hymac580c
  • hymac580c
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie Topic Starter
18 years ago
[img]http://www.aditnow.co.uk/showimage?f=/community/Personal-Album-106-Image-038/[/img]

While on a family visit to the Beamish open air mueseum in August we came accross this fascinating Ruston Bucyrus steam powered excavator with no posters indication of where it came from nor any of its history etc.
Can anyone tell me where and when it last worked? And how it ended up at Beamish? Etc.
Bellach dim ond swn y gwynt yn chwibian, lle bu gynt yr engan ar cynion yn tincian.
Vanoord
18 years ago
Is that as big as it looks?

Or, to put it another way, how big is the little black engine to the right; or, how big is the bucket?
Hello again darkness, my old friend...
ChrisP
  • ChrisP
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie
18 years ago
According to my little book of steam shovels, she's a Ruston Bucyrus 25-RB, built 1931 (so one of the last steam shovels built, before the Ruston-Bucyrus diesels came along). The last place of work was a chalk quarry at Hessle in Yorkshire.
hymac580c
  • hymac580c
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie Topic Starter
18 years ago
The machine is as big as it looks. The bucket must be approx 5 ft high. And the height of the cab must be about 25 ft. It must have taken a lot of expensive haulage to get it to where it is. I would imagine it would have worked at one of the coal mines in the area (co. Durham). I'm prety sure it had a huge appetite for the coal when operating too. Pity there is no description of it at all in the guide book etc.
Fascinating place though, I would recomend a visit it to 'The Beamish open air Meuseum' to any mining/quarry enthusiasts. Also ideal for all the familly including the women.
Bellach dim ond swn y gwynt yn chwibian, lle bu gynt yr engan ar cynion yn tincian.
hymac580c
  • hymac580c
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie Topic Starter
18 years ago
Thanks for that Chris. Seems like you have a very interesting book on excavators.
Bellach dim ond swn y gwynt yn chwibian, lle bu gynt yr engan ar cynion yn tincian.
ChrisP
  • ChrisP
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie
18 years ago
It's only a 32page Shire book- Excavator books are few and far between unfortunately. 😞
grahami
18 years ago
There's a fascinating magazine which is on the shop shelves called "Classic Plant & Machinery" which contains many articles on modern and ancient excavators and other plant. The website is cpmmag.co.uk
In it Nynehead-books.co.uk (amongst several others) advertise excavator books and DVDs!

Cheers

Grahami
The map is the territory - especially in chain scale.
hymac580c
  • hymac580c
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie Topic Starter
18 years ago
http://www.modelexcavatorcompany.co.uk/vintage_excavator_trust1NEWS.htm 
Bellach dim ond swn y gwynt yn chwibian, lle bu gynt yr engan ar cynion yn tincian.
ChrisP
  • ChrisP
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie
18 years ago
The Vintage Excavator Trust are a good bunch if you're interested, their magazine is always interesting and they have a very impressive fleet at Threlkeld.
rodel
  • rodel
  • 50.2% (Neutral)
  • Newbie
17 years ago
The RB was one of the early items to arrive at Beamish in the seventies and came straight from the quarry in Yorkshire - it was never used in the local coalfields. It was transported courtesy of the British Army on a tank transporter and everything went fine until the rig left the metalled road to go through the museum maintenance area whereupon the whole lot began to sink and some serious tracked back-up had to be brought in firstly to stop it falling over and then to move it onto the hard area where it now sits. Needless to say it never moves from that spot but a few years ago I saw it powered up and the shovel mechanism demonstrated to a few curious onlookers ! 😢
Similar Topics
Users browsing this topic

Disclaimer: Mine exploring can be quite dangerous, but then again it can be alright, it all depends on the weather. Please read the proper disclaimer.
© 2005 to 2023 AditNow.co.uk

Dedicated to the memory of Freda Lowe, who believed this was worth saving...