These are notes that I am writing to help me learn our industrial history. They are my best understanding, but that does not mean they are a correct understanding.
CSX Atlanta & West Point Route (A&WP Subdivision), West Point, GA.134 car long CSX Q619-28 (Hamlet, NC - New Orleans, LA Manifest) crosses the Chattahoochee River Bridge with CSX Yn2 AC4400CW 289 & CSX Yn2 ES44AC 759.
The ComEd building is now called the Gaitan Building, and it was built in 1925 and has the following real-estate description:
150,000 sf Industrial bldg, all concrete and brick construction, 3 stories, full basement, drive in doors, loading dock, 2 side yards, alley, central location to Chicago skyway and Dan Ryan expressways, 5 blocks to University of Chicago Campus, needs total rehab, short window of availability, no inspections or reports, buy as is! a deal at twice the price!!! (LoopNet)
That web page also mentioned that it has a clear ceiling height of 35 feet. So it sounds like it is really has one very high story. That is, the building is hallow inside. That makes sense for substation use. And many erecting shops are like that with a travelling crane overhead.
This substation is not near public roads. But on may way home I passed one that was near roads and none of that equipment was covered either. I remember that I stopped to take pictures, but I can't find them. However, it is big enough that a satellite image is probably a better view anyhow.
National Group posted Team work makes the dream work! One of our new Hitachi EX5600 diggers and Caterpillar 793D Dump Trucks operating side by side at a BHP site in the Bowen Basin.
It is interesting to see how much the equipment has evolved.
Dale C. Stewart posted 1931 Construction site [The comments conclude that loaded trucks have not moved out because this was a staged photo. One comment noted that some of the drivers are looking at the camera. The crane is a Northwest. I have never heard of that brand.]
Is it crocodiles that allow birds to clean their teeth? This reminds me of that.
Joe Dockrill shared Sean WilliamJackpine oil sands project. Those big shovels are a ton of fun to run. Michael Duggan(Best Steve Erwin voice) Isn't it amazing the tender care the mommas give their babies!
The moves of mining equipment below would be from a played out mine to a nearby new mine. The equipment is originally built from parts shipped in quite a few railcars or 18-wheelers. When I took a tour in Caterpillars visitor center in Peoria, IL, the guide mentioned the number of railcars needed to ship the parts for a big haul truck, but of course I can no longer remember what that number was.
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But first, at the small (old) end of the scale was a dragline and a crane with a clamshell attachment putting on a demonstration at the SCRAP annual Labor Day antique tractor show. A video of a Type 8 Erie steam shovel in action. The dump truck is an antique also.
Anders Eriksson posted two photos of an Akerman 751. His comment provides a time frame for when hydraulic power replaced cable power: "A one yard, 25 tonne machine of late sixties vintage. The very last traditional ropeshovel made by Åkerman."
This is the first time I have seen rails put on a flatcar so that the excavator can roll back and forth. This allows it to clear a section of track before the train has to be moved again.
Osgood Steam Shovel at work on the Chicago main drainage channel. Just some of the machinery used and methods of work adopted in excavating the 28-mile drainage canal from Chicago to Lockport. What they learned here, they used digging the Panama Canal.
The "drainage channel" the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. It reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that Chicago people did not have to drink their own sewage. (Instead, Illinois River towns could drink it.) This not only was the state-of-art in the late 1900s, it pushed the state-of-art.
The dredging of the Chicago River, in the process of reversing it's flow, 1899. (from "The Lost Panoramas)
Allison Hirsch ForeThis is a glass plate negative by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago that was used with permission in the book. The description for this photo is: Three men pose on a dipper dredge bucket on October 16, 1899, during construction of a bypass channel on the South Branch between Van Buren St. and Adams St. The bypass channel was built to widen and deepen the river so that it could convey the required flow for the soon-to-open Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. George KalogerasI do believe some of the concrete frame work is still in the river south of Van Buren.
Here is a pic of JENNY she is a old Bucyrus that operated at Iron Knob South Australia.
The old girl was introduced in the mid 30s an ran for 38 years before being placed on top of the Iron Monarch lookout as a souvenir o the mining past. The old girl pulled just shy of a million tonnes per year.
A few years ago she was bought back down s a cutback could be done and then returned to its rightful place at the top of the hill.
Note that the dump bed was removed for this move by two trucks. Imagine how carefully the drivers have to coordinate their driving. Later, I found a picture of dump beds being moved. (Update: a video of dual truck driving.)
The above move must have been for a very shot distance. I assume that they normally do more disassembly so that they can be hauled by several singleton trucks.
A video of moving a front loader. Note that it is a big move even though the cab, bucket, and tires have been removed. Another video of a front loader being moved. At 0:07 you can clearly see that the wheels under the trailer turn more the further away they are from the back of the trailer.
