That face shovel is in beautiful condition, even the boiler tubes looked in great shape, definitely a candidate for revival, I hope it can be saved and reunited with its artefacts. Steam shovel is a face shovel, electric one is a dragline. The (two) large electric motors at the rear of the thing are a rotary converter, converting ac power to dc for use in the dragline’s dc motors (very inefficient to send dc over distance). The unidentified crane/jib with the motor on is a face shovel set up, the motor and gearbox is the crowding gear, to push the bucket arm in and out. Good job Frank.
Since you took the whistle, the soul of the machine, I'm holding you to hauling that beast out and re-uniting them! Anything less wouldn't be right. Cheers.
@@exploringabandonedmines you just gotta find someone with a big dozer a flatbed trailer and a big winch and its outta there a dozer could go right across all the water ez
@Chris Wallace Steal from who? If anyone had any serious interest in it, they would have done something with it. And Frank IS THE MAN who can make this happen. Selfish? Preserving history. What happens to these artifacts? They go into a museum. Don't make this into something it's not. It is not grave robbing. And who is more guilty of stealing than GOVERNMENTS? Finders keepers, as they say. And so if Frank finds something that he wants, or could use, whatever it is, and it belongs to no one.. He should be more than free to take it. What happens if you find a old box of gold, a treasure, just buried... You going to leave it? Turn it over to your Satanic authority? You know damn well they want it. What is the difference? This is FRANKS TREASURE.
WOW! that steam shovel is the frigin coolest piece of 1800s mining history ever! looks like you could fill that boiler up with water throw in some coal or wood light a match lay some track and just drive it out under it's own power! bet if that were any closer inland it would have been scrapped or dismantled for parts many many years ago like most of the old abandoned and forgotten mining machines and artifacts "junk"no longer economic to their long gone owners left behind to rot and decay..True gem of find and vid guys! thanks for sharing!
It’s hard to believe it’s been abandoned for well over one hundred years! It looks like it was parked just a decade or two ago! Hopefully someone saves it and puts it in a museum somewhere, or better yet restores it to operation. Great film, as always!
I hope that I'm not the only one who noticed the "re-assembly numbers next to the Manufacturers Data Plate. Ain't no way that thing was driven in there, it was pulled apart and carted in on mule drawn wagons more than likely and then put back together there or near there.
Wow ! Frank . That brought back so many Memories of Crossings I made back in the 70s n 80s . We have to share a Beer n Stories some Day . Stay Safe Brother and Big Thanks to all you Share .
This is really something! I wonder how many of these have survived to this day? Has to be only a few if that. So interesting! It would be really great to see it hauled out and put on display indoors at a steam museum. You have really sparked interest with this video Frank!
Wow what a awesome find that steam engine at the River crossing is not only rare but is in amazing shape for being over hundred years old Nevada has some cool mines an some machinery but the Yukon area an machinery just blows the cool factor off the charts, the 1800s steam shovel be a great piece for your museum just love the old machinery,,,thanks frank as always be safe 👍👍👍
Hi Frank & Sharon, that was one amazing piece of history you found in that old steam shovel, wow. That river looked really swift flowing, good job in getting across it and securing the rope as that wouldn't have been an east task for anybody. Thanks for sharing, much love. xx💖
You felt so comfortable taking stuff from something so precious to find that had been there for so many years unmolested by others for more than a 100 years I can only hope that you return the things you took.
The maker of the shovel was actually a big out fit. Off a stock certificate " They have been used for burrowing for gold upon the Arctic circle, " and also "In the work of mining in the gold fields of the far North the Thew Automatic Shovel is a favorite machine. " And as another poster related used on the building of the Panama Canal. Off another site "In 1924, the Thew line of products was completely redesigned and the new machines were identified by the trademark "Lorain" after the town where they were built. In 1964, sales declined and Thew became the Thew-Lorain Division of Koehring Co. Today, the remnants of Koehring and Lorain can be found under Terex Corp., which acquired the division in 1987." So based on that, this machine was built sometime after 1924. Also interesting to note, was the paint work stencil to the left of the first name plate, that has either "OK or OR BRENER No 65". Just wonder if that has to do with the owner. Interesting bit of kit and as much as it might be nice to recover it for display, it sounds like there a fair number in the area in one state of disrepair or another. Regarding making public the GPS positioning, I can say without reservation, don't do it. It just allows for people to go and be destructive and not respect the history of the item or the place
@@exploringabandonedmines Makes sense. They were made in Lorain, OH, so it seems there's an "H" missing off the nameplate. They renamed to Lorain after the ton they were build in, and it common to have the manufacturing city/state on the dataplate.
