Miningpower
Well-Known Member
Lehigh Coal owns the very last Bucyrus-Erie 195B stick front in the anthracite field of PA. Sitting out at our Springdale mine, this shovel has a pretty interesting story to tell, so I figured I'd share it with you all
Lehigh bought their 195B brand new in the late 1980s to work with their other stick front electric shovel, a Marion 191M. Both the 191 and 195 worked together digging in the basin of the mine loading 100 ton Euc's and Unit Rig's.
The 195B was only run for a few months and then Lehigh called in Bucyrus-Erie to have them upgrade and "beef up" the 195. Bucyrus came in and installed a larger counterweight which added nearly 50 more tons on the rear of the machine, extended the front boom by 40 feet, and installed a larger 15 yd bucket on the shovel (standard 195's have 12 yd buckets). Lehigh paid Bucyrus $800,000 to have their 195 beefed up and ready to load again. This was all custom work done by Bucyrus as very few 195's were ever built this way.
After Bucyrus finished up the shovel, it was put back to work with the 191M. The beginning of the end came when Lehigh's two DEMAG H285S's arrived and were assembled onsite. The 191M and 195B were immediately shut down upon the arrival of the DEMAG’s, never to run again. All in all, Lehigh's 195B was only run for less than a full year! If you look at the bucket on the machine, you can still see where the paint isn't even fully worn off.
The 195B was then put up for sale, but only one buyer made an offer on the machine. A company from Virginia offered to buy just the swing ring on the shovel and make Lehigh remove it for them, which would cost a fortune to do. With no buyers or anyone's interest, the 195B sat for years overlooking the Springdale mine where it once worked, unsure of its future.
In January 2010, the decision was made to scrap the 195 and salvage what was valuable in the machine. As I went out this at 7 this morning to take these few pictures and a walk around video of this machine, the mechanics arrived to get ready to begin removing the motors and lights off the machine. This is the last sunrise this 195B will ever see.
Driving down into the Springdale mine, which is one of the largest open pit anthracite coal mine in PA.
Lehigh bought their 195B brand new in the late 1980s to work with their other stick front electric shovel, a Marion 191M. Both the 191 and 195 worked together digging in the basin of the mine loading 100 ton Euc's and Unit Rig's.
The 195B was only run for a few months and then Lehigh called in Bucyrus-Erie to have them upgrade and "beef up" the 195. Bucyrus came in and installed a larger counterweight which added nearly 50 more tons on the rear of the machine, extended the front boom by 40 feet, and installed a larger 15 yd bucket on the shovel (standard 195's have 12 yd buckets). Lehigh paid Bucyrus $800,000 to have their 195 beefed up and ready to load again. This was all custom work done by Bucyrus as very few 195's were ever built this way.
After Bucyrus finished up the shovel, it was put back to work with the 191M. The beginning of the end came when Lehigh's two DEMAG H285S's arrived and were assembled onsite. The 191M and 195B were immediately shut down upon the arrival of the DEMAG’s, never to run again. All in all, Lehigh's 195B was only run for less than a full year! If you look at the bucket on the machine, you can still see where the paint isn't even fully worn off.
The 195B was then put up for sale, but only one buyer made an offer on the machine. A company from Virginia offered to buy just the swing ring on the shovel and make Lehigh remove it for them, which would cost a fortune to do. With no buyers or anyone's interest, the 195B sat for years overlooking the Springdale mine where it once worked, unsure of its future.
In January 2010, the decision was made to scrap the 195 and salvage what was valuable in the machine. As I went out this at 7 this morning to take these few pictures and a walk around video of this machine, the mechanics arrived to get ready to begin removing the motors and lights off the machine. This is the last sunrise this 195B will ever see.
Driving down into the Springdale mine, which is one of the largest open pit anthracite coal mine in PA.
