Beloit, WI: Fairbanks Morse Marine and Power Engines

(Satellite)

Notes on the locomotives that they built are in a separate post. They have been making gensets for decades.

David Daruszka commented on a post
Beloit was the location of locomotive factory.

St. Joseph County Historical Society of Michigan posted

The History of Three Rivers, Michigan

By Katherine Langworthy

PART THIRTY-EIGHT

Fairbanks Morse became a stockholder around the turn of the century and in 1918 they consolidated. Employing well over 1000 people the plant continued to expand and became world famous for the various cars. They were not only for railroads but for lumbering and mines as well. There is a fine collection of pictures at the Silliman Museum that may interest some of you.

Fairbanks Morse sponsored the Morsemen, a semi-pro baseball team, and built a large playing field on the southern side of 14t Street. They had a big marching band of employees and had huge company picnics and barbeques. They also straightened out the river where it curved in toward Fourth Street gaining 26 acres of land. They were very civic-minded company. Mr. Linsley was involved with the company for many years.

When Fairbanks Morse moved out of Three Rivers in the 1960’s Essex Wire occupied the west site on Fourth Street and Continental Can the east side. Today Central Manufacturing Services (CMS) occupies the old Sheffield office and the factory buildings and the brick pillars on the west side are all gone. This is where it all started with George Buck in the Tavern/Inn and the ferry across the river.

Lake States Railway Historical Association posted
From the FM collection plant view of nose and cab assembly line in Beloit, WI--no date.
If you enjoy the photos and what Lake States is accomplishing, consider joining Lake States or making a donation, or both, https://www.lsrha.org/?page_id=135.
Ned Carlson: Building C-Liners
Lake States Railway Historical Association shared

Note that only some of the buildings are still being used. There is still rail service from the north.

Satellite

In fact, they seem to have just the long building along Park Ave. And it is a rather modern looking building.

Street View

Lukas Irons posted the comment: "A blurb popped up on the Northern Illinois facebook group and it got me intrigued. The post said that UP was switching a Fairbanks Morse Plant in Rockford illinois so i opened up google maps out of curiosity. I noticed a cluster of buildings with spurs leading to them from a spur on the west side of town, what products are shipped to/from here. Also the poster indicated the CP local is still bringing in at least 30 cars to Rockford."
Steve Nichols For the past few years, they’ve been “busy” building engines for the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship program.
Nothing comes inbound via rail. Outbound engine loads have picked up since gaining this recent Navy order, but it is still rare and inconsistent. Maybe a heavy duty car every few months.
David Jordan I shot this Union Pacific MPRNL at Sullivan, Ilinois April 20, 2019. The 53rd car was shipped from F-M.
https://youtu.be/KnW-XdrURQQ

Michael Schwiebert https://www.fairbanksmorse.com/about-us
As Steve said, their primary business is with the US Navy. Not only do many US Navy ships have F-M Diesels as their primary power, they are also used as backup power on Nuclear Subs & Nuclear powered aircraft carriers.
Dennis DeBruler The Northern Illinois poster must have lost track of where he was along the Rock River because FM is in Beloit, WI, not Rockford.
https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...
I noticed that C&NW abandoned their route north of Beloit and UP abandoned the C&NW route south of Beloit, but UP owns the Milwaukee route east of town between their C&NW route through Clinton, WI and Beloit.

Dennis DeBruler commented on David's comment

FM-about-us
[Judging by the access hatches, this is an opposed piston engine.]

They have upgraded their opposed-piston engine.

FM-products

FM | TRIDENT OP^®

Engineered to endure, the Trident OP is the next-generation engine that answers the need for higher-efficiency power in a wide range of applications.

[I remember previously seeing an ALCO engine on the products page. I don't see ALCO in 2020. Perhaps they didn't bother to redesign it for Tier 4 emissions.]

The following was moved here from morse-generator.