I know where there is an old dredge here in Alaska that is untouched. It is in a very remote location though. It was an old dredge that was refurbished and relocated up the Yukon for a private operation in the 1960's. Very few people know it's true location though. A true gem. I think the dry air is a big part in how the wood gets preserved. In winter there is almost zero humidity for the majority of the season. The meltwater does the most damaged. but in this case the roof is still able to shed the snow and water to a large degree.
12:17 That gives a different perspective to the term “chain drive” and it’s all wheel drive. I truly learned something new today. I’ll have a grin wider than that river when you get it moved. A Prize beyond imagination.
I Have photos of my Great Grandfather operating a steam shovel just like this one. Awesome seeing it up close. He built roads in Arizona in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Actually died on the job in a explosion.
Hi, Frank and Sharon, thanks for a FANTASTIC video. I was thinking just fire that baby up and drive it out under it's own power till I saw the steam whistle, then I wondered if there were enough parts and spares to remount the steam whistle. (Actually I know it would require a total recertification of the entire boiler system) and I was glad that you showed the boiler for generator for the electric drag line, it's too bad you didn't find the generator/inverter itself. I sure wish you could find a way to recover and save that steam shovel. God Bless and stay safe.
On the last crane looked at, the big piece that had the electric motor on it, that you didn't know what it was. It is the boom section for a shovel attachment. The dipper stick with the bucket on the end would have been in the opening between the two sides. Thus the machine could be a dragline, shovel, or a lift crane.
I reckon when the boom cracked they gave up on it. Looks like it has done no work. You can still see the numbers painted on the frame components for assembly. Part 1 to part 1 etc. Very cool find.G'day and Cheers from Tasmania.
Wow I am in awe of what you had to do to get to that steam operated shovel - bloody hell 💪💪. It was certainly built to last, it was in such great condition - amazing. Sharon daring as ever climbing up to the end of the crane boom 😲. Lots of cool machinery. The photographs really add to the show. Thank you Sharon, Frank and Ben. ❤️👍❤️
I was wondering about the threads top of the bucket and found this. "Captain Richard Thew is credited with building America's first fully revolving shovel" also one of the first gasoline powered shovel. Thew was one of the biggest shovel manufacturers in 1914. They are now part of Terex Corp.
Awesome Job again Frank & Sharon! These are the very best type of historical records that people will look back on for many years and generations to come. I'd love to see you get that old Steam Whistle Shined up and working in your Museum Fran, Just maybe need a compressor & airline going to it? My God!... Sharon! that was quite a height you climbed up to! Things always look twice as high once you are up there! Geez! You must have some Billy goat in you? :o) I've been away for a bit, and I just happened to catch the tail end of your last Live show! ( I'll go back soon, and watch it from the start again ). I hope that things are going good for you two. Mighty Beautiful country up there, and your pics are really quite stunning Sharon! Good Job! Yes,..watching these Videos really lets us all get a feeling of what life must have been like for the folk that existed long before we came along. An amazing thing really, to see all the trouble, and the overcoming of obstacles, that good old hard work accomplished back then. I felt bad that you couldn't get across that river too Sharon, but that was a very wise decision that you made! Much better than going for a swim in that cold river! I just wanted to say that I hope you carry Bear spray at all times!..promise me!.okay? ;o) Well, I see that you guys have done another video too since I was last here! ( The Tony Beets Camp, & The Last Chance Mine! )So I'm going to go check it out now too :o) KEEP UP THE FANTASTIC WORK YOU TWO! Peace & Luv, Aries ;o)
Amazing to see this steam shovel, it definitely needs to be saved. It is a shame that Sharon didn't get accross the river, she needs platform soles on her waders!!
I like how the first thing people do is loot the shit outta it and still say, "It's all here still, wow." What about just leaving it be? Doubt this guy is doing anything but adding to his collection, example being the pot for his wife. Can we not just look and enjoy instead of purging sites from experience for the next group of people?
@@exploringabandonedmines That is the exact idea actually, leave everything where it is. I do understand your side though, still appreciate the video and work done, what a find!
