Old diggers etc.

Here are some photos..

Lovely photos. Did you read Mike Mulligan's Steam Digger when you were a lad?

I did. Great kids' book. My Uncle has a modern mini digger which I had a go in last year. Loved it. That big old plant is something else though.

Cool machines.
Some of them are pretty massive!
Can I ask how long a gap there is between walking up to an empty Ruston and it working?

The Bucyrus Erie walking Dragline is preserved at the entrance to the huge former St Aidan's opencast site at Swillington near Leeds... It's now an RSPB reserve/country Park. The 1200 ton machine with its 200+ ft jib dates from 1947 and first worked in the USA. Along with 3 or 4 similar machines it came to the UK in the early 50's to help get coal production going. It worked for some years in South Wales, was dismantled and shipped to Cannock Staffs where it worked till the early '70s, a final move took it to its present home where it worked until 1988. It was joined in the early 80s by a British built 2000 ton Rapier machine. 1988 saw the 'Big Flood' where the river Aire burst into the 300ft deep workings. All the mobile machinery got out as the hole flooded. The two slower draglines did too and were laid up for 10 years while the river and canal were rerouted into a new course and mining could recommence. At that point it was decided the old 1150 dragline was not worth recommissioning and the larger, newer Rapier was put back to work. At that point the machine was donated to Leeds council as a 'monument' to the opencast mining industry which is why it now sits in its own compound. When mining finished early 2000s the Rapier W2000 was cut up for scrap along with 3 or 4 195RB shovels. A static exhibit, there are 3 or 4 open days for the dragline each year where the public can see inside, sit 3 storeys up in the driver's cab and see an exhibition of the great Flood and working scale models in the old sub station.. It was electrically powered.

Have a look on the website, there are 2 or 3 working days a year. My father in law is a dragline man, we went a couple of years back and it was brilliant. Just pay in and mooch about, natter to the folks working the machines, ride up the quarry on the train, they have a tea urn and everything.