Steam Digger From The Deep
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ส.ค. 2013
- Working steam digger at Threlkeld Quarry. Ray Hooley organised volunteers to recover it from the flooded sand quarry where it had been left to rot. Apprentices at Ruston Proctor Lincoln works initially renovated it, then it was unused until transported to the Vintage Excavator Trust at Threlkeld Quarry where it was again extensively renovated. It operates on special steam weekends which are advertised on their website below.
The recovery of this digger is recorded in a wonderful film by Anglia TV (with kind permission). It had literally dug itself into a hole - a deep gravel quarry that eventually flooded and was used as a boating and swimming pond at Arlesley. When the water level was high the crane was hidden, submerged, but when the water level dropped in a drought then the jib appeared, rising out of the water like the arm of a monster, so the locals said. However Ray Hooley recognised the jib boom as belonging to a rare steam excavator and he was an enthusiast and expert in the excavators that were made at the Ruston Proctor works in Lincoln. Realising that there was a unique but challenging recovery potential for the “monster in the deep” to be recovered from the pond at Arlesley, Ray charmed an army of volunteers to float, drag and crane it to its first renovation.
Anglia TV made a video that records the recovery of this fine machine in their “bygones” series called “The Digger From The Deep”
After its restoration it was stored at Lincoln Museum outside where weather and lack of use degraded it. So Threlkeld based Vintage Excavator Trust restored it to the original working state with Heritage Lottery funding. It can be seen on working weekends at Threlkeld Quarry, Cumbria with other rope excavators doing the job that they were made for, operated by skilled renovator and operator volunteers.
A great debt of thanks must go from future generations to the people who recovered and renovated and still operate this unique example of one of the most important types of machines that built the industrial world at that time.
Excuse any omissions but thanks to: Ray Hooley for being so audaciously optimistic to dream up this recovery; the amateur divers who were looking for a project and found a mega undertaking; the people who loaned the industrial flotation bags; the use of the first hydraulic crane in the UK that was on its way from France to the new owner and stopped off to help; the use of the one or two huge tracked bulldozers that helped tow it out with the help of the crane lifting it; the apprentices of Ruston works at Lincoln and their supervisors for initial renovation; the temporary home at Lincoln Museum; the volunteers and organisers of the Vintage Excavator Trust at Threlkeld who renovated it and maintain it and operate it; Ian Hartland for hosting the working machine at Threlkeld Quarry, near Keswick, Cumbria.
Click links:
Anglia TV program about the recovery of The Digger from The Deep!
Video with kind permission of Anglia TV for education use only. Obtained and licenced to Peter Nicholson.
thiswascumbria.uk/steam-digger...
Industrial heritage of Cumbria with excavators, mines, quarries transport of the past etc:
thiswascumbria.uk
1909 historic Ruston - Proctor steam shovel working.
Steam shovel excavator Hooley working at Threlkeld Quarry Cumbria
thiswascumbria.uk/steam-digger...
• 1909 historic Ruston -...
Vintage Excavators working weekend at Threlkeld Quarry
thiswascumbria.uk/vintage-exca...
Vintage Excavator Trust website
www.threlkeldquarryandminingm...
Threlkeld Quarry website
www.threlkeldquarryandminingm... - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
![โอ้มายก๊อด! ไม่ถึงชั่วโมงหมดเป็นแสน 😅 [cc] แดนแพทตี้ SS2 | EP.42 |](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OH2ShXfO6tA/mqdefault.jpg)
A couple of years ago, a dam breach emptied the artificial reservoir called Wixom Lake, in my home state of Michigan, revealing a very rare Thew Type "O" steam shovel, made in 1901, that had been at the bottom of the lake since the dam was finished (using the steam shovel, of course) in 1925. The Thew has been removed from the mud and is in the process of being restored.
While stationed at RAF Chicksands with the USAF from 68 - 72 I
remember going to the pits and going swimming there. I saw
the Shovel while it was under water and along with a few
friends we swam out to it and dove around it to examine what
we could. The water was clear for the most part an it was
interesting to see old equipment. We went to a couple of Pubs
there and were talking about how much effort it would be to
raise and restore the old girl. I do not remember the gentlemen
we talked with but some of them had actually worked in the pits
and on the shovel before it was abandoned. I am glad to see
that she was recovered and restored to a working condition.
