The tipples constructed here were designed to serve all the Reliance coal mines, which Union Pacific Coal Company opened in phases east of here along the sides of the valley. Coal was hauled to the surface from the mine portals by either electric locomotives or hoists, then shipped from the portal over a tramway to the tipple, with the No. 7 mine portal about 1.2 miles away. Inside the tipple, coal cars were set on a rotary dump, fastened down, rolled over, and emptied into a coal hopper. From the hopper, conveyors moved the coal to a shaker screen that sorted it by size, after which it fell through screens into a chute leading to the picking tables. There, men, boys, and later women sorted through the coal for stones and checked its size, while good coal was loaded into waiting rail cars and stone and refuse were conveyed outside into a refuse bin. The tipple constructed in 1936 at a cost of $232,700 was designed to be a model of efficiency.