The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) didn’t buy land along its tracks, so independent companies and investors took over coal lands in the New and Kanawha valleys. These early coal operators, such as Joseph Beury and John Nutall, hired skilled managers. In contrast, the Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W) bought huge amounts of land in the Pocahontas and Flat Top coalfields and leased it to miners. Many of these miners started with little money but lots of hard work and risk, like John Freeman and Jenkin Jones, who began in Mercer County with just basic tools.