentucky.

The Success Xpress can be driven to remote coal mines, colleges, schools, or any other location in eastern Kentucky where mining training is needed. This mobility enables students like those at the Junior Coal Academy to get an early look at coal mining while in high school. It also enables working miners to train on the Success Xpress for certifications in essential high-skill positions (mine electricians, METs, equipment operators, foremen, etc.) at their work sites, reducing the impact of training on their companies’ productivity.

The Success Xpress features distance-learning technology that allows mining courses to be taught by highly qualified instructors at remote locations and transmitted to students in the mobile classroom. Remote-controlled cameras in the classroom allow the class to interact with the remote instructor in real time. The Success Xpress classroom also includes wireless connectivity that provides internet access at nine computer workstations.

In addition to its state-of-the-art computer classroom and three-dimensional mining simulator, the Success Xpress also features a hands-on lab area with electrical training panels exactly like those on actual mining equipment.

Each of the Junior Coal Academy’s students will get a chance during the next two weeks to spend ample time at the controls of the Success Xpress’ simulator and experience the sights and sounds of virtual underground mining, according to Doug Klein, pre-engineering instructor.

“They can’t go underground until they’re 18, so simulators like this are the only way to give them hands-on experience on mining equipment,” Klein said. “I can tell them all day long what underground coal mining is, but this lets them really get an idea what it’s like.”

Although working with the region’s coal mine operators is the top priority for the Success Xpress, working with students like those in the Junior Coal Academy who are training for careers in coal is also a key part of the Success Xpress’ mission. Both contribute to helping the coal industry replenish and upgrade its dwindling and aging workforce, according to David Ruth, coal mining Services coordinator for EKCEP.

“We’re pleased to partner with the Kentucky Junior Coal Academy to provide its students access to the Success Xpress’ state-of-the-art technology,” Ruth said. “Many of these students will become key in the future of coal mining in our area, and it is incumbent upon us to bring training to them that will prepare them to become safe and productive miners.”

Since late December, the Success Xpress has also trained working miners and students in Clay, Harlan, Knott, Letcher, Martin, Perry, and Pike counties. The Success Xpress recently completed stays at Area Technology Centers in Clay, Knott, Martin, and Pike counties during which hundreds of high school students spent time at the controls of the facility's continuous mining machine simulator. (Click here for comments from others on how the Success Xpress is being received in various locations in eastern Kentucky.)

The Junior Coal Academy is part of the Kentucky Coal Academy, a coal training initiative that offers extensive miner training programs at Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) locations in Cumberland, Hazard, Madisonville, Pikeville, and Hager Hill. The Junior Coal Academy offers high school students training that leads to employment in the industry immediately after graduation, or prepares them to pursue college degrees in engineering and other mining-related programs.

The Success Xpress was created with a portion of EKCEP’s share of a $3.1 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The grant was awarded to EKCEP and the West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board (WKWIB) in December 2005 to train new miners and upgrade the skills of experienced miners in the state’s eastern and western coalfields. The grant was awarded under the President’s High Growth Job Training Initiative, as implemented by the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.

Based in Hazard, EKCEP administers government employment and training programs and employer services in 23 rural mountain counties, including the entire eastern Kentucky coalfields. EKCEP also administers the JobSight network of workforce centers, which provide access to a dozen government workforce programs for job seekers and employers.

The Center for Rural Development is a participating partner, designing and coordinating the Success Xpress’ distance-learning technology.

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.