LOL while I agree with your sentiment if you actually read the description, they put it all into the museum they run in Canada which is free and open to the public and thus people can actually see it. While many times I would be on your side, these things are going to the one place they should be going, a museum.
@@exploringabandonedmines I’m not as sentimental as I used to be, bring them out, waste of time leaving them there to eventually rot away (no matter how long that may take)
I've heard of a shovel out in the bush outside of Dawson that worked the Panama canal and was shipped to the Klondike to work on the Yukon Trench. The first shovel may be that one. I have visited the second electric shovel. If you can get into Bear Creek there is another shovel there.
I’ve worked on a scrapyard my entire life and I’ve only once come across those smooth link plate tracks. Pretty old solid steel, no tread no lugs. Crazy old school.
Excellent drone footage. Crossing the river is similar to the rivers here in the New Zealand High Country. Sharon did the right choice of not attempting to cross due to her height and probably to her inexperience of crossing rivers. As for the Steam crane, that would be an excellent addition to your museum. Might take a bit to get out but at the end of the day it would be well worth it as you would be preserving an excellent piece of engineering history.
At 13:00 the thing you surmising to be a parking brake is a rail clamp( one on each frame corner) along with the 2 swing out brackets on each side to keep the wheels on the track while it is digging.
The Thew is quite a find, this is the only Thew railroad shovel left in the world. This machine serial# 69 was brought to the Yukon with #70 in 1904 to mine a placer deposit by the Detroit Yukon Mining Company. It loaded pay on to ore carts on a railway and then they were winched up an incline to the top of a wash plant. The venture was too expensive to operate and only ran for one year. The next year the shovels worked on two large dredges #3 and #4 near Dawson City. They excavated the ponds the dredges floated in then were used as construction cranes building the dredges. Early Thew shovels are easy to identify, because they have the patented “horizontal crowd” mechanism to extend and retract the dipper. That’s what that triangular structure is for just below the boom; the stick’s pivot point moves horizontally along a rail at the top of this “triangle” to crowd the bucket into the bank. This was invented by Thew to facilitate unloading ore in the bottom of a ship's hold, since the bucket can move along the floor horizontally to clean up the last of the material, unlike a standard shovel, which can only dig in an arc movement. The boom could swing about 200 degrees, so they were called “part-swing” shovels. From the 1920s on, Thew sold their machines under the brand name “Lorain”, named for it’s hometown in Ohio. Lorain became one of the biggest makers of “construction-size” machines, but failed to get on board the hydraulic revolution (as did most US makers) and faded from the scene starting in the 1970s. The company was sold for pennies on the dollar during the recession in the early 80s to Terex corp, like many others. The second machine is a Marion 450. These were built from the late 20s through to 1944. As someone commented on YT, the motors in the back convert AC high line power to DC, because all the motors powering the different functions are DC motors. So in the back, there’s an AC motor turning a DC generator and that powers the hoist, boom hoist, drag and swing works. Travel power comes from the hoist motor. As you said in the vid, those things next to the external spur gears driving the crawlers slide the pinion in and out of the final drive gear, for steering the machine. There were a couple of steel bars that would be lowered from the front of the house onto this steering mechanism and act on those levers to slide the gears in-out to steer, simply by slightly swinging the house left-right. Weird, but it worked. This machine, too, is a rare species Strange choice of an electric machine to work in such an isolated spot, but it probably was previously used in conjunction with a gold dredge, where they have electric power set up anyway and was then sent on the ditching job simply because it was available locally and was a fair size machine for the job.
Great that you add all this information in the comment section! There aren't many excavators from the 1800s left, part because they were invented quite late so few were produced and part because they were quickly outcompeted by newer machines that were easier to operate and transport. In Sweden where I'm from there is probably only one true steam shovel remaining. After the 30s excavators became a lot more common though. I have three myself from 1941, 1954ish and 1962.
I live in the Yukon and it pisses me off you took everything out of it. Now when I explore it I won't be able to experience what you did or anyone else. Good job to being a selfish tourist and stealing the antiques. I hope you never come back here.
This is a very cool find , looks like the Holy Grail to me . Maybe one of the greatest finds you have done .. You just keep finding them .. Yukon what a long history of gold mining , i would love to go into that country myself .. Dawson is on my bucket list ... well done ...