History should be preserved for future generation to show how
things worked and give the youth of ever nation something
to be proud of and their heritage.
A true grandchild of the Industrial Revolution! Well done!
I'm glad this beauty was saved from the Blue Lagoon. Though I live in America, I have always been in love with steam powered shovels, as well as electric and diesel shovels, and railroads and anything railroad related. I have great news that she is operational, as stated in the comments earlier. Once covid restrictions end and the war in Ukraine ends, I would love to go see her in person and watch her operate.
I loved Steam Shovels when I was a kid. We all loved big machinery doing big jobs. This video is a treat!
The reuniting of a man with his machine is priceless.
in my mom's hometown, there is a 90' deep limestone quarry that filled up overnight before WW2, when the pumps died on a weekend. there are steam shovels, dump trucks, and a steam train at the bottom.
What town?!
@@TarmanTheChampion If true what a project! Which I am interested in doing. I have the means to make this happen if anyone wants to contact me?
Its not independence ohio is it lol
@@johnnymichaelangelo9264 huntington, indiana. a lot of the indiana limestone you see in building facades from the prewar era came from that quarry.
@@theenginemanfromthepast.I'd be your apprentice
Abandoned in place, it cost more to disassemble and remove than it was worth at the time. Amazing that the boiler looks safe for a pressure test. Where I live corrosion and rust would have destroyed it in 10 years or less. Wonderful workmanship throughout. Real craftsmen built this behemoth, and real craftsmen rebuilt it. The young men test driving it could easily be the grand, or even great grandchildren of the original builders. Such a great documentary. Thank You for your efforts.
God bless George Albin. The smile on his face was worth the watch.
Albon
Hats off to all who restored old digger 10 plus I restored a 1910 Buffalo steam roller so I know what you great people did enjoy your fruits of labor
The steam shovel has been fully restored (again) since this film and its now in fully operating condition, with a roof, as of 2017.
MrWolfSnack Is there a modern link to modern pictures of the steam shovel
@@leslierhodes5467 Here you go: th-cam.com/video/W-YsxnvUPBY/w-d-xo.html
Where is this beast now???
in 1979 would they have thought in 2019 we still be talking about and enjoying this piece of beauty. let alone the chap who in 1909 built this thing over 110 years ago. They were just pushing out the project, not expecting to be a piece of history. From the build date, to the restore date each one has had young apprentices cycle through to older journeymen craftsmen. Each one teaching the the ones that would eventually being teaching the ones who actually work on restoring this and now to day maintaining it. Breaking 110 years, a century plus decade or as CX in the roman numerals.....
The change and horrors this machine has been through and had occur in the world surrounding in its life is staggering, from being advance technology to a view of antiquity machinery heading onward to ancient history.....
May the boiler hold up for another several centuries plus. 1/2 a millenia (500 years)overall sound good? I'm sure the service record much mention if we can the factory paper work that came with it....
We need an 110 year video of it in 2019 For a historic view a 2017 still in operations display/use video th-cam.com/video/paFaA2WKCGY/w-d-xo.html with some more information and comments worth checking out on a 2016 video of her at th-cam.com/video/W-YsxnvUPBY/w-d-xo.html
As a young child on, the west side of the pond, a favorite children's book was "Mike Mulligan and his "steam shovel"". Mike's shovel had dug a hole for a large building and were unable to get out. The shovel was retired and Mike and boiler became the heating system for the building. Great job.
Yes I remember that book as a child, also the children's book "Are You My Mother" had a steam shovel that was my favorite part of the book even as a small child.
Having a next door neighbor owning a heavy construction company in my childhood got to see and ride in big equipment.Remember that storybook as one of my favorites,even had a toy steam shovel like the ones in video on steel wheels just like a Bucyrus Erie manufactured in Ohio.
Me too, Jeb. One of my favorite books of my childhood!
@@louisaloi9178 Tonka made a Shovel in the construction vehicles lines. Sadly Tonka doesn't make them today despite the toys commanding collector prices. The large big bulldozer with the rubber tracks was equal to the dump truck for size/scale they still make. Kids could sit on top and drive/ride/operate them. Good times playing with dirt(sandboxes were for babies), sadly a bygone era.......
