Railroad photograph
Photo by: Kevin Morgan
Thunder Basin Coal Company, a subsidiary of Arch Coal, operates the four Black Thunder mines in the Powder River Basin. South Black Thunder Mine is probably the mine that loads the fewest train (out of the four). There is only one long track that runs 9.8 miles around the load out balloon track. Here, UP 9578 has completed loading and is waiting for a crew. An inbound BNSF empty waits to head to the load out in the distance. South Black Thunder loads a little slower than other mines, taking roughly 3.5 hours to fully load a train.
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Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 13:25:53
image date



Location Information

City or County and State
Campbell County, WY

Subdivision
Orin (BNSF)

Milepost or Control Point
South Black Thunder Mine




Train Information
Railroad
BNSF
Model
SD70ACe
Primary Unit Number
BNSF 8463

Paint Scheme
BNSF New Image
Symbol
Train Type
Unit Coal



Photo Information
Camera Make/Model
DJI / Mavic 3 Pro [FC4382]
ISO
100
888
Flash
Did Not Fire

Focal Length
70 mm
Shutter
1/1600 seconds
Aperture
f/2.8