Marion Steam Shovel (Le Roy, New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Marion Steam Shovel
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South view of shovel in 2010
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | Le Roy, NY |
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| Area | 0.1 acres (0.04 ha) |
| Built | 1911 |
| Architect | Marion Steam Shovel Co. |
| NRHP reference No. | 08000038 |
| Added to NRHP | February 22, 2008 |
The Marion Steam Shovel, also called the Le Roy Steam Shovel, is a huge, old machine. It's a Model 91 steam shovel made by the Marion Power Shovel Company in Ohio. You can find it on Gulf Road in Le Roy, New York, in the United States.
This shovel shows the amazing technology from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Back then, people needed lots of crushed stone. This stone was used to build the huge American railroad network. Later, it was used for building roads. This Marion Steam Shovel is thought to be the biggest working steam shovel left in the world. Some people even believe it helped dig the famous Panama Canal! It doesn't work anymore. It was moved to its current spot in the middle of the 1900s. The town of Le Roy now owns it. In 2008, it became the first steam shovel ever listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a very important historical item.
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What Does the Marion Steam Shovel Look Like?
The giant shovel is on the north side of Gulf Road. It's about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the village of Le Roy. It sits across from the Hanson Company's limestone quarry. The shovel is in a field behind a locked fence. You can pull over on the road to get a good look at it.
Even though its original paint has faded, you can still see the "Marion" name on the shovel. The model number plates are gone, but the patent plate is still there. This huge machine weighs about 105 short tons (95 tonnes).
Main Body and Engines
The main part of the shovel is as big as a railroad boxcar. It's 18 feet (5.5 m) wide and 42 feet (13 m) long. It has a rounded roof and sides made of riveted sheet metal, which is now rusty. The operator's cab, where someone would control the shovel, is at the front. Most of the main section holds the shovel's three steam engines. It also has a large boiler that is 5 by 15 feet (1.5 by 4.6 m). The boiler used to make the steam, but it doesn't work anymore. A plate on its door shows the number 5304. A coal bin, 8 feet (2.4 m) long, was added to the back later on.
The shovel sits on two pairs of caterpillar tracks. One pair is at the front on a wide outrigger. The other pair is in the middle. These tracks allowed the shovel to move around.
The biggest engine is the hoisting engine. It's a double-cylinder engine. It powered the hoist, which lifted the shovel's bucket. This engine also helped the shovel move itself. It could go as fast as 1/4 mile per hour (0.4 km/h)! About 50 feet (15 m) of the hoist chain is now missing.
Other Engines and the Bucket
The other two engines are smaller. The swing engine moved the shovel's arm, called the boom, from side to side. The boom or crowd engine raised and lowered the dipper, which is the shovel's bucket. Because this engine was outside, it's not working anymore due to the weather. The other two engines were inside the main part. This protected them from the weather. They could even be run using compressed air.
At the front of the shovel is the outrigger. It has two arms connected by gears and chains to the engines. At the very end of the outrigger is the bucket. This bucket could hold 2.5 cubic yards (1.9 m³) of material. You can still see a small pile of rocks underneath it.
History of the Marion Steam Shovel
How the Company Started
The Marion Power Shovel Company began in the 1880s. It was started by an inventor named Henry Barnhart and a businessman named Edward Huber. Henry Barnhart used to operate shovels. He got frustrated when they kept breaking down. So, he designed a new, stronger shovel. He got a patent for his idea in 1883. The next year, they teamed up with another businessman, George King. Together, they started the company in Marion, Ohio. Over the years, it grew into a huge company that made construction equipment.
Why Steam Shovels Were So Important
Steam shovels were in high demand. This was because the country needed a lot of crushed stone. This stone was used as ballast for the nation's railroad tracks. In the early 1900s, even more stone was needed. Roads started to be covered with gravel and pavement for cars.
Le Roy, New York, was a great place for limestone quarrying. It sits on top of a 150-foot (46 m) layer of limestone. Since the early 1800s, Le Roy has had several quarrying businesses. Most of the limestone was used for building. Many buildings in the Le Roy area, like the Lathrop Chapel at Machpelah Cemetery, are made from local limestone.
The General Crushed Stone Company
The company that eventually became the General Crushed Stone Company started in 1899. They took over the quarry operations in Le Roy. After some changes, it became General Crushed Stone in 1902. Their main office was in Pennsylvania.
The company's president, James Madison Porter, bought new equipment for their quarries. This included what was then the world's largest rock crusher. The company started making construction aggregate, which is a mix of crushed stone used for roads. By 1906, they had contracts for 500,000 short tons (450,000 tonnes) of stone each year. Most of this stone was bought by the railroad. The Le Roy quarry alone produced 2,000 short tons (1,800 tonnes) of stone every day!
The Shovel's Story and the Panama Canal
On March 14, 1906, the local newspaper, the Le Roy Gazette, wrote about the new equipment. It mentioned a "100-ton steam shovel" made for General Crushed Stone. We don't know for sure if this is the same shovel we see today. A photo from 1932 shows two such shovels working in the quarry. The newspaper said the bucket held 5 cubic yards (3.8 m³), which is twice as much as the current shovel's bucket. But the shovel was changed a lot over time, so a smaller bucket might have been added.
The company always said that this shovel was one of two bought in 1911. They supposedly came from the Isthmian Canal Commission, which had just finished building the Panama Canal. We haven't found documents to prove this yet. But it's possible! This shovel is one of 131 Model 91s that Marion made in the early 1900s. Sixteen of these shovels were bought by the commission and used to dig the canal. One of them even set a world record in 1912! It dug 5,554 cubic yards (4,246 m³) of earth in one day. The model plates are gone from the Le Roy shovel. But its size matches Marion's old records for the Model 91. No other Model 91 shovels are known to still exist.
How the Shovel Was Operated
The Model 91 needed eight workers to operate it. Four workers were inside the main part of the shovel. The operator sat in the front booth. They used levers to move the hoist and lift or lower the bucket. When it was time to move the shovel, they did that too. A cranesman sat on the left side of the boom. They controlled the crowd engine, which set how deep the shovel dug. They also released the bucket's contents by pulling a wire rope. In the back, an engineer took care of the boiler. A fireman shoveled coal to keep the steam going.
Outside the shovel, a crew of four workers laid and picked up the tracks. The shovel's wheels moved along these tracks. They also set up jackscrews to keep the shovel steady when it was digging. Then they took them down when it was time to move. This part of the work took a lot of time and effort. It was also dangerous for such a big machine. In 1916, Marion started selling kits to change the shovels to caterpillar treads. This made them easier to move. Seven years later, the General Crushed Stone shovels were changed to use these treads.
Later Years and Today
The Model 91 was used at the Le Roy quarry through the 1930s. Newer diesel-powered machines slowly replaced it. Before World War II, its original wooden sides were replaced with the metal ones you see today. It was still used during the war and avoided being melted down for scrap metal. In 1949, it was taken out of service. It was then moved to where it sits now.
In the early 1960s, the Town of Le Roy bought the land where the steam shovel is. The quarry across the road is still working today. It's now owned by Dolomite (CRH Americas Materials). They even gave the stone for the pull-off area so people can easily view the shovel.
Research is still ongoing to find out if this shovel truly was used to dig the Panama Canal.
Images for kids
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Shovel with treads visible