If you get bored watching, skip to near the end because it is interesting how long it takes the flywheels to slow down to a stop. Given that it is about a second between "pops," it does need a lot of flywheel inertia. (source)

Screenshot

Screenshot @-0:30
When the Fairbanks Morse Company was first formed in 1823 it wasn’t gasoline engines it was building, but platform scales. The company got into the engine business in the late 1890s and became one of the most popular and successful gasoline engine and then diesel engine manufactures. This 15-25 (15 horsepower on the drawbar and 25 on the belt) was the company's first venture into traction engines and was designed around their 25 horsepower gasoline engine. By 1915 the company was out of the tractor business, but continued to sell tractors built by other manufactures under the Fair-Mor name.

William Brown posted
From the J Quinn Collection, Milwaukee Road Erie Built 22A leads a Commuter Train. No location, date or photographer on photo. The Erie Builds were named for where they were assembled Erie, PA by GE. The technology belonged to Fairbanks Morse, but GE built them. 22A was a 2000 HP locomotive built in September 1947 at a cost of $197,023/Unit. Used on the Olympian Hiawatha . In 1950 they were replaced by FP7s on the Olympian Hiawatha. In 1954 they were assigned to the Western Avenue Passenger Pool. They worked both Chicago Commuters and trains west through to Council Bluffs, Sioux City and Sioux Falls. The 22A was renumbered 14A. Retired in the first half of 1963 for Trade In to EMD on GP30s. This picture is from before the 1959 renumbering.
Charles Berthold The motive power was from F-M in Beloit.

I'm happy to report that Fairbanks-Morse is still making diesel engines. They power the largest 
Laker on the Great Lakes.

Fairbanks Morse Engine posted
We're honored to announce our latest contract with the United States Navy! Fairbanks Morse will be providing four sequentially turbocharged 16-cylinder Colt-Pielstick PC 2.5 diesel engines that will power LPD 29, a San Antonio-class ship. Read our press release to learn more: http://bit.ly/2CP8KkD
Mitch Williams Had the 38f 5 1/4 on the Nashville. Good engine but could never put an keep a good load on it. Rings never seated and it slung oil on start-up
Shaun Higley There was Fairbanks Morse engines on the John F. Kennedy

And a 50-year old U.S. Coast Guard 278-foot high endurance cutter class ship uses a F-M for 17 knots and a gas turbine for 38 knots.

Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM (source)

They are in Beloit, WI and they still make their OP design and other designs such as ALCO (acquired in 1994 [LocomotivePower]).

safe_image for The History of Fairbanks Morse Engine YouTube Video

Adam Bibeau posted
Giving the diesel some recognition! Old decommissioned 1929 Fairbanks Morse.
Augusta, Kansas
Greg A. Adams: Looks like an early LS Cooper Bessemer just out of frame. Can tell it’s an early one by the BF-44 Elliott turbo. Cooper later developed their own (ET-18) turbo for their larger engines.
David Geoff Morton: Worked DLA and OP Fairbanks. That one is old.

1 of 22 photos posted by David Schauer via Dennis DeBruler
Power for the Barker is provided by two 8,000 bhp V-16 cylinder, four stroke cycle, single acting, turbocharged Colt-Pielstick PC2V diesel engines, built by Fairbanks Morse Engine Division of Colt Industries, Beloit, WI.
The comment on the last photo:
"M/V James R. Barker was the first 1000-foot class vessel constructed entirely on the Great Lakes, where she was built by American Ship Building Company at Lorain, Ohio. The James R. Barker is named for Interlake’s Chairman of the Board and has always been part of the Interlake Steamship fleet."

I wonder where they made the tractors.

Screenshot

Bay City, MI: Pere Marquett Depot

(Satellite)

JA Garfield posted
The Pere Marquette RR Depot, Bay City, Michigan, c.1908. My grandfather, Alger Reason Westcott, was the Station Master in the ‘30s & ‘40s.

JA Garfield commented on his post
Restored. His daughter and my mother, Lee Garfield, is in the lower right.

Street View

Cosmos Mariner, Apr 2019

The PM tracks used to do street running through town on Jefferson Street with a fanout for the station tracks where the police station is now located.

1919 Bay City Quadrangle @ 1:62,500

The tracks left the street for a block between 14th and Columbus Ave where the angle of the street grid changed.