Jeb Sails still have that book
Just came across this excellent old documentary. What a good commentary! Concise, informative and colloquial; just what it needed to be.
I've just got in after a busy day, made a Brew, sat down, feet up and watching this. Can it get any better? Yes! Brian Glover narrating and I've just seen a Chopper and Flared pants .....Fantastic!!!
I fell in love with these beauties when I was a child; after reading 'Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel'.
I am an old machinery freak, was a mechanic, this is a superb video thanks, but much of this old machinery, classic or vintage, is the machines that I enjoyed working on in my working life. My friend worked a steam crane unloading coastal container ships, he was one of the lucky ones.
for a person interested in steam engines it was great seeing it first being recovered and then restored to working order i think they made her old driver's day its great to know that this old girl is now fully restored with a roof
That Raleigh chopper bicycle at 9:16 is a real collectors item now!
This is quite fantastic. A tremendous effort. Perhaps call it Bill after the steam shovel in the old children's TV program Mr Squiggle shown here in Australia. I used watch Mr Squiggle as a child over 50 years ago! Have never seen a real steam shovel!
The Presenter was Dick Joice the Executive Producer a real gentleman and a delight to work for as were so many of the Anglia Television staff to work with. The problem of welding old cast of the dimensions involved in that restoration, is being able to control the heating and cooling of the castings, to eliminate stresses that will cause further cracks to appear or separation of the new weld from the parent metal. Bygones was a series of progammes that was huge fun to work upon. At that period they were mostly shot on 16mm and then with the addition of studio inserts transferred to Video Tape which at that period was 2 inch Ampex machines and only just out of physical editing by tape splicing to electronic editing. Wonderful days and some of the old technical crew still survive.
History brought to life. Fascinating. Old vid, shot before the days of TH-cam obviously, but perfectly suited. Well-paced, and well-narrated. IH, thank you for working to preserve the memory of working for a living back when men were men, a hard day's work meant you had something called integrity, and SJW's were non-existent. Well done!!
This is an absolutely awesome documentary, everything about it is just a joy to watch. It’s great to watch people working together and accomplishing a goal without focusing on any drama etc. that dominates modern programming. Also almost anything that has to do with steam I’m interested in.
12:08 Now that’s a smoking pipe!
its interesting to note that the apprentices are probably now either retired or near retirement age....this video appears to be shot in the 70's....nice video...
Welds can be repaired waiting for more money to arrive
tooez90 He mentions at one point that it was built in 1909, and that it was brought back to the same place for restoration 70 years later. So it was filmed in 1979 then (he also mentioned Star Wars, so you know it had to be after 1977.)
...
??
1977 by Ruston expert Ray Hooley
By 1980 the 306 Steam Digger was steaming again.
Hooley gave the machine to the VET in 2008 and it was moved to Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum
Thank You for the update , very glad to know they were able to restore the old machine !
This video truly made my day.. Thank you fro uploading it!! So good to see old machinery restored, especially since the last operator was still alive to see if brought back to life :)
crazyfvck for 10 minutes until it fell apart..
Didn't they get dimensions of the components? Draw up plans and such?
David of the deep. As a diver of those far off days it was good to be reminded of the primitive equipment we used.
It's beyond me how anyone could dislike this, what could be wrong with their minds?
Wrong button stray thumb on small screen? Then comes the idiot factor which we have 100 of people that fit into that categories as of December 8 2018 with 465,790 views and over 2.5K+ of likes/Thumbs Up what it was orginal called right. FB has reprogrammed our speech sadly.
Damn this jumped a lot in just 3 weeks after my comment on January 1st 2019 there are 516,792 views 2.9K likes and 20 more idiots that want clickbait short videos that spoon feed rehashed clips for 1290 thumbs down. 51,005 views or 17,001+ per week. I wonder what suddenly drove traffic here and why youtube started featuring/suggesting it as new content to check out....... In maybe 6 months or so someone will list the views and do the math because the analytics on this video must be cool to see..
