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Posts:
1
Registered:
7/30/06
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(1 of 5)
Jul 30, 2006 2:09 AM
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A recent program detailed findinding and recovering an origional Bucyrus coal/wood burning steam shovel abandoned at an old Colorado mineb using compressed air for steam to activate the old machine and walk/drag it back up the mountain to an access road where it could be disassembled and trucked back to a town where it could be rebuilt and put to use again as a living history exhibit.
I was interested because I remember my Dad talking about working his way through college in the depression with various jobs one of whoch was construction involving lubricating and crewing an actual coal burning steam shovel.
During the program the statement was made that this steam shovel was the only one known to still exist in the US, the others all having been wrecked or salvaged for scrap during WWII.
Actually, there is at least one more in exhistence. In a public park by the river in Fairbanks Alaska there stands an old coal/wood burning shovel with a plaque on it stating that it was built to work on the Panama canal and was later moved to Alaska and used in mining and eventually moved to the park as an exhibit that children can play on. So if anyone is interested in seeing an actual steam shovel just get a ticket to Fairbanks.
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Posts:
15,405
Registered:
7/22/05
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(2 of 5)
Aug 1, 2006 6:05 AM
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Hummer: Thanks for the tease. Welcome to the Boards! How about attaching a photo of this beauty for us "down by the riverside", so we can all enjoy it?
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Posts:
2
From:
san antonio
Registered:
4/22/07
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(3 of 5)
Apr 22, 2007 1:02 PM
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They did not say she was the sole steam shovel left. They said she was the very last one left built for and sent to build the Panama Canal. Some spacific model, one of 6 or 8 built for this spacific purpose. Quite a find and I was glad to see them get her moved off the mountain and hopefully properly restored.
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Posts:
1
From:
Kahalu`u, O`ahu, Hawaii
Registered:
4/27/08
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(4 of 5)
Apr 27, 2008 6:29 PM
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It's good to know there are others like myself out there
who love historical heavy equipment. Steam shovels were
used here in the islands by the sugar companies to get the road beds in. There's 1-in Campbell Industrial Park I heard of in an abandonded quarry, trying to see if my union Operating Engineers Local 3 would like to restore it as a trainer and exhibit.
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Edited by "Uncle Welda" at 04/27/2008 6:31 PM
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Posts:
45
From:
TACOMA WA.
Registered:
12/29/08
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(5 of 5)
Oct 6, 2009 6:38 AM
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HELLO; UNCLE WELDA, I'm a brother of yours, I'm GREASY from LOCAL-302 and I to would like to see the halls refurbish some of these old pieces of iron,I spotted an old AUSTIN-WESTERN blade and told our training trust about it and that it would look great at our training site, but to no avail they couldn't be bothered or what ever, it wouldn't take much we have the low bed to haul and the mechanics to set it up. To bad I cant get some of the hands to help on this idea. By the way we have a small shovel at our site set up on display, I don't know the brand but it might load out 1yd. it might be an old MARION, I still have keys for a BUCIRUS-ERIE I operated years ago at a pit.
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