The two boiler in this video don’t look too bad! Usually they rot out at the tube sheets but both look good, the hand holes on the shovel were open which told me they had winterized it, so if the top tube sheet of the shovel boiler is as good as the bottom that boiler is still probably good and could be steamed. (I am a boiler maker and steam engineer) that shovel is one of the most complete abandoned machines I’ve seen! The split in the main boom, I would V out the crack, weld it and then rivet some plate over it and weld around the edge. That would be a complete repair. It looks like it could be drug out. Frank are there any plans?
Metal today certainly is even close to metal 120 years ago. Metal today dissolves into rust in less then 20 years. I dug a 1931 Ford Model AA Radiator Shell out of the ground metal detecting still complete with the Ford emblem and crank case covers. Chrome still shiny!
With the condition it's in, it's almost tempting to see if the old girl would puff back to life especially seeing as the boiler looks intact. I mean you got wood, water not too far away by the sounds of it and it might take some time to fill the boiler but it should work. Also before seeing if the machinery moves, I suggest a lot of oil and a crap ton of wd-40 or pb blaster of kroil or whatever you can get your hands on. That beauty should be in a museum and not rusting away in the woodlands.
This is friggen cool!!!! There's a park nearby me with a bunch of trails that has an old deasil shovel abandoned in the woods. It was a rock quarry many years back in Snohomish Washington.
Notice at 11:34, you can see a painted number, by each part and on the frame.It was shipped in pieces and assembled on site. Very cool I saw this same thing, at a upper Tram House in Nevada. All the buildings parts were hauled in by wagon, then assembled up on the mountain.
That electric one is quite something. Would be neat to see one get restored or to restore one since steam and diesel gets the most love, it's hard to even find much of anything about old electric cranes/draglines.
That last bit you looked at was the face shovel boom. The electric motor and gears drove a rack that had the bucket on the end. That gave you the up and down. Then there was a cable over the top to pull the bucket threw the dirt. And a rope you pull to trip the back door of the bucket to dump.
Probably one of the most unique if not the most unique explore you’ve done....and yes like you I believe these shovels were use to dig ditches to supply hydraulic mine and sluicing....
@@exploringabandonedmines that's something I've never got see being in the most southern part of south east Louisiana, you could dip your shoe in this saltwater around here then leave it outside and in a month it will be only rust lmao
The steam shovel was patented by Otis who also invented the lift, his designs improved greatly the British steam excavator's that were not very good and needed a lot of work to do not a lot of work.
Great was getting to see that it was chain driven still on the railroad tracks but Best of all was seeing what type of chain being used that was driving it down those tracks.
The Thew Automatic Shovel Company, Lorain Ohio. I went to Lorain County Community College in the early 70's. By then that company was sold off and soon to be gone.
That face shovel is in beautiful condition, even the boiler tubes looked in great shape, definitely a candidate for revival, I hope it can be saved and reunited with its artefacts.
Steam shovel is a face shovel, electric one is a dragline. The (two) large electric motors at the rear of the thing are a rotary converter, converting ac power to dc for use in the dragline’s dc motors (very inefficient to send dc over distance).
The unidentified crane/jib with the motor on is a face shovel set up, the motor and gearbox is the crowding gear, to push the bucket arm in and out.
Good job Frank.
Since you took the whistle, the soul of the machine, I'm holding you to hauling that beast out and re-uniting them! Anything less wouldn't be right. Cheers.
We would like to see it pulled out of the bush and put on display. In the meantime the whistle is being kept for safe keeping.
@@exploringabandonedmines you just gotta find someone with a big dozer a flatbed trailer and a big winch and its outta there a dozer could go right across all the water ez
Your a criminal . What a loser.
@Chris Wallace Steal from who? If anyone had any serious interest in it, they would have done something with it. And Frank IS THE MAN who can make this happen. Selfish? Preserving history. What happens to these artifacts? They go into a museum. Don't make this into something it's not. It is not grave robbing. And who is more guilty of stealing than GOVERNMENTS? Finders keepers, as they say. And so if Frank finds something that he wants, or could use, whatever it is, and it belongs to no one.. He should be more than free to take it. What happens if you find a old box of gold, a treasure, just buried... You going to leave it? Turn it over to your Satanic authority? You know damn well they want it. What is the difference? This is FRANKS TREASURE.
@Chris Wallace Its hardly stealing is it, he has a museum to preserve things, its obvious he wants it towed out of there as its in working condition.
