Coal pier
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A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the shipment of coal. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, large coal piers were erected by railroad companies at ports on the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes in the United States.
The bulk commodity of coal transported by rail was transferred to ships. Destinations were in the U.S., in Canada along the Great Lakes and along the northern Atlantic Coast, and overseas for export customers. The ships used for this purpose are called colliers.
In Virginia, beginning in 1881, coal piers, operated by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) on the Virginia Peninsula at Newport News and in South Hampton Roads by the Norfolk and Western (N&W) and Virginian Railway (VGN) at Norfolk, made the port of Hampton Roads the largest shipping point of coal in the world by 1930. C&O and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) had facilities on Lake Erie, with B&O also shipping from Baltimore.
In modern times, CSX Transportation continues to serve coal piers at Newport News, and Norfolk Southern operates a large complex at Lambert's Point in Norfolk. In September, 2005, Norfolk Southern reported that it had loaded "the billionth ton of coal at Lamberts Point's Pier 6, the largest coal-transloading terminal in the Northern Hemisphere." [link]
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