RR Aban Map

The landscar of a building with a west wall on a strange angle still exists.

Satellite plus Paint

Fortunately, the waiting room was saved as an "event space." The station's platform tracks occupied land that now provides parking space for the events.

Charles Campbell, May 2019

Lockwood, MO: Frisco Wood and Concrete Coaling Towers

(Satellite, long gone)

In 1954, the 50-ton coaling tower that was built in 1946 was torn down.

Screenshot
August 1954 demolition of Frisco RR coal chute in Lockwood, MO. Now BNSF. Film credit Hubert Nieman, digitized and shared by Jerry Nieman.

Kristi Miller commented on her post
FYI-the predecessor for this one was surveyed in 1902 and built between then and 1905. Was dismantled in 1946 to be replaced by the one in the video. Lockwood was named after the first general passenger agent of the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis RR (later Frisco and now BNSF).

Even though they dug a pit for it to fall into, it still fouled the track. At least there was a lot less on the track to remove than the Rock Island had in Morris, IL.

Another Screenshot

Lowder, IL: CHS Grain Elevator

(Satellite)

Mark Mcclure posted four photos with the comment: "CHS elevator at Lowder Illinois."

1

2
[A steel bolted bin.]

3

4

Dennis DeBruler commented on Marc's post
That is one of those Illinois towns were the volume of grain storage might exceed the volume of housing. (I used to say the number of bins exceeded the number of houses. But given the size of some of those bins, I had to change the metric.)
The elevator is served by BNSF/CB&Q.
https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...

Dennis DeBruler commented on Marc's post
What are the six tank cars delivering? Fertilizer and/or herbicide and/or pesticide?
https://www.google.com/.../@39.5524368,-89.../data=!3m1!1e3
Bob Summers Rail roads in our area are storing tank cars that normally carry oil products on sidings wherever they can due to the economic slow down and oil glut.
Dennis DeBruler Bob Summers Interesting. I knew shortlines would store rather long cuts of cars on their tracks. It makes sense that railroads are now desperate enough to store short cuts wherever they can find some room.
Brett Ellis Dennis DeBruler most likely what Bob is saying about storage. I don't think that location has a fertilizer terminal like some do.

Cleburne, TX: Greenbrier/Santa Fe Transfer Table

(Satellite)

Steven J. Brown posted
EMDX SD40-2 6306 (built 1973 as Milwaukee Road 22 to Soo Line 6306, became Escanaba and Lake Superior 501) on the transfer table at the ex-Santa Fe Shops in Cleburne, Texas - Jun 19, 1991.
Eric Sandpaper Sundell is this unit still on the EL&S?

Liam Hoffmann commented on Steven's post
Yup, Still running.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Steven's post
I used Global Earth to find a satellite image that did not have a dark shadow over the transfer table. This is May, 2013. It appears that the table is still intact. Google Map indicates that Greenbrier Rail Services now owns the backshop facilities. Note that the turntable still exists. They use the roundhouse stall tracks for wheelset storage.
https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...

Steven J. Brown posted
Soo Line SD40-2 6306 on the transfer table at the Cleburne TX shops. In a few weeks it will emerge blue and white as EMDX 6306. It now lives as Escanaba and Lake Superior 501. Built in 1973 as Milwaukee Road 22. Cleburne, Texas - June 19, 1991.

Sullivan C: Carlisle, IN: Peabody's Bear Run Coal Mine and B-E 2550+2570

(Flickr; Satellite)

Dragline North: (Satellite, as of Dec 2024)

Dragline South: (Satellite, as of Dec 2024)

The 2570 is known as Old Ben. [Griffin Sr. post below]

PeabodyEnergy
Bear Run Mine began production in 2010 and is the largest surface mine in the eastern United States. 
Bear Run has 240 million tons of provable and probable reserves. 

 

Jim Evans posted
Robert Dyar: 2550 at Bear Run would have it dusted out and idled.

Brian Love commented on a post
I work with her sister [Big Kate] up at bear run

 

Dustin Cox commented on a post

 

Jim Pearson Photography posted
Sitting this morning at bear Run Min at Dugger, Indiana waiting for an Indiana Railroad coal train to start loading.

