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, United States.
Representative of the type of technology developed in the late 19th century and early 20th century to provide large, inexpensive supplies of crushed stone for the vast American railroad network and later for the road construction, 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. No longer operational, it was moved to its current site in the mid-20th century. It is currently owned by the town. In 2008 it became the first steam shovel listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the only listing in the Town of Le Roy and the easternmost in Genesee County.
Description
The shovel is located on the north side of Gulf Road, east-northeast of the village of Le Roy, just opposite the driveway into the Hanson Company's limestone quarry. It is in a field behind a fence with locked gate. On the road there is space to pull vehicles over and look at it. The Register listing includes an area of about , delineated by a perimeter around the shovel.
While the original decorations have largely faded off the side, in several places on the shovel the Marion name is cast and legible. The model number plates have been removed, but the patent plate is still in place. The shovel weighs .
Its main section is the size of a railroad boxcar, wide by long, with an arched roof and siding of riveted sheet metal, now rusted. The operator's cab is on the east-facing front end, with most of the rest of the section housing the shovel's three steam engines and a boiler, no longer in working condition, with horizontal flues. A plate on its door bears the number 5304. An coal bin was added to the rear after it was built. The section rests on two pairs of caterpillar tracks, one pair out in front on a outrigger, the other in the middle.
The largest of the three engines is the hoisting engine. It is a double-cylinder horizontal type with a bore and stroke. In addition to powering the hoist, it provided locomotive power and could move the shovel at speeds of a . About of the hoist chain has been removed.
Both of the other engines have an bore. The swing engine, attached to a chain around the swing circle, moves the boom from side to side. The other engine, the boom or crowd engine, raises and lowers the dipper. Due to its exposure to the weather, it is no longer in working condition. The other two, wholly inside the main section, were more protected from the elements and could be operated with compressed air.
On the east end is the outrigger. It consists of two joined arms connected by gears and chains to the appropriate engines. At the end is the bucket, with a capacity of . Beneath it is a small pile of rocks.
History
The Marion Power Shovel Company came into being in the 1880s as a collaboration between a frustrated shovel operator turned inventor and an industrialist. The former, Henry Barnhart, designed a new shovel that he hoped would break down less frequently than existing models. He went into business with financial backing from Edward Huber and patented the idea in 1883. The following year they partnered with another industrialist, George King, and started the company in Marion, Ohio. Over the next decades it grew into a major manufacturer of construction equipment.
Steam shovels were in particular demand due to the need for crushed stone as ballast in the nation's railroad network, a demand that expanded in the early 20th century as roads began to be graveled and paved for use by motor vehicles. Le Roy, near the Onondaga Escarpment, was a prime location for limestone quarrying, atop a layer of the stone. Since shortly after its settlement in the early 19th century, Le Roy had supported several such operations. Most of the limestone had been produced for architectural use, and a number of extant buildings in the Le Roy area, including the Lathrop Chapel at Machpelah Cemetery, are made of locally quarried limestone.
What eventually became the General Crushed Stone Company was founded in 1899 when the Duerr Contracting Company took over the Le Roy operations of a Tyrone, Pennsylvania, man who had been unable to meet the demands of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, a major customer. After two reorganizations, it became General Crushed Stone in 1902. Headquarters were in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.