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Ken Coal Company-Ken Mine.
The Marion 350 Shovel And Crew.
A Rockport Connection.
A jrd Web Page on 6/28/08. Revised on 12/22/10.
Corrected code on 1/19/18




Marion 350 Shovel.
Marion 350.

Old Century Mines in Hopkins County owned a Marion 350 shovel that was originally a steam shovel. This shovel was operated on railroad type tracks instead of the normal caterpillar type cleats. The 350 was converted to an electric operated shovel and Ken Coal Company purchased it from Old Century Mines. This shovel was disassembled and shipped to Ken Coal Company. It was reassembled just off Number Nineteen School Road a mile or so from the bottom of Chinn Hill. In later years, this general area was used as a large dump. Herbert Welborn was one of the first hires to work with this old shovel. A year or so after Herbert started working for Ken Coal Company he became sick and was bedfast for months until his demise. Herbert was a trusted and dependable employee, and Jim McDowell knew that Herbert's family consisted of a wife and three children and they could use a little help. He sent word to Billy, the oldest son and a recent Rockport High School graduate, to come to the Ken Mine office. Billy Welborn was hired on December 21 1949 as a "Groundman" for the 350 Stripper. In the mid twentieth century, most of the stripping shovels and draglines were operated by a three man crew. These positions consisted of an operator, an oiler, and a groundman. The crew of the Marion 350 needed an extra groundman as the Marion 350 operated on rails and these rails needed to be moved constantly to keep the shovel near the overburden. This was a two man job, thus the extra groundman. A big part of the groundman's job was to place the rails in front of the machine and secure them to ties. As the machine moved forward, the rails were moved from the rear and placed in the front. Billy worked at Ken Mine from 1949 until 1993.




Marion 350 Shovel Crew.
Marion 350 Stripper Crew.

One such "Stripper Crew" is featured in this write-up. Buddy Reid, Hugh Ashton, George Devine and Billy Welborn were mainstays at the Ken Mine and all lived and raised a family close to each other and in the town of Rockport. Buddy, George, and Billy were born, raised, and educated in Rockport. Hugh Ashton and his family moved to Rockport soon after Ken Mine started operation. He hired in from the Madisonville area and was considered an experience miner, while the other three mentioned had to learn about mining and big machines. A "Stripper Crew", when I was working at Ken Mine in the early sixties, consisted of only three people. The "Operator" sat in the "Cab" of the shovel and pushed and pulled levers and foot pedals to control the workings of the machine. The "Oiler" tended to the machine and took care of the "Oiling and Greasing" needs as well as generally watched and listened to the machine operation. A "Ground Man" worked on the ground around the machine. Usually, he operated a "Bulldozer" and kept the ground area around the "Stripper" free of boulders, rocks and other debris. This pictured "Crew" shows the fourth person as two groundmen were needed with the Marion 350 shovel.

I never knew Max Wasson, although I have heard many of the miners talk fondly of Max. At the time the picture was taken, he may have been the "Pit Supervisor" or maybe the assistant superintendent. Anyway, Max was just a nice guy according to all of the people that I talked with. I am guessing, but I think that Max may have come from the Madisonville area.

Now, not to be outdone, this "Stripper" crew was composed of great guys also. Hugh Ashton was the "operator" in this particular crew. Hugh was just a good guy and he loved his work, thus he certainly could be counted on to do his share of the work and more. Buddy Reid graduated from Rockport High School in 1944 and before he could catch his breath, found himself in the middle of World War II. After the war, Buddy returned to Rockport and soon found a job with Ken Coal Company, Ken Mine. Buddy was the "oiler" of this "Stripper Crew" and I think that he switched over to the BE 1050B Shovel when it became operational. George Devine was the experienced groundman when Billy Welborn was hired in as a groundman. George graduated from Rockport High School in 1940 and tried his hand at several jobs, before he was drafted into the Army. After being discharged, he became a Ken Coal Company employee and eventually retired from Ken Mine. George just never wanted to keep any job for an extended period of time and thus, he probably worked as many types of jobs at Ken as anyone else. Billy graduated from Rockport High School in 1949. Billy probably worked at Ken longer than about anyone else. This must have been an elite crew as all of the men were easy to work with and easy to get along with. I am sure that Ken Mine thought this crew to be special. Of course, most of the miners at Ken Mine were special. That is why it continue operation longer that most other mines.

Rockport, Echols, and Ohio County were fortunate to have Ken Coal Company move into the area. Prior to the nineteen fifties, good jobs were not very plentiful in the area and those wanting a good wage for a day's work had to move north. Just a small coal company, at first, developed into a major operation. Ken Mine alone may have employed some four hundred miners at one time. Good jobs were plentiful and some of the people that moved north were returning to the area where they were born and raised. Rockport, Echols, and other towns in the area were on the move. Tax monies were distributed to all of the area that was being mined and it seemed that this source of monies was endless. Guess that the area thought that the "Boom" would last forever, but once the coal, that was easy to mine was gone, the area fell on more difficult times. By the start of the Twenty-First Century, "King Coal" was gone and now the area that got used to "Easy Pickings" had a difficult time realizing that the "Coal Boom" was over. It was a nice ride while it lasted.

See you.......
~jrd~




:)
See you..........
jrd