Painting Highlights Coal, Railroad Link In McAlester

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A painting dedicated in the Oklahoma Senate depicts the connection between the Katy Railroad and early coal production in southeastern Oklahoma. Artist Wayne Cooper's painting

Thursday, May 17th 2007, 6:41 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A painting dedicated in the Oklahoma Senate depicts the connection between the Katy Railroad and early coal production in southeastern Oklahoma. Artist Wayne Cooper's painting shows a Katy locomotive loaded with coal alongside buildings of the McAlester Coal Company. Nearby are two teams of wagons moving down a dirt road.

J.J. McAlester persuaded officials of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad to build tracks that eventually reached the McAlester area.

The state's first coal mine was at nearby Krebs.