Explored with –Raz-
We had put this explore off for months for some reason, however on the way home from checking out how much of Hanson Brick Works was left (NOTHING) we nipped in for a look.
History;
Meet Bucyrus Erie, the whopping 1200 tonne open cast mine walking dragline. Known as “Oddball†the industrial giant could walk, yes walk, at 0.2mph which doesn’t sound fast but when it’s the size of 60 double decker busses and that heavy i'd say that was pretty impressive.
It was originally built and based in Virginia USA where it served for 4 years before being packed up and shipped over to South Wales in 1952. Since then it has been taken apart and rebuilt plenty of times and has made appearances all across the UK until it came to rest in Swillington (St. Aidens mine). It took a few years out of service after an accident in 1988 when the miners dug too close to the river, effectively turning the mine into a giant pond. £20,000,000 later the mine had been drained and the work there was subsequently completed.
In 1999 a group called the “Friends of St. Aidens†restored the dragline with the help of the national lottery and it made its final slug to its current resting place where it now sits as a museum piece and a monument to the great industrial prowess and power of the National Coal Board.
If you got this far, thanks for reading
More on my page @ www.facebook.com/seldomseenworldue
We had put this explore off for months for some reason, however on the way home from checking out how much of Hanson Brick Works was left (NOTHING) we nipped in for a look.
History;
Meet Bucyrus Erie, the whopping 1200 tonne open cast mine walking dragline. Known as “Oddball†the industrial giant could walk, yes walk, at 0.2mph which doesn’t sound fast but when it’s the size of 60 double decker busses and that heavy i'd say that was pretty impressive.
It was originally built and based in Virginia USA where it served for 4 years before being packed up and shipped over to South Wales in 1952. Since then it has been taken apart and rebuilt plenty of times and has made appearances all across the UK until it came to rest in Swillington (St. Aidens mine). It took a few years out of service after an accident in 1988 when the miners dug too close to the river, effectively turning the mine into a giant pond. £20,000,000 later the mine had been drained and the work there was subsequently completed.
In 1999 a group called the “Friends of St. Aidens†restored the dragline with the help of the national lottery and it made its final slug to its current resting place where it now sits as a museum piece and a monument to the great industrial prowess and power of the National Coal Board.
If you got this far, thanks for reading
More on my page @ www.facebook.com/seldomseenworldue