@@PatrickBaptist I listened very carefully to the presentation and nowhere did the narrator make that alleged statement. He did say that the salvors would not allow non- divers under water? I suppose if one tries hard enough, they will hear what they want-- like politics today.
@Demo Easy there big fella-- no one's trying to get in a pissing contest here. In fact, I didn't particularly enjoy or "like" the presentation that much. There are many more impressive projects involving restoration than this. It was only a proud legacy to the driver that last handled the machine .See comment below.
@@PatrickBaptist you been drinking soy or daddies milk
I just love these old bygone vintage videos (see some from the days of the London, Midland and Scottish railway).
As far as I am concerned, the choice of the late, great Brian Glover (actor and professional all-in wrestler) was a brilliant move... what a lovely Yorkshire (Barnsley) accent he had, very similar to Sir Michael Parkinson.
Awesome video of awesome machine, and people.
In addition to being an amazing story, I love the first minute and 20 seconds or so of the video. The music- the images- the title card... it kind of reminds me of the beginning of a '60's B horror movie. I love it. ❤
Joe
We knew this place as " Arelsey Pits " when we used to go fishing there when I was very young
, its only a few miles from Letchworth, I live in Australia now, but still remember " The blue lagoon " well, favourite place for dumping stolen cars.
13:00. “No damage was done to any of the men, or MORE IMPORTANTLY the old Navvy”. Sure, lots of extra men around, but only one navvy, LOL
Fantastic video. This restoration would be in the 10's of millions to accomplish today!
No it wouldn’t
Brilliant Footage and Project, Thanks Guys, Dam good job
Truely amazing, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this, what an achievement.
What a great show. I love the narrator's style; he sounds genuinely involved and excited. And I was really gonna be mad if they didn't give the shovel's last driver a little 'stick time.'
But why 'navvy?" (sp?)
Navvy is/was a slang term for a manual labourer typically employed to dig excavations using pick and shovel etc. Such things as roads, tunnel, canals, railway cuttings and building foundations would all have been dug by navvys back in the days before the myriad of mechanical diggers were even thought of. One train of thought is that it is a shortening of the term 'navigational engineer' but I'm not sure that such could be applied to what is generally regarded as a navvy. Hope this is of help.
The new crane "straight out of Star Wars" just pulls up to the bank and lifts out what used to be a huge crane back in the day. lol
An exceptional documentary on a piece of history. I loved it, the narration was great.
Absolutly Fantastic Restauration, Guys I love You👍💕
Loved every minute of it,our past coming to our future. Awesome to see something older than myself brought back to life. Just to kool.
amazing Its really great to see old machines being brought back and restored god bless
This is an Incredible video this man got to operate the shovel again I love history like this it's really uplifting
Well done guy's !!
Incredible video! Love seeing history brought back to life!
makes me wish I could have been there to be part of the team that's restoring this wonderful machine
Wonderful old film and superb restoration, so well done guys!
What a great video, of a small bit of history. Dad talked about working around equipment like this as a kid logging in SE Alaska.
Dick Joyce was a good presenter and was the front man for farming Diary for many years in the 60's
Ol' Fred Dibnah would be smiling up in heaven....
Great film,nice to see the crownclark telescopic crane first time I've seen a 65ton model .this was very advanced for its day,they later changed their name to cosmos cranes in the late 1970s.
THANK YOU FOR DETAIL VIDEO AS GREAT WATCHING MADE LONG AND SEE COME BACK WORK LIFE ALL TIME WAS IN WATER
So good to hear Brian Glover's voice again. Gone but not forgottent.
I could watch films like this all day long and more.
Thanks Joseph, it made the effort worthwhile, more at thiswascumbria.uk/ ps I found the last DVD in the UK after chasing a lead from Anglia and they kindly gave me not for profit permission to put it on TH-cam so thanks Anglia TV. Peter
9:16 A chopper bike! That would fetch a few bob these days...PS Loving the flares..😉
Seeing this video reminded me that I used to see the old shovel when I was stationed at RAF Chicksands in the USAF.
Going there was a favorite place to both fish, swim and party;l We used to swim out to the shovel and diver off the
boom. that was back between 68 - 72 time frame. Seeing it brought back a lot of memories and I am glad to see
they rescued her from the water. I dove around her and at one time had some pretty good pic I took on a bright day
when the waters was clear and while not as good as I prefered they were still pretty good pics. It will be interesting
to see if they post a video after they get her restored and running again.
