Illinois Basin coal production is looking up?

A 2004 history of coal production in Illinois (source)

Steven Grigg posted

Steven's comment:

This photo shows the switch & fairly new tracks that go to the coal mine near Hillsboro, IL. The view looks north up the original Clover Leaf Main. The old grain elevator in Coffeen can be seen in the far distance. I took this photo in February of 2015. This is in response to Arthur Shale's question about the "new" tracks. Steven Grigg

The fresh, white ballast made it easy to find this fork. And the "white line" made it easy to follow it north until it turned west and went to the south side of Patton Mining. Note the mine also has a connection with the UP/C&EI that runs through Hillsboro, IL.

Because of all I have been reading about surviving fossil fuel plants converting to natural gas and about coal mines closing, I was surprised to see some new construction to a coal mine. But it seems NS built this spur just in time for it to become unused.

Jacob Hortenstine there are no local shippers on that segment of the old Clover Leaf all NS wanted was the power plant and the mine.

But another comment indicates that the mine has been shut down so there is no traffic in or out at the present time.

I came across a video with a title about the growth of Illinois Basin Coal. It turns out, it is an increase in market share compared to Appalachia basins. Go to the chart starting around 1:11. Note that Illinois is getting a bigger piece of a shrinking pie because Appalachia is crashing faster. I don't understand what the "US" line means. And where is Powder River Basin output?

Update:

Jacob Hortenstine posted
Clover Leaf mine Coffeen Illinois 1908 was the mine owned by the Clover Leaf railroad or just named Clover Leaf mine.
Frank Olive heard it called Coffeen Lake and Lake Coffeen but never Clover Leaf Lake.Jacob HortenstineGroup Admin that is not the cooling lake for the power plant that is Coffeen lake this is older than that lake that was built for the power plant was told this mine located south of the tracks and east side of Coffeen.
[It must have been an underground mine because I don't see any land scars in that area.]
Arthur Shale Look at all those gondolas in coal service, not a hopper among them.Raymond Breyer That's typical for all of the coal hauling railroads in the Midwest through the late 1920s. Look at the rosters of the CB&Q, IC, and even the Wabash, and they're full of thousands of flat bottom, drop door gondolas.

Some history:

Mining #Shorts posted

For more than a century, coal shaped Illinois towns, railroads and entire generations of workers across the state’s southern belt.

Commercial mining in Illinois dates back to the early 1800s near the Big Muddy River, but the industry truly exploded after the Civil War as rail expansion and industrial demand surged. By the early 1900s, Illinois had become one of America’s dominant coal producers, with thousands of underground miners working beneath counties like Williamson, Franklin, Saline and Macoupin.

The state’s growth was tied to the Illinois Basin, a massive coal-bearing formation stretching across Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. The Herrin No. 6 seam became especially famous for its thick bituminous coal, feeding locomotives, steel mills and power stations for decades.

Mining towns rose almost overnight. Places like Herrin, West Frankfort, Gillespie and Carterville filled with immigrant families arriving from Italy, Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Coal camps brought opportunity, but also violence and tragedy.

The 1898 Battle of Virden left multiple men dead during clashes between union miners and strikebreakers. In 1922, the Herrin Massacre shocked the nation after more than 20 people were killed during a bitter labor dispute tied to a nationwide coal strike.

Disasters underground were equally devastating. The Cherry Mine fire of 1909 killed 259 miners and boys after flames trapped workers below ground. The 1947 Centralia explosion later claimed 111 lives and intensified demands for stricter mine safety laws nationwide.

During World War II, Illinois coal employment approached 100,000 workers. Mechanization later transformed the industry, replacing huge labor forces with continuous miners and longwall systems capable of extracting massive underground panels.

Illinois coal history also became linked to some of the largest surface mining equipment ever built.

Near the town of Equality [no, more like Willisville], the Captain Mine gained worldwide attention during the 1960s when it became home to the Marion 6360 stripping shovel, still known as the largest ever built to this day.

Coal production eventually declined as natural gas, environmental rules and plant retirements reshaped America’s energy sector. Still, Illinois remains one of the country’s leading coal-producing states, and the legacy of the mines continues to define much of southern Illinois culture and identity.