End of an Era: St. Louis Coal Terminal to Close

This article originally ran in the Waterways Journal on March 19, 2021.

One of the largest and most important rail-to-barge transloading facilities in mid-America is closing, another sign of the decline of the coal era in American power generation.

Located north of St. Louis on the right descending bank of the Mississippi River, across from the lower exit of the Chain of Rocks Canal, the Hall Street facility is the terminus of the shortest rail connection from the Powder River Basin coal fields in Montana to the northernmost year-round, lock-free, ice-free Mississippi River port. It has served energy customers in Louisiana with cleaner, low-sulfur Powder River Basin coal since 1979. It is due to close in April after a storied career.