The Success Xpress mobile coal miner training facility rolled into the District Seven office of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in Barbourville last week to give representatives of the federal regulatory agency a look at some of the coal industry's most advanced training simulators.

Despite having never operated an actual continuous mining machine, Mike Walker, an MSHA electrical engineer, and Jasey Maggard, who supervises the office's electrical engineers, caught on quickly and used the Success Xpress' onboard simulator to mine a combined total of more than 400 tons of "virtual" coal in mere minutes. The simulator generates the sights and sounds of a three-dimensional underground mine as the operator uses accurate controls to guide the continuous mining machine's spinning metal teeth as they tear coal from the face of the mine.

"Getting a new miner in here first on this is probably a lot safer than turning them loose on the real thing," Walker said after operating the simulator and touring the Success Xpress. 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.

While the Success Xpress was at the MSHA office, several high school students from the Knox County Area Technology Center also got to experience the sights and sounds of virtual underground coal mining by operating the simulator.

Built into 53-foot truck trailer, 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 Knox County Area Technology Center 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' classroom area 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 unit. 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.

Although working with the region's coal mine operators is the top priority for the Success Xpress, working with high school students who might consider careers in coal is also a key part of the Success Xpress' mission. Both activities 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 bring the Success Xpress to Barbourville to give MSHA's employees and local students a look at its state-of-the-art technology," Ruth said. "Some of these students will become key in the future of coal mining in our area, and it is incumbent upon us to expose them to equipment that can prepare them to become safe and productive miners."

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

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.

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

"EKCEP Executive Director Mable Duke and the board of directors are to be commended on the leadership role they have taken in this vitally important effort. They listened to the coal industry and the Success Xpress is the result - and what a success it is," said Center for Rural Development President and CEO Lonnie Lawson. "Thanks to EKCEP, Kentucky's mining industry now has a mobile training and education resource second to none. The entire state will benefit from the vision of this project."

"The Center could not be more pleased to play a role in the Success Xpress project," added Center for Rural Development Vice President and CIO Charley Simpson. "With the state-of-the-art technologies we were able to design into the mobile unit; it can quickly be adapted for almost any mine training requirement from equipment operations to safety.

"We are also very proud of the added functionality the unit now has a mobile emergency command center," Simpson said. "The Center's technology staff genuinely wanted to take this important project to new heights, and they succeeded."

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.