MARION STEAM SHOVEL AKA THE LE ROY STEAM SHOVEL

 

The Marion Steam Shovel, also known as the Le Roy Steam Shovel, is a historic Model 91 steam shovel manufactured by the Marion Steam Shovel and Dredge Company of Marion, Ohio. It is located on Gulf Road in the Town of Le Roy, New York.  it is believed to be the largest intact steam shovel remaining in the world, and may have been used in the excavation of the Panama Canal.  A model 91 steam shovel set what was then a world record in 1912 when it dug 5,554 cubic yards (4,246 m3) of earth from a pit at the site of Gatun Dam.  The Model 91 required eight workers to operate. Four worked in the main section. The operator sat in the front booth and used levers to move the hoist and lift and lower the bucket. When it was time to move the shovel, he took care of that as well. A cranes man, who sat on the left-hand side of the boom, controlled the crowd engine, which allowed him to set the depth of the cut and release the bucket's contents when it was full by tugging on a wire rope attached to it. In the rear was an engineer who tended the boiler and a fireman who shoveled the coal.  Outside the shovel a crew of four took up and laid the track along which its flanged wheels moved. They also set up the jackscrews necessary to stabilize the shovel in front of the rock face it was digging and dismantled them when it was time to move.

MARION MODEL 91 STEAM SHOVEL