Glad to hear it working now, I remember swimming out to it and diving around it when I was stationed
over there. I love the old steam equipment I saw working in England and the numerous events that
took place all year long. I tried to make as many as possible . Now just have to wait for the video
of her resurrection and rebuilding to see her run again.
When I was a nipper in the 70s my next door neighbour used to work at Ruston. They were still there in the late 80s, but I don't know if they are still going today.
great narrator
Truly awesome, thanks so much!
I realy enjoy seeing those old divingsuits in action (as well as the salvaging).
Brilliant bit of original film at the start and end- Health and safety nowhere to be seen! Lovely to hear Brian Glover, what a sad day with his passing. Brilliant actor!
what a machine and agrate piece of history,thanks for the video
Ive never seen a steam crane in action, they possibly still in use when i was a wee lad but we have none restored, at least in my home state.I always loved the dinky little tank engines converted into light crane locos myself.
Back in the '70s, due to bosses repeatedly wanting me to machine cast iron that they had welded, I knew that you cannot weld cast Iron with steel electrodes and expect any strength. Unless they are special cast iron electrodes and the piece is pre-heated and even that is questionable. Neat video and project though, thanks for posting it.
I dont believe you rustybycycle, i would be highly unsafe with a 5" crack in the main frame with could be clearly seen on this old (Umatic?) footage.
***** There is a BIG difference between working as designed or simply moving.
***** first vid, then believe, Anyway it not THIS shovel. This one is fubar after all.
***** show me
Stainless rod. Welded many castings. Best I ever did was iron track pads, preheated in furnace, laid air arc rod in pin holes, and welded around it with stainless wire. High stress area, and still working.
*A steam shovel isn't a crane. A road grader isn't a scraper. Steam shovels were before my time but I did get lots of stick (and foot) time operating a cable backhoe. Also operated a Cat D-8 cable dozer pulling a cable scraper, that combo known as "Cat and a can." Never had the opportunity to operate a cable shovel. For the non-operators, shovels are used for ground level and higher. Backhoes are designed for below ground level although the modern hydraulic backhoes, now called excavators, can dig high above ground.
Great outcome!
I got here from an article in "Classic Plant" magazine. The old girl is up and working for exhibitions in 2015
+504mitchm Do you know if there are anymore videos of this grand piece of machinery ?
@@emdman1959 Read comments above there are 2016 and 2017 videos and as you to day there will be videos upload everyday she is running in font of people. Just finding them all is the hard part.
what an absolutely wonderful project, congratulations to all those concerned. I think I saw the narrator was Brian Glover, you couldn't have made a better choice...... I think he might be "The fat Conductor" in disguise. Where does the term "Navey" come from please? What a really meaningful way to set the apprentices to a task, it would have been the best learning curve of their young lives. Well done guys, a video well worth the read
I have been in contact with Ray Hooley last week, hope he is not dead as he is getting me details of a Ruston diesel engine
Nice to hear Brian glover's voice again.
This was so good thanks a lot!
Hold on one minute! That is my digger. I forgot where I parked it in that lake some years ago. I would like it back NOW! Please box it up and send it back to Detroit. I will provide my post office box soon. I was out getting groceries with it when I misplaced the key fab and I could not hear the steam horn beep so I had to walk home to Detroit with my groceries in hand and MY Navi I thought was impounded......however I see that some clowns must have taken it for a joy ride and put it in Loch Ness.
The restoration team must have been upset when the crane broke down. But I think they'll cherish those precious memories of it working for just a little while
Wow, absolutely brilliant, nice to click on the link and see it now too.
Thanks , it made the effort worthwhile, more at thiswascumbria.uk/ ps I found the last DVD in the UK after chasing a lead from Anglia and they kindly gave me not for profit permission to put it on TH-cam so thanks Anglia TV. Peter
Very interesting. Thanks for shareing !
Bell bottom blue jeans worn by the salvage team. that dates it!
approx 1975 i guess.
That 'modern' crane 'looking like something out of Star Wars' puts it at 1977. By 1980 the flairs or bell-bottoms had all gone.
