Click to play music.



Draglines-A Second Chance!
A Web Page By j. r. durham
9/19/19.



An Old Dragline!
blank.gif
Sitting Alone In A Park Somewhere!




Draglines!
Dragline Excavators are expensive. Big draglines Excavators are even more so expensive. Draglines, big and small, have been around since John W. Page invented one in 1904. The earlier draglines were small and used mostly to dig ditches and canals with some being used as dredging in fresh and salt water. Even in 1948 when strip mining was beginning to be felt in Ohio County, the dragline excavators were small, but very necessary for the operation of a strip mine. Once purchased, what then? Draglines, with proper maintenance could work just about non-stop for twenty, twenty-five years or so and then what? There were about three options, but mostly we are talking about a machine that has seen better days. So selling a twenty-five year old draglines may not be one of the best of options. Other than that, most were just stored on site, sort of a dragline graveyard until they could be cut up and torn down for salvage. Not a very pretty picture. For a million dollar dragline, the net worth, once in a graveyard, is only pennies on the dollar.

And then, there is always the possibility of a restoration!

----------------------------





Dragline Restoration!


Coal was King for about fifty years in Ohio and Muhlenberg Counties in Kentucky. This period of time started in the late fifties and ended in the late nineties. In this time frame Ohio County had three or four big mines at one time or other and Muhlenberg County had that many, if not more. Add two or three big underground mines in each county and you can see where a lot of coal was being shipped out. Times were good if your work was coal related. Just prior to the start of the twenty-first century, the recoverable coal, in both counties, was dwindling and EPA was becoming very strict on the output gases and the effluent of the industrial plants, especially the fossil fuel burning power plants that were consuming most of this coal. It seems that in the mid nineteen-seventies, EPA would set certain limits on the contaminates in the flue gases of Fossil Fuel Burning Power Plants and before the power plants could make provisions for meeting those standards, a new set of standards were being mandated. The big coal companies were aware of all of this and could see the handwriting on the wall. They began to diversify. Big King Peabody Coal Company, in particular, could not make enough money for the stockholders interest and "Peabody Energy" stock started a slow trend downward. Soon Peabody Coal Company was out of this area and Patriot Coal Company was formed to continue in Peabody's holdings in this area. Patriot Coal Company just never had a chance and in a few years, they went bankrupt leaving the miners with a mess on retirement and insurance. The end of the twentieth century was not kind to "King Coal".

Some thirty years ago, the gently rolling hills of Ohio And Muhlenberg Counties echoed many a rumble of draglines, scooping up several hundred tons of dirt and rock and then dumping it after swinging the load some 180 degrees or so. Twenty-four hours a day, these machines kept up the reverberations. They were akin to monsters of the past in their enormity and of their ability to move overburden. These machines had to be seen to believe, as no amount of explaining would measure up to their actual size. Some were as large as battleships. Peabody Energy, Pittsburg & Midway (P&M), Badget Brothers, and other mining companies employed a variety of excavators including the walking dragline and the power shovel to remove the overburden so as to expose the many different layers of coal. Over the decades most of the large surface mineable tracts were exploited, and with coal prices and demand for Illinois Basin coal falling throughout the 1990s, one after another, the draglines became extinct. Over time many were scrapped, buried, sent in pieces to other mines, shipped overseas or wherever a home could be found. Eventually just five draglines were left in the area.

After a few years of transition and utilities installing more advanced pollution controls on power plants, the demand for Illinois Basin Coal started to rebound. In the diversification of Peabody, Armstrong Coal Company had a vast reserve of coal from about Midway to Kronos and Rockport to Ceralvo. It also had a smaller reserve near Central City. Some knowledgeable mining people got together with some East Coast financiers and a decision was made to look at those five draglines in this area. Can they be refurbished was the question? One gentleman had the correct answer. "Gentleman, we can rebuild them. We have the capability to rebuild all five draglines. We can make them better than before. We can make them better, stronger, faster." Three Page draglines were refurbished and they were better. One went to Midway Mine and two went to Equality Mine. A BE 770 Dragline was refurbished and it went to Lewis Creek Mines. And so, as one miner stated, "It starts again". This new found wealth lasted about ten years. Today, after a long silence, and sadly to say, the mines have closed and the draglines sat idle once again.

Pictured to the right of this text is the nomenclature of one of the Page Draglines that was restored. The next five pictures below are pictures of Page Draglines that have been restored or were being restored. The next two are pictures of the BE 770 dragline that was restored and worked the Lewis Creek Mine. The last picture is a picture of the BE 770 that has been electronically altered. Hope you enjoyed all.

----------------------------

Hope all of you enjoy looking and reading.



Wishing you the best for the year, 2019..

see you.....
jerry
blank.gif




blank.gif
blank.gif
blank.gif
blank.gif
blank.gif
blank.gif
blank.gif





Return to "Special Page".


Home

:)