 

SteelRails posted
On August 26, 2023, the Indiana Railroad's INRD 7004 EMD SD70M locomotive loading a 14-car coal train at the Bear Run Coal Mine in Dugger, Indiana.
Brandon Lee Chattin: The customer they go to can't handle very many at one time we give them to csx at terre haute they give them to the brc and I think they end up in Wisconsin somewhere.
SteelRails shared

Jim Pearson Photography posted

A short Indiana Railroad coal train, EHWBR (Empty Hiawatha to Bear Run) loads at Bear Run Mine, at Dugger, Indiana, on August 26th, 2023. The short load of 14 cars is destined to a customer somewhere in Wisconsin.

According to Wikipedia: The Indiana Railroad (reporting mark INRD) is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles (249 km). This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road’s Indianapolis Subdivision, comprises most of the former IC/ICG line from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois; Illinois Central successor Canadian National Railway retains the portion from Newton to Effingham.

The company was formed in 1986 by entrepreneur Thomas Hoback, who retired as president and chief executive officer in 2015. CSX Transportation now owns a majority interest in the parent company. The company's executive and administrative offices are in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 180.

https://fineartamerica.com/.../indiana-railroad-coal...

Worldwide Railfan Productions shared

B-E 2570

David Owens Flickr

"The dragline began its 18-mile "walk" from Farmersburg Indiana Mine earlier this month.

"The walk will continue 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at a pace of less than one-tenth of a mile an hour, explains a Peabody Energy press release.

"One of the most massive machines in the world, the Bucyrus-Erie 2570-W dragline will cross the countryside and two Indiana state highways during its month-long journey to Bear Run.

"At 13-million pounds, the 2570 weighs more than 150 Boeing 737-700 jetliners. It towers 220-feet high and swings a 335-foot boom with a maximum operating radius of 300 feet, the length of a football field, adds the press release. This boom carries a 115-cubic-yard bucket capable of moving a 335,000 pound payload. The machine sits on a tub spanning 80 feet in diameter and walks with two 'shoes' measuring 72 feet in length by 14 feet in width. The size is necessary to lift and advance the dragline's massive frame.

"To relocate the dragline, a crew of up to 20 staff will support the machine's operators, including maintenance personnel and electricians responsible for the 22,900-volt cabling that powers the dragline's progress.

(new window) Matt Booe posted
Not a good vid. From a cell phone and trying to fly at the same time. But here it is anyway.
Charles Jones I didn't think Peabody wanted them "windmilling" the draglines??????
Matt Booe They do it a lot.
Mitch Rabe Charles Jones they windmill both. I rode on the 2550 while they were doing it.
Charles Jones When I was working at Lynnville Mine, the time study engineer tried to tell me that it was inefficient. Terry Traylor told us dragline operators not to do it. I had to get rid of a lot of mud, so I windmilled with the 1150. We were reopening an old shovel pit that had set there since 1943. The 3rd shift Pit Foreman said I had mud going back 5 to 6 spoils back in the old shovel spoils. Traylor practically lost his mind. Had to get rid of it somehow!!!!! I heard when Peabody Energy open Farmersburg Mine that they discouraged windmilling with the 2570.

Todd Springer commented on Matt's post

The dragline appears to be at the end of a swath.

Satellite

Satellite, full satellite resolution

Since the post talks about a 2550 and a 2570, this second operation must also be part of Bear Run Mine.

Satellite

Both operations are preparing to blast.

Satellite, North

Satellite, South

The mine being opened up in 2010 explains why the railroad to it does not show up in my 2005 SPV Map. Tracing their spur north, it comes off a track just southeast of Dugger, IN. So the mine is served by INRD/IC.

