Not a Big Thing, just very, very big!

[Scarlett Thunderbolt]

Mackay is one of the hubs of Australian mining, taking millions of tonnes of coal from the coal fields a couple of hundred kms inland, and loading it onto cargo ships heading all around the Pacific Basin.


Bulk carrier superstructure sized - you can tell from the staircases. This baby has a direct link to the high voltage grid and is powered at voltages between 6.6 and 22Kv to swing around its 55 cubic metre bucket..

You're probably familiar with pictures of the monstrous dump trucks which transfer raw coal from the open cut pit to processing. They're easily the size of a small suburban house. Imagine driving a house!

Now imagine driving a bulk carrier, the ship, that is. That's the sort of size of machine you'd be swinging around if you were operating a dragline. They are Absolutely Massive, but since this is their normal size, they don't count as a Big Thing. One of them is going for a walk out at Peak Downs Mine. This monstrous electrically powered beast is being trundled at a snail's pace from one part of the mine to another. In the process, it has to cross a busy highway and an even busier coal train line.  Such is the importance of this piece of kit that they've closed and diverted the road and have taken up the railway line and laid a 1.5m deep dirt bed to form a road for it, to prevent it utterly destroying the highway and the railway line. We took ourselves out there on Miss Scarlett to inspect its progress. It was quite hard to get far enough away to get the whole thing in frame without making it look a bit weedy!


Kate doing her bit to support Mining Industry

(Right next door is the largest dragline in the Southern Hemisphere. We couldn't get close enough, but if you're interested, here's the YouTube link, so you can see it in action)... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4mUFqKfJ3k

So, not a Big Thing. Just very, very big.

Don't forget the FNQ 2-Day Cairns RTE, if you can fit a ride in... Cheers, John, Kate & Miss Scarlett 

[Tipsy]

  py
That would have been to watch

T n T

[spanner]

I think it qualifies as a big thing!

 

[ppopeye]

Thats big alright.

 

[Biggles]

When my daughter was teaching in Dysart she wangled a tour of one of those for us.
Inside is the most impressive set of relays you ever saw- a wall full of them, each the size of a small cupboard.  And they clatter continuously as the machine operates.  I've been searching for the photos and will post when I find them.

[Biggles]

Found 'em.

A bit of perspective.



Dump side



Controller's view.



Some of the driving mechanism.



It's a hive of activity inside.



Helps to realise how big that bucket is.

[Brian]

Is that a dragline?

[STeveo]

Here is what happens when they sink and have to be dragged out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46tQNSUfiyY

[Biggles]

Is that a dragline?

That's what they call "a drag-line".  The bucket is dumped on the surface and fills as it's dragged into the machine, then lifted very high and swung through 180 degrees to dump it (as per pic 2).  IIRC the bucket holds 100 tonnes.

[Williamson]

When my daughter was teaching in Dysart she wangled a tour of one of those for us.
Inside is the most impressive set of relays you ever saw- a wall full of them, each the size of a small cupboard.  And they clatter continuously as the machine operates.  I've been searching for the photos and will post when I find them.

Had tour of one these, or perhaps one of their predecessors, back in '78 when visiting Moranbah.  My brother-in-law, a young Utah engineer took us on a tour.  Took some pics, must find them too, one showed the Toyota troppie parked in the bucket.

[Biggles]

Here is what happens when they sink and have to be dragged out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46tQNSUfiyY

Excellent piece of salvage.  Impressive list of power applied to the task.  The Americans sure know how to throw the resources at a task.

[Williamson]

Excellent piece of salvage.  Impressive list of power applied to the task.  The Americans sure know how to throw the resources at a task.

And, don't forget they had the Helping Hand of Jesus.

[Scarlett Thunderbolt]

Excellent piece of salvage.  Impressive list of power applied to the task.  The Americans sure know how to throw the resources at a task.

And, don't forget they had the Helping Hand of Jesus.

 ... I wonder what His hourly rate was??... reckon He was off the clock for this one - youtube.com/watch?v=tgLL0K139RI

Next Ride Report will be from the forthcoming FNQ Cairns RTE ... no draglines there, just twisty road heaven.... & curry   
John, Kate & Miss Scarlett 

[Williamson]

And, don't forget they had the Helping Hand of Jesus.

 ... I wonder what His hourly rate was??... reckon He was off the clock for this one .....

Whether or not He had a helping hand in the salvage, I'm sure they would have been more appreciative if His helping hand had assisted in preventing the slip in the first place.

[Biggles]

And, don't forget they had the Helping Hand of Jesus.

 ... I wonder what His hourly rate was??... reckon He was off the clock for this one .....

Whether or not He had a helping hand in the salvage, I'm sure they would have been more appreciative if His helping hand had assisted in preventing the slip in the first place.

Just testing their faith!