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 Post subject: Steam Powered Mine Hoists
PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 10:51 am 
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Mike,

Thanks for posting up the videos on the site. The operating steam hoist which you posted a video for, was that also one of the hoists which was obtained from the slate quarry? Very nice to see the hoist back in operation.

What was the source of steam? Was this also obtained from the quarry?

Greg


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 11:00 am 
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wow thats awesome, dont know why i just noticed them now. super cool mike. is that one of the engines from the quarry, that would be sweet if it is. nice, real nice.

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PostPosted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:10 pm 
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Thank you for the comments. Yes, the operating hoist came from the slate quarry. It was removed from the quarry on Saturday, July 29th. It was unloaded and reassembled at Rough and Tumble http://www.roughandtumble.org in Kinzers, PA, one week later on Saturday, August 5th. Their annual show was scheduled for a couple of weeks later, so on the evening of Friday, August 18th the steam hoist was returned to operation. Rough and Tumble has their own boiler that supplies steam for their stationary steam engines, so they extended a temporary one inch steam pipe to the hoisting engine and ran it for the first time since at least 1980.
At the quarry, the hoists received steam from similar boiler houses. These were initially coal fired, but following a structural fire in 1964, were replaced by an oil fired package boiler built by York Shipley. The old boiler houses have been demolished, but one of the original boilers was kept and converted to a compressed air tank, which helped supply air to jackhammers and other air powered mining tools.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 1:48 pm 
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Nice!! Those vids are really cool..........Do you know what tonnage could they hoist vertically?

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 2:12 pm 
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A 1908 catalogue claims that a steam hoist with 12” x 15” inch cylinders could lift 6500 pounds (3 ¼ tons). However, workers said that the same hoists could lift at least five tons. They could even lift heavier loads, but were limited by the capacity of the cranes in the mill buildings that also had to move the blocks. One of the hoists sent to Ohio was said to have lowered a D7 bulldozer down into the quarry. The smallest D7 weighs 16 tons. However, the blade was lowered separately, so the actual loads were somewhat lighter.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 2:10 am 
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wow... thats pretty wild................................. :shock:

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 11:41 pm 
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What kind of work was required to refurbish the steam hoist? It sounds like it probably wasn't that bad. I'm surprised though that they were still operational in the 1980's. Were they still being used as steam hoists? This is really wild!

Miner Greg


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:16 am 
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yea they still used them in the 80s as hoists. it only has been a few weeks since they got it so it must have not needed too much work!

chris

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:16 pm 
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The steam hoist that went to Rough and Tumble did not need to be refurbished. The quarry took good care of it, and the remains of the engine house protected it from the weather. There was some rust in the bearings, but this was cleaned off by hand during the move. The bearing surfaces are not perfect, but as long as they are kept oiled they are adequate for demonstration purposes where the hoist operates without a load.
The other moving parts were also cleaned of dirt and then well oiled or greased. A jack was then set against the gears and the engine was manually turned over to make sure everything was free moving. The only actual repair was replacing a rubber gasket between the steam chest and the piping. This was accomplished by using scissors to cut a stock piece of rubber and then punching holes in it so the gasket would fit over the bolts holding down the pipe. The repair took a matter of minutes.

[img=http://thumb16.webshots.net/t/55/55/7/28/68/2580728680095054516uCdwOj_th.jpg]

After lowering the pipe and bolting it down, the steam valve was opened and the engine ran.

The last steam hoist operated under steam in December of 1980 when the quarry that it served closed. The only access to the quarry, which was about 750 feet deep at that time, required the use of the steam hoists.

Steam hoists at an adjacent quarry were last operated under steam in the late 1960s. Another part of the same hole remained in operation using electric hoists, but the water pump was in the part of the quarry serviced by the steam hoists. Occasionally throughout the 1970s, when the pump needed to be serviced, a steam hoist was operated to reach it. However, the boilers were out of service so a portable air compressor was brought in and connected to the steam line.

The hoists that the new quarry currently operates are electric. However, these started life as steam hoists at least 80 years ago. The steam equipment was removed and an electric motor substituted. Except for the trolley style controller, the hoists work just like the steam powered ones. The steam engine reversing levers are even there, though not connected to anything.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 11:21 pm 
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Nice mike, id love to see one run in person. i hope you get your running soon. are you guys working on it or is it just sitting down there waiting some loving attention :D ?

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:23 am 
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It might be possible to see the steam hoist at Rough and Tumble operate during their steam ups next year, which will be May 11-12, and August 15-18th.

It will be a while before our steam hoist runs as it is still at the quarry. It is the largest and second hardest to get to, so it will be one of the last to move. In the meantime, we will be working on moving the smaller items, such as the wire saws, lathes, grinding wheel, and mud pump.

Image


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:30 pm 
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Are you going to leave your steam hoist at Rough and Tumble, or are you going to move it back and forth? Steam hoists aren't portable, it almost seems like people keep their equipment down there from the photos..


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:26 pm 
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mikies is at bethlehem steel i guess. the one there belongs to rough and tumble.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 3:40 pm 
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The steam hoist at Rough and Tumble is going to stay there. It was donated to them, as was another, single drum Flory built, steam hoist.

A different steam hoist is being donated to the museum being built inside Bethlehem Steel. This hoist is still at the quarry and probably will not move until early 2007.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:53 pm 
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Here is another update on the quarry:
I was given permission to borrow the quarry whistle. I will take it to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, so it can participate in the whistle blow at midnight on New Years. About a dozen other whistles, as well as a calliope (steam powered organ) will be used at the event. Video from a couple of years ago is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgIOge4LMGE
The whistle was blown every workday at 7 AM, 12:00 PM, 12:30 PM, and 3:30 PM. However, it has not been heard by anyone since at least the 1960s. It was manufactured by Kinsley in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The newest patent date on it is 1894 and corresponds to the patent at: http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT520418&id=-nNrAAAAEBAJ&dq=may+29,+1894+kinsley


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