The mine was developed at an estimated cost of $400m, and it is expected to generate $6b in revenue. They have 17 year contracts with a couple of electric companies. "It produces high-sulphur coal from three seams namely Danville No7 and Hymera No5 and No6. The sulphur content varies from 3lb to 6lb." This source says it has two Bucyrus-Erie 2570-W draglines, one of which was moved from the Farmersburg Mine in Oct 2010. [mining-technology]

It produces 8-12 million tons per year. [InIndianaWater] Although those numbers are going down. It produced 6.9mtpy in 2018. [InsideIndianaBusiness]

Photo courtesy of Peabody via InsideIndianaBusiness
Nov 6, 2019: Peabody is laying off 35 workers or 7% of the work force at Bear Run.

Jim Pearson Photography posted

July 21, 2020 - The old and the new sit in contrast to each other at the Bear Run Mine in Dugger, Indiana, as Indiana Railroad locomotive 9011 loads CBRME (Coal Bear Run to Merom Power plant), as it creeps along while picking up another load of coal for the Merom Power Plant outside Sullivan, Indiana.

This Bucyrus-Erie 2570W dragline was used at Peabody’s now closed Hawthorn Mine which todays Bear Run Mine borders. The old Hawthorn Mine was served by Conrail and Soo back in the day.

According to what I've found online at one time Bear Run mine officials said this dragline hasn’t been used in many years, but there are no plans to scrap it. So it is in long term storage on a secure site just in case it is needed again. From the looks of things, I'd say it's doubtful!

Bucyrus-Erie was an American surface and underground mining equipment company. It was founded as Bucyrus Foundry and Manufacturing Company in Bucyrus, Ohio in 1880. Bucyrus moved its headquarters to South Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1893. In 1927, Bucyrus merged with the Erie Steam Shovel Company to form Bucyrus-Erie.

Renamed Bucyrus International, Inc. in 1997, it was purchased by Caterpillar in a $7.6 billion ($8.6 billion including net debt) transaction that closed on July 8, 2011. At the time of its acquisition, the Bucyrus product line included a range of material removal and material handling products used in both surface and underground mining.

Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, Nikkor 70-300 @ 115mm, f/4.8, 1/1250, ISO 110.
Ryan Hubble Thats the newest machine on bear run properties I work on the 2570 and the 2550 that machine is totally gutted last number I heard was 100million to make her swing again i remember when the lowered the boom on this machine
[A strong argument that punctuation helps.]
Bob Smith That dragline is a monster. A shame technology has not figured a way for coal to burn as clean as natural gas. I hate auto correct.
Ward Jeffery What happened to all of that clean coal technology we were promised a decade ago?
Bob Smith Ward Jeffery too costly.
Susan Nichols That thing is huge when you compare the huge size of the locomotive!
Jake Longanecker I remember back in the early 2000’s, there was a dragline moved from towards St Louis (if I’m recalling correctly) to this mining area. I remember at the time, I worked for MCI and we had a fiber optic cable in a decommissioned ammonia pipeline that we had to drop in elevation and stabilize all the ground around where he dragline was going to cross it in order to keep from crushing and cutting the cable. Maybe someone on here might recall things better than I.
Michael Davis That dragline is basically a NAPA parts store for the two draglines running.
Matt Booe It’s pretty much gutted. And it would need a new boom if it was brought back to life. Too many cycles on that one. Several years ago they looked into rebuilding it. The cost would be the same as a new one. The difference being that the new one would be of a Marion type design, so there would be no parts interchangeability between it and the others, and a new one would take a year longer to get. Iirc, at that time they would have rebuilt the old one.
Rick Hood Those are (were) outstanding, amazing machines. Curious how much coal it could scoop up at one time?
Alex Taylor Rick Hood that dragline has a 360' boom and 90-95 cy bucket to dig around 140 tons of rock per bucket.
Ray Bonhomme Yeah used to be junction outside of sandborn Indiana to where the track used to go to the hawthorn mine off the old conrail track and now as Indiana southern track now that goes to the edwardsport power plant!!!

