Among the many problems with forcibly peeling resources out of the earth is that, once they're gone, all you've got left is a gigantic hole in the ground (cf. the Mirny diamond mine, which functionally has its own weather patterns). For dozens of poverty-stricken towns across Appalachia, the old coal mines that used to provide economic livelihood have long since been tapped out.
One town in Kentucky, though, is determined to turn their old mine into an economically viable tourist attraction. It's not as chichi as Sweden's luxury silver mine boutique hotel, but in fairness to the Kentucky folks they haven't had since the Middle Ages to dig it out.
The renovated coal mine in Lynch, Kentucky takes passengers on a railcar tour that begins by plunging tourists into the darkness of the mine shaft. From there they go through each of eight different stops with narrations throughout. Each stop is supposed to represent some significant era of the mine's development and the exhibits are populated by animatronic robots of old Italian workers speaking broken, accent-laced English. Thereby confirming Jaunted tourist attraction rule #72 - if you're going to go for kitsch, go big. There's even a mule involved:]]>