The C&O Railway's main line made Nuttallburg possible by carrying coal to market and enabling coal mining in New River Gorge. John Nuttall came here in 1870 to explore mining possibilities only after learning that the C&O planned to build its railroad through the gorge. New River coal was highly prized for its high carbon content and little waste, and coal from Nuttallburg heated homes and fueled iron furnaces, train engines, and factories throughout the East. Because it emitted little smoke, the U.S. Navy valued it as ship fuel, since enemy submarines were less likely to spot ships with little smoke. The availability of rail cars could control a mine's production, and at times output at Nuttallburg fell because of car shortages, shortening miners' work weeks and hurting men who were paid by the amount of coal mined. Railroad cars were apportioned according to each mine's productive capacity, with never enough to satisfy all.