Tony Bratcher posted
I thought this was a neat picture to share, we always had 777 at any of the mines I worked at, here's one next to Cat's biggest truck the 797. Troy Bratcher I believe that 797 would haul that 777 lol. Ricky Cates After driving one of the big trucks Troy, the 777 feels like a gocart.
Troy Bratcher commented on his posting
These are models but built to scale, 797, 785 and 773. Harvey AnkromTroy Bratcher 789 was 195 Ton if i remember correctly.
Tod Riebow posted Machinery Planet posted a different exposure
Machinery Planet posted Terex Titan Chris Hogg: It’s a Euclid…..just sayin. [Sounds like Euclid got bought by Terex. Or did they steal a design?] Keith OFarrell: I remember seeing that as a kid 40 some years ago. Cool they restored it. It was the biggest back then. Hugues Danjou: Only 3 machines built with this name Titan. Larry Lane: Loaded this truck back in the 70s when it was at Kaiser steel iron ore mine.From eagle mountain it was sent to Canada. [Satellite]
Tim Swaren posted I'm sure some of you must remember the old tv series, Movin' On, about two truckers, Sonny Pruitt and Will Chambers, getting into adventures as they travel across the country in their Kenworth. It aired for 2 seasons from 1974 to 1976. Anyway, recently I came across some old episodes of the show and in one of them, Sonny and Will are in Las Vegas and they are at ConExpo! They are walking around looking at displays and there in the background is the Terex Titan 33-19 dump truck! The biggest truck in the world at that time. I thought that was kinda cool to see. Don Kesterson: This one is parked in the Sparwood, BC at the Shopping Centre Jim Kratzer: Don Kesterson it’s the only one of that model Terex built. Glen Zed: Actually drove that truck a few times back in the 70’s when it was still operating at Kaiser Resources/BC Coal ltd.
Mike Luchia, Jul 2020 [When I read the "Electric Drive System" facts, I wondered if they repurposed the technology of GM's EMD Locomotive division. The last paragraph confirms that they did.]
This gives new meaning to the term "18-wheeler." Note the four exhaust stacks.
Machinery Planet posted Western Contracting's 750hp 150 ton Euclid hauler
Legendary Machinery posted Daymora Beecham: Keep in mind, this is what’s used to mine your electric car batteries. Lawrence Luchini: Take this size load to make a electric car run. Carlos McGary: Imagine when one of the inner tires go flat
Jason Jordan shared
[The bigger they are, the harder they fall.]
The big dump trucks have tires about twice as tall as a person. And I noticed the big front loaders had some pretty big tires. I always wondered who made those tires --- Firestone, Goodyear, Bridgstone, etc. I learned from a train video's comments that Cat evidently makes them in their own plant in Peoria, IL.
Ashok Kumar posted
[In Netherland they took a big haul through a town. Actually, it is a big haul design, but it is not very big. Note that there are not very many steps needed to get to the cab, and the cab is big compared to the rest of the truck.]
Quinn Lickman posted three photos with the comment: "Coteau heavyweights. Kress CH300 and Dart 190 ton bottom dump. Photos by Michael Hubert."
Quinn Lickman posted in a related group with the same comment.
Jack Pippenger: Remember them well. I did the evaluations to purchase both.
Jay Wilson: Jack Pippenger How did the Kress haulers work out ?? Was there any steering problems ??
Jack Pippenger: They were a higher maintenance hauler but still comparable in cost per/ton-mile.
Falkirk had 160 ton units. We worked with Kress and Cat to build the 300 tonners. Had issues with transmissions early on running the higher speeds. And lot of electrical issues.
We put a focus team on it and ironed them out 1 by 1 until got the haulers availability up and cost down. They could haul about 3 times the tons per hour of the Darts due to higher ton capacity, speeds and better maneuvering.
Also had some Cat 270 ton haulers with 788 tractors but think they are gone now.
I think Coteau also went to a smaller Kress (220 ton?) when Cat quit supplying the drive train. Would have to talk to someone at Coteau to verify that.
Rob Link: Jack Pippenger I remember Sam Bishop and his side kick flying in there little plane landing on haul road we would pick them up and they would do repair
They had a woman in there parts dept that was aways good to deal with
Ralph Kress died Then his son Ted took over don’t know who is heading it up now
Rob Link: Arch had S/N 1 thru 6 and Consol next door had 7 and 8 that was back in early 70s
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Nick Koba Jr. commented on Quinn's post here is the biggest Kress 250tons , it could be driven from either end
Wayne Calder posted A Dart haul truck being loaded by a BE 195B at Arch Coal Company.
Peter Hofmann commented on Wayne's post I have a photo from Michael Davis Collection that shows both equipment, Bucyrus 155-B with Rimpull coal hauler. It seems to be these are the right ones.
Wayne Calder posted in Mine Trucks with Trailers A Bucyrus 550B loads a Cat 660 with a 100 ton Athey PH660 coal hauler at the Rosebud Mine in Colstrip. The rig measured 61 ft. [18.6m] in overall length.
Jay Wilson: B-E with s left side cab ! Is that a 1050B stripping ahead ??
