1942 - 1954: The Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 4A Mine at Hanna, Wyoming

Notes from Bob Leathers
The Hanna No. 4A Underground Mine was developed in 1941 and started production of coal in 1942. The mine was abandoned in 1954 when all the Union Pacific Coal Company mines in Hanna closed. It was the last mine opened by the Union Pacific Coal Company in Hanna. The mine produced coal for a total of 13 years. Over that time it produced 9,133,659 tons of coal with an average yearly work force of 320 workers. In the years 1943, 1944 and 1945, the mine produced over one million tons each year.

​The Hanna Basin Mines (Hanna, Elmo, Carbon, Sampo and Dana) experienced a total of 373 miner deaths. The No. 4A mine in Hanna was responsible for 7 of the 372 deaths.
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Miners in Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 4A Underground Mine in Hanna (Image from Mike Moffitt)
Hanna No. 4A Mine
The main haulage way at this time [1940] extends from the main hoisting slope [No. 4 tipple] to a distance of about two miles to what is known as the North Slope [No. 4A], from which point a large area is under development, and this is the present producing area for the mine. The haulage for this coal [to No. 4 tipple] is becoming increasingly expensive, and with the outside facilities rapidly becoming obsolete, it is planned to construct a new entrance to this mine about three miles to the north, and to install an entire new plant [No. 4A] with modern equipment, during 1942. (UPCCEM, November 1940)
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Hanna No. 4A Mine (Jack Hearne Family Collection)
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Hanna No. 4A Mine Slope Entry (Hanna Basin Museum)
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Hanna No. 4A Mine (Jack Hearne Family Collection)

Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 4A Mine Map

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The Union Pacific Coal Company Proposed Strip Mining Development. Location of 4A Tipple. Nugget Mine. Monolith Mine (Map Collection from the Hanna Basin Museum)