Alabama coal

Hello all, been lurking for a while reading all about coal heat (good reading, I must say!) , and though I'm from Alabama (where most people have never even seen a piece of coal), I have a great fondness for the shiny black stuff. My friend's father once showed me where he had discovered a coal outcrop along a road cut, and from that moment on I was hooked. The whole science behind coal and its' geology are just fascinating to me.

Anyways, I don't own a stove or anything, as I currently still live in an apartment, but every chance I get to go out to the country and have a nice fire with my friends (usually barrel or firepit) I make sure to stop at my secret location with my trusty 5 gallon bucket and collect some roadside-scrounged coal (it just periodically falls off the side of a cliff where I'm speaking of) to "reinforce" the fire if you will. Needless to say, most of my friends think I'm crazy. Oh well, it's a hobby for me, and they usually understand once I have that fire really throwing some serious heat on a chilly night eating wet wood and whatever else could be thrown at it.

Although most of what I've found is pretty croppy (crappy/oxidized/lots of bone included), it all burns quite well and occasionally I find a pocket with some pretty decent quality stuff. All high/medium-vol bit coal of course as that's most of what we have in this state (seems to be a decent bit of iron in it, but not too high on the sulfur), I make it a point to collect a bit (no pun intended) from each of the main coal beds in the state. I am jealous of your anthracite, but I appreciate bit coal for its more easygoing open burn characteristics.

Here are a few pictures from our last open firepit burn over christmas. Got a whole bunch of nut size coal going mixed in with some wood, and a few mega-stove sized lumps on top for fire longevity. It's just so much fun to sit around and maintain/stoke the fire. I'm also kind of partial to the smell.... yes I know I'm crazy. Anyways, here ya go, more pictures and details of my coal finding samples to follow if anyone wants. Oh yeah, and I'm only 26, am I the youngest member on here?

That's the dream, anyway. Hopefully one day I have a fireplace (or better yet, a nice little hand fired stove) of my own to burn it in.

I study topographic maps for fun when I don't have much going on, and I've read a good few of the geological surveys from the 1890s that detail where the coal beds and outcrops are. Believe it or not (you guys are gonna love this) I was swimming in a popular river spot over the summer, and as I floated downstream, something caught my eye. As I got closer I realized there was a huge coal seam jutting out into the river just above and down below the waterline!! And even better than that, the beach across from it is peppered with nice fist sized chunks of some great looking coal (pre-washed, too!) Some of this river coal looks like cannel because of the erosion caused by the river, however I'm fairly certain it isn't because I know which specific bed it came from. Let me know if you guys find this interesting or if I'm just rambling. I have coal fever and felt this was the best place to share my findings, haha. By the way, this would now be Cahaba field coal, whereas most of what we were burning in the fire was from the Warrior field. Locally the warrior field coal is mined as steam coal, and as you go further east it becomes more like metallurgical grade coal, and some of the coal I've found on the easternmost portion of the cahaba field is rather hard, almost approaching anthracite in appearance and hardness. All of it burns quite well. There's nothing quite as satisfying for me as getting a nice smokin-hot bed of coals going, then throwing a fresh lump on and watching it catch.

You are not rambling!
You are in the right place, please feel free to continue.

Nice fire pics! You're definitely not rambling to this crowd! I've had a few chunks of cannel coal I've had for quite a few years and do burn wood in a fire pit (Solo stove Bonfire - awesome pit!). I'm going to put one of the pieces of cannel coal in on a good bed of wood coals next time and see what happens.

Here's a few pics of the Bonfire pit in action.

That's a sweet lil' gasifier pit you've got there.

Thanks for sharing that, TS92.
Always good to hear about coal and coal use in areas not traditionally known for coal production here in the Northeast.

With people sharing stories like you are, I learned that there was quite a bit of anthracite coal mining down in the Carolinas. I've been around coal heat most of my life through my own use, plus family and friends - I never heard of coal mines down South before I joined this website.

Paul

Most of the mines in the state closed in the 50s and 60s, save for a few strip mines here and there, and a handful of large mines (one deep shaft that I know of) still running today in the warrior field to mine metallurgical coal.

I am going to guess you are in the N Alabama area, as I would think the mines are in the hills and plateaus. Mind saying where? I am just across the border in Chattanooga...

Kevin

Friends here say there are old mines all around this region as well. I have not got out to any.

More like central, but most of the active stuff is in the area slightly north west of birmingham.

By the way, www.coalcampusa.com has a bunch of great coal history reading (hours and hours worth), as well as a map of where most named Appalachian coal fields are. It does focus mostly on the KY to PA region though.

Thanks, I figured with S Pittsburg TN having the Lodge plant that they probably got coal from a local source. Rough country along the state line towards Huntsville.

Kevin

TheScrambler92 wrote: ↑

Sun. Dec. 30, 2018 5:04 am

Oh yeah, and I'm only 26, am I the youngest member on here?

No sir, I'm 23. Not sure if there is anyone younger on here though.

I lived in Alabama until I was 7, but have lived in Michigan since. I live in Bay City, and I know we have a bit of coal in the ground around here, but I've certainly never seen it! I've volunteered on a steam locomotive, and that has been my only real experience with coal.

Going to be buying a house soon, and I want a big old victorian with a few nice baseburner coal stoves or something like that. I plan on going the coal stoker boiler route as well, but all that is in another thread.

Interesting stuff though, keep on "rambling" as you see fit!

-Nick

nicholaskheinrich wrote: ↑

Mon. Jan. 14, 2019 5:30 am

No sir, I'm 23. Not sure if there is anyone younger on here though.

I lived in Alabama until I was 7, but have lived in Michigan since. I live in Bay City, and I know we have a bit of coal in the ground around here, but I've certainly never seen it! I've volunteered on a steam locomotive, and that has been my only real experience with coal.

Going to be buying a house soon, and I want a big old victorian with a few nice baseburner coal stoves or something like that. I plan on going the coal stoker boiler route as well, but all that is in another thread.

Interesting stuff though, keep on "rambling" as you see fit!

-Nick

Hi Nick
You need to put the above info into your profile. If you haven't seen any of the posts about Freetown Fred I'll tell you he's temporarily away from the forum. If he was on, he'd be telling you to fill that stuff in cause it helps others when they read your posts. To paraphrase Fred ...
'fill it in, ain't nobody gonna steal you!'

Nice to See a couple of Young and Enthusiastic Coalers in the House! You've come to the Right Place! Use Our Extensive Search Library and prepare to be infested with All a Manner of Interesting Research Finds!!

VigIIPeaBurner wrote: ↑

Mon. Jan. 14, 2019 6:54 pm

Hi Nick
You need to put the above info into your profile. If you haven't seen any of the posts about Freetown Fred I'll tell you he's temporarily away from the forum. If he was on, he'd be telling you to fill that stuff in cause it helps others when they read your posts. To paraphrase Fred ...
'fill it in, ain't nobody gonna steal you!'

Done!
Is there an "about me" section that I'm missing or isn't displaying? I put my age and location in the interests section. I'm on Chrome mobile, not sure if that would affect anything.

Hambden Bob wrote: ↑

Mon. Jan. 14, 2019 7:32 pm

Nice to See a couple of Young and Enthusiastic Coalers in the House! You've come to the Right Place! Use Our Extensive Search Library and prepare to be infested with All a Manner of Interesting Research Finds!!

I've already learned quite a bit since I've been here! Will definitely try using the search library as well.

Thanks!