Philip Jones Girls looked great in bell bottoms. You can still buy them if you know where to look.
And a crane operator wearing a tie.
He mentions 1902, and then says a bit later "that was 70 years ago". 1902+70 = 1972. But then he goes on to mention the crane "looking like something out of Star Wars", Star Wars came out in 1977. He leater went on to say that 2 years on restoration have passed. The first surveying photographs of this project were taken in 1976 before recovery. 1976+ 2 = 1978. This film was published approximately 1978 or so, but would have been filmed a couple years earlier, as it takes some time to edit and narrate the video and waiting for the project to be completed so narration can be done, and then splice it all together onto a new reel.
Does anyone know if the problems discovered were ever fixed and machine brought back to full running status?
Love the narration.
OMG!! Those flare pants, remember wearing those as a kid!!
What happened to this marvelous piece of history? Did they fix her up and cast new roller's.
очень интересное видео! спасибо Вам за проделаную работу, что дали этому экскаватору - продедушке вторую жизнь.
Lovely talk over great man
A time when machines were operated by men of steel. R.I.P. Mr. Hooley.
Love the flared jeans remember them well.But to the point a great job and well worth it
Great video !
A very nice old video ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Heck, the video is 50 years old now!!!
thank you
Why am I watching this I have to be at work in 5 hours and I'm still awake
wow that`s a real jam of a show
It was a good story with a sad ending. I can still sit proud in a museum.
Aye, but it is a working museum with the steam shovel operating on special open days thanks to skilled and dedicated volunteers. Peter
Awesome video
Nice job!
the problem of modern science is the fact that the old machines were built stronger and better than anything today, because nothing lasts as long as it did back then
Well done.
Reminded me of a children's book we had as a kid (mom still has it ) called Digger Dan..lol (from the 60's..)
Entertaining and interesting. Thanks.
Neat.,Very interesting. Keep restore old equipment For the worlds History lessons.
Recognise the Face Shovel or Navvie, there is one at Beamish Historical Open Air Museum. It is an amazing piece of kit. Worth coming to County Durham to see it and so many other gems.
That interesting as my great-grandfather came from Durham but died while working on the construction of the Panama Canal, most likely operating one of the many of Ruston steam-shovel which were shipped over along with their operators to work on the enormous project.
There weren't so many other jobs that Brits were doing as the bulk of the work was done by labourers from the Caribbean & Central America, while the engineers, managers, & supervisors were American!
After the accident, my great-grandmother & only child, my grandmother, migrated here to Australia!
@@MrWombatty Amazing how far you find your ancestors and contemporaries were prepared to move for a new life. I had family move to USA to farm, plus found a relative called "Shadforth Anderson" who as a Doctor went to Australia and then New Zealand after marrying a Canadian Woman in Canada and work passage as ships surgeon. The best of it is he is supposed to have been wanted for "mutilation" of a body in Australia?.
Durham people have always had to be tough and were at the forefront of lots of innovations during the Industrial Revolution, many related to steam and coal in my area. My family sold a piece of land where a steam railway and engines plus gravity steam pulled coal tubs and carriages were made on a line from Hetton to Sunderland Drops opened in 1821 by Wellington. This was prior to Stockton and Darlington and built by Stephenson. You find elements of this area and people all over the world. I came across an engine in a Turkish museum and in Australia, they have a 1903 rail mounted Ruston Bucyrus 65ton Steam Shovel near Victoria, but the Steam Tractor Ruston Bucyrus 125 ton face shovel at Beamish has since a boy always held interest to me. Look it up. My Grandfather born 1901 took me to the open air museum in the 1970`s to see the rebuilt street of houses he used to live in built at Beamish from Hetton Pit. Thanks for the reply and happy New Year from your Durham "cousins".
Amazing job, well done.
Thanks Joseph, it made the effort worthwhile, more at thiswascumbria.uk/ ps I found the last DVD in the UK after chasing a lead from Anglia and they kindly gave me not for profit permission to put it on TH-cam so thanks Anglia TV. Peter
Touche... amazing....
great piece of history, not the shovel but the flared jeans and the chap on the Raleigh chopper!