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Tracking the DM&E's big dream: Chapter 1
Deep in the heart of Wyoming WRIGHT, Wyo. -- Darkness is rapidly descending as I drive north on Wyoming Highway 59, looking for the Black Thunder Coal Mine. Mule deer by the dozens are popping up out of nowhere on either side of the road and along the fencelines. It's been nearly an hour since I last passed through a town. When I stop to appreciate the flame-colored glow of the sunset, a man in a petroleum company Bronco slows to a stop and rolls down his window. "You OK?" he yells. "I'm fine, just taking some pictures." "You never can tell out here," he says. "It's Wyoming." He means that this is vast, sparsely populated and rugged land where if you have car trouble at night you might have to walk 20 miles through sage-choked ravines to get help. It's completely dark now. The headlight of a locomotive flickers in the distance. Then I see it. Black Thunder, lit up like an airport, appears on the horizon. Lights and buildings sprawl for a mile. I pull up to the main entrance road and get out. Steam rises into the cool October air. I hear the tak-tak-tak of diesel engines. Pairs of headlights bounce along unseen roads like fireflies. 
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