Bob Ciminel shared
Dave Rage A lot of bits have been robbed off that 2570 over the years to keep others going.+
Matt Weyand Dave Rage yes, it’s a “parts” 2570.
Bruce Brown We used to get all sorts of parts off it to keep our two 2570's at narm going. Warehouse stock is not what it used to be these days. No one wants to sit on $20mil+ of inventory anymore.
Dave Rage Matt Weyand I was surprised about the decision to revive the 2550 and not that one when bear run started.
Alex Taylor Bruce Brown I think one or both of the shoes off this dragline were circulated to the other Peabody 2570's.
Jim Shackelford Dave Rage the 2550 cost less than $5MM with the rebuilt tub, the 2570W had a price tag of almost $100MM in 2010 (I helped put the estimate together)
Dave Rage Jim Shackelford wow, big difference! Was that because the 2570 had so many parts missing?!
Jim Shackelford Dave Rage not really. The boom, mast, tub, rack, rails and rollers were all shot. Electrically, there had been some vandalism.
Dave Rage Jim Shackelford never realised that - guess it had a few more hours on it than the 2550 then! Sounds like it is only a matter of time before it is scrapped.
Jim Shackelford Dave Rage No. the 50 started in 1964 and the 70 started in 1979. The 50 got a new boom in 1990 (the mast failed and it all came down). 50 had a tub available from a 2560.
Brandon Lee Those SD90MACs are not exactly new, they where built in the late 90s. They have been retired or rebuilt on the few class one railroads that had them.

 

Jarred Bailey, Feb 2017, cropped

Dale Smith II posted six photos with the comment: "May 14th & 15th 2022. Bear Run Mine, Dugger Indiana."

Ken Fox: Both Draglines started out as AMAX properties. Many years agoooo !

1
2570, north pit
Myron Dudenbostel: Are they broke down, repair job, because the bucket is in the spoil, the drag and hoist ropes are slack?
Alex Taylor: Myron Dudenbostel probably since the back doors on the house are open.
Matt Booe: Alex Taylor door on top is open too to let the crane come out. Must have not been something small.
Jeremy Longest: Myron Dudenbostel It was a swing motor this day I was there. Downtime of 5-6 hours.
Ben McIntosh: Like how they got the 200 shovel in the background. It looks like a baby lol

2
2570, north pit
Ben McIntosh: And there's my little 2800 shovel in the background lol

3
2570, north pit

4
2550, south pit

5
2550, south pit

6
2550, south pit

Mining Mayhem posted, cropped
Cool photo!
Chris Knepp: Looks like Bear Run right outside Carlisle/Dugger IN.
Alex Taylor shared
That's one good-looking 2570!

Chris Stephens commented on Mining Mayhem's post
Taken by me a month ago same machine.

Chris Stephens commented on Mining Mayhem's post
Another view

Nate Nowak commented on Mining Mayhem's post

Mining Photography Archive posted
Peabody Energy Bucyrus Erie 2550W (Bear Run Mine)

 

Kevin Christian posted
Bear Run Mine
Matt Booe: On its way there. About a mile into the trip about to cross IN 48.

 

Kevin Christian posted
Bear Run Mine
Guy Kasper: What size buckets do the draglines have?
Alex Taylor: Guy Kasper 88-90cy buckets on the 2550 in the photo. One is a Esco and the other is a Cat bucket.
In this photo the 2550 is using the older 75cy bucket.
Brett Clem: Still a 2550 and 2570 working at Bear run mine.
AC Cofer: I believe this is one they relocated from one mine to another, taking several weeks to move it.
Matt Booe: AC Cofer not this one. This was the first 2550 built just north of Vicksburg. They worked with it to the west and then south until it was idled for a while. After Bear run started up, it ran in the same area for a while before moving to a pit farther south. The one moved to that mine was the 2570. It came from Farmersburg and from Chinook before that.

I've read before that Indiana doesn't bother to monitor its power plants for heavy metal pollution of waterways. [InIndianaWater] The idea of allowing Bear Run to tear up a country side  that contains arsenic, lead and mercury with no requirements to monitor the downstream waterways hurts my brain.

MSHA-fatality-alert

I noticed that their safety record brags of "8th successive year with a global safety incidence rate below 2.00" [Peabody-brochure] was not specific to this mine. That is because this mine had Fatality #7 in 2018.