Tim Swaren commented on Jay's comment It is. Here's a better view of the 1050-B. Beautiful-looking shovel. Pic is from Michael Davis' collection.
Nate Nowak: Special coal hauler made for Captain Mine, [diesel-]electric drive
Tim Swaren: The Cat 786. 240 ton hauler. It had two cabs and two engines, one at each end. It was designed that way so it never had to turn around in the pit. There were only 5 built. The one pictured is actually the 1965 prototype unit which had the engines located behind the cabs. The 4 production units had the engines re-located below and in front of the cabs.
David Perardi: In 1976, that truck was painted red, white and blue in celebration of America’s bicentennial. Guido Ogolini, a World War 2 veteran, was the driver.
Marc Lauzon: We had a fleet of those at Consol BS 2. I sure do remember those screaming Detroits.
William McKinney: Yeap , I remember those and back in the 70s we had the old KW Dart 120 ton haul truck,
Big Engine posted Wow! very interesting dump truck! [Several comments said it is not a dump truck, it is a belly dump.] Michael Jaramillo: It's a coal hauler. [Coal is lighter than dirt or rock.]
Cat 789 bottom dump in North Dakota in the 1990s. Photo by
Michael Hubert..
Comments on Quinn's post
Larry Joe Jenkel posted Rick Martin: I believe there were only 5 of those built and when they ran out of factory’s parts they cannibalized the rest till they were all gone. Ralph Miller: Rick Martin then buried them
Engineering World: "The Biggest Truck in the World..." The Komatsu 960E is an off-highway, ultra-class, rigid-frame, two-axle, diesel/AC electric powertrain haul truck designed and manufactured by Komatsu America Corp. in Peoria, Illinois, United States. The 960E is Komatsu’s largest, highest capacity haul truck, offering a payload capacity of up to 327 tons. The truck is powered by a four cycle diesel engine with 18 V-type cylinders. The power output of the engine is 3,500HP.
This now claims the be the largest in the world:
(new window) (source) This video makes you glad that you can move the slider to skip a lot of the beeping and other boring parts. It appears that a tire is about twice as tall as a man.
Did the stick of the shovel accidentally fall down on the end of the dump bed?
These moves of mining equipment would be from a played out mine to a nearby new mine. The equipment is originally built from parts shipped in quite a few railcars or 18-wheelers. When I took a tour in Caterpillars visitor center in Peoria, IL, the guide mentioned the number of railcars needed to ship the parts for a big haul truck, but of course I can no longer remember what that number was.
There appears to be a part of the boom laid crosswise in front ob the background track. Note that there looks like there is a boom laid crosswise in front of the background track. This view of a P&H shows that they have a boom that olds the bucket. But if you look above the left side of the cab, you can see that that boom is still attached to this unit. Maybe they are carrying a boom for another unit that is also being moved.
Dan Mackey has a Flickr Album that shows a shovel being disassembled into parts that will fit on railroad flatcars. Note that some of the flat cars have 3-axle, instead of the usual 2-axle, trucks to carry a heavier than normal load. And the turret's depressed well has a bolster at each end so that the load is spread over two trucks so the car has a total of 8 axles.
I was surprised by the number of hydraulic hoses going between the cab and the boom. The the following photo provided part of the answer. These big units use two hydraulic rams for each degree-of-movement.
The depressed well increases the vertical clearance to carry exceptionally high loads. I didn't note any parts that look like the bucket. I wonder how that was moved.
Even just the boom of one of this cranes is a big load.
With lots of horsepower comes lots of responsibility. What really blew my mind is that once the truck was torn apart, the trailer rolled further to the left into the bog. What did they hook the chain to --- the radiator instead of the truck frame?
A video of a big excavator and several heavy haul trucks moving dirt. At the end it shows "Liebherr Mining Power." I was worried that Cat has bought enough companies (e.g. Bucyrus-Erie, Marion) that they have a monopoly. They probably do have a monopoly in America, but at least there is global competition.
The biggest hydraulic excavator in the world, the Bucyrus RH400 is a front-shovel excavator weighing approximately 889 tons. Its shovel can hold 45 cubic meter of earth in a single scoop. The RH400 is the inspiration behind Decepticon Demolishor in the 2009 movie “Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.”
Since the bucket is removed, I don't know if this is an excavator or a shovel.
John W. Coke posted
515-TON SHOVEL relocation from the Syncrude Aurora to the Kearl Lake Oil Sands Project in Canada.
A Feb. 5, 2016 video whose title claims the Hatachi EX8000 is the largest in the world. The comments indicate that, once again, it is hard to claim the world's largest of anything.
(new window) This Cat 6015B shovel is "only" 10.3 yd3, but I include the video because it shows the attachment on a service truck that helps shove the pins into place during assembly. And it shows that just the bucket is a good sized load for a truck. It also shows that it takes some skill to empty a bucket load into a truck because this operator hasn't developed it yet.
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