On September 7, 2018, a 60-year-old haul truck operator with 1 year of total mining experience was transporting spoil to a dump site when a bulldozer operator saw fire on the truck. The bulldozer operator called the haul truck driver and he stopped the truck. While exiting the truck, the haul truck driver received burns and he was taken to the hospital. He died on September 12, 2018, due to complications from the burns. [MSHA-overview]

I wondered what the scope of "#7" is. Fortunately I found the "Additional Information: This is the seventh fatality reported in calendar year 2018 in the coal mining industry and it is the first classified as Fire. As of this date in 2017, twelve fatalities were reported in the coal mining industry, with none in this classification." [MSHA-fatality-alert]

If I find the time, I'll try to add Global Earth images to these notes. They do show the mine reclaiming the land as the "scar" marches across the country side.

The B-E 2570 travelled a long ways South to get here as it went from mine to mine as the mines played out. I knew that some draglines crossed I-70 in Ohio, but I did not know it was crossed in Indiana.

Michael Childress posted three photos with the comment: "Crossing I-70 Brazil Indiana."

[Apr-May 1994]

Ken Lahmers: Isn't that one of the largest draglines still operating???

Heath Smith: Ken Lahmers largest east of the Mississippi.

Michael Hollingsworth: Isn’t Big Kate bigger? They got her digging again as far as I thought.

Jerry Lacy: Michael Hollingsworth big Kate is the Sam model as this one but I think kate runs a 100 yard bucket on a 300 foot boom. This one has a 115 yard on a 335 foot boom.

Matt Booe: Jerry Lacy I think they are running a 135 on it now

Jim Shackelford: Got to the south side and immediately got stuck. As I understand it, you could step off of the catwalk in front of the operator’s cab onto the ground.

Michael Childress: Jim Shackelford yup

Ken Fox: The operator told the Super that "we can't walk on that stuff, but the Super said were running behind schedule all ready, so just keep going and do the best that you can. So John just kept going, straight on down." I know this because I was there in the cab when it happened.

Michael Hollingsworth: Jim Shackelford that machine got stuck a couple times walking from Farmersburg to Bear Run also.

Matt Booe: Michael Hollingsworth once just after it crossed over on to the old minnihaha property. I was moving equipment out to it so they could pack rock under the shoes.

once on the way to Farmersburg and once in the way to bear run.

1, cropped

2, cropped

3, cropped

Chad Smith commented on Miachel's post
Here it is down at Bear Rum.

 

Melvin Blythe posted
Bear Run maintenance? Walked out of the pit and boom on the ground.
Brandon Melvin: I work on it maintenance almost done
Alex Taylor: They should be raising the boom back up today [Oct 23, 2023].

Chad Smith commented on Milvin's post

Comments on Melvin's post

James R Griffin Sr.: posted two images with the comment: "Old Ben Coal Company Draglines in southern Indiana 1984."

Tom Moosbrugger: Jim Morris north of the interstate and just off weyerbacher rd. Seven Hills mine. Went by last month and it was dark.

[I could not find a dragline in the pit off Weyerbacher Road nor the other two at Seven Hills.]

Michael Smith: Kate sits idle once again in a pit of Peabody Somerville mine ops it's rumored to walk across I-64 to the new seven hills mine. I believe gentleman Ben is at the mine up near Linton.

[I found two draglines in this mine. I don't know which one is Old Ben. (See the satellite information at the top of these notes for the positions when James posted to Facebook.)]

1

2

3:34 video @ 0:51
Peabody's Bucyrus Erie 2570W at the Bear Run Mine 1/28/23
[I wonder what made the hole that it is filling in. Normally they would dump behind the crane.]
"Built in 1977 near Staunton Indiana at the Amax, Chinook mine.  It mined coal on the north side of I-70 until 94' when it crossed the interstate and then worked on the southern part of the mine property.  Several years after the mine closed, it was walked to Black Beauty's Farmersburg mine where It worked for some time.  When Farmersburg closed, there was extensive maintenance done to the machine, some planned, some not, before being walked farther south to the Bear Run mine where, along with the 2550, it continues to work today."