WOW! that steam shovel is the frigin coolest piece of 1800s mining history ever! looks like you could fill that boiler up with water throw in some coal or wood light a match lay some track and just drive it out under it's own power! bet if that were any closer inland it would have been scrapped or dismantled for parts many many years ago like most of the old abandoned and forgotten mining machines and artifacts "junk"no longer economic to their long gone owners left behind to rot and decay..True gem of find and vid guys! thanks for sharing!
Let's recover that piece of history!! I'd be more than willing to volunteer for an adventure like that!
That needs to go to a museum
Looks hardly used
Along with the things he stoled from the sight
@@late4dinner268 this guy shows so little respect for the stuff he strips
Please send your check for $2m(C) to the link above
He owns a museum which no doubt its in
It’s hard to believe it’s been abandoned for well over one hundred years! It looks like it was parked just a decade or two ago!
Hopefully someone saves it and puts it in a museum somewhere, or better yet restores it to operation.
Great film, as always!
The tress aren't that big around it. Probably wasn't there that long
Its only 100 years old not parked 100 years but its gotta have been there pretty long if they were still using it for work when they abandoned it
Thanks for showing us the shovel. My father was a shovel operator in WW2 and for years after . He would loved to see this John c Wunschel .>=W->
If only you could have gotten that back to the museum. That is an amazing piece of history.
I hope that I'm not the only one who noticed the "re-assembly numbers next to the Manufacturers Data Plate. Ain't no way that thing was driven in there, it was pulled apart and carted in on mule drawn wagons more than likely and then put back together there or near there.
Frank you should never leave Sharan behind. She is the perfect bear treat. Keep that in mind fella too. Nice shovel machine. VF
better than being salmon bait ! :0
@@cut-- Yes but by just a little bit. VF
@@victoryfirst2878 :) there is a age where you learn to trust your gut ! I assume they are carrying bear spray - 44 mags . etc :}
@Ted jaramillo Great comment Ted. Just love all the attention fella. VF
Hate to admit it, but I thought so too.
Wow ! Frank . That brought back so many Memories of Crossings I made back in the 70s n 80s . We have to share a Beer n Stories some Day . Stay Safe Brother and Big Thanks to all you Share .
This is really something! I wonder how many of these have survived to this day? Has to be only a few if that. So interesting! It would be really great to see it hauled out and put on display indoors at a steam museum. You have really sparked interest with this video Frank!
Wow what a awesome find that steam engine at the River crossing is not only rare but is in amazing shape for being over hundred years old Nevada has some cool mines an some machinery but the Yukon area an machinery just blows the cool factor off the charts, the 1800s steam shovel be a great piece for your museum just love the old machinery,,,thanks frank as always be safe 👍👍👍
Thank you very much!
Hi Frank & Sharon, that was one amazing piece of history you found in that old steam shovel, wow. That river looked really swift flowing, good job in getting across it and securing the rope as that wouldn't have been an east task for anybody. Thanks for sharing, much love. xx💖
Glad you enjoyed it
@@exploringabandonedmines I certainly did, what a trip. x
You felt so comfortable taking stuff from something so precious to find that had been there for so many years unmolested by others for more than a 100 years I can only hope that you return the things you took.
They belong in a museum.
@@exploringabandonedmines I agree, in the woods it will decay alone. In a museum we can appreciate the brass craftsmanship of the turn of the century.
The maker of the shovel was actually a big out fit.
Off a stock certificate " They have been used for burrowing for gold upon the Arctic circle, "
and also "In the work of mining in the gold fields of the far North the Thew Automatic Shovel is a favorite machine. "
And as another poster related used on the building of the Panama Canal.
Off another site
"In 1924, the Thew line of products was completely redesigned and the new machines were identified by the trademark "Lorain" after the town where they were built. In 1964, sales declined and Thew became the Thew-Lorain Division of Koehring Co. Today, the remnants of Koehring and Lorain can be found under Terex Corp., which acquired the division in 1987."
So based on that, this machine was built sometime after 1924.
Also interesting to note, was the paint work stencil to the left of the first name plate, that has either "OK or OR BRENER No 65". Just wonder if that has to do with the owner.
Interesting bit of kit and as much as it might be nice to recover it for display, it sounds like there a fair number in the area in one state of disrepair or another.
Regarding making public the GPS positioning, I can say without reservation, don't do it. It just allows for people to go and be destructive and not respect the history of the item or the place
Don't worry we won't make the location public. It has the sn# 69 it was built before 1913 when they built # 953
@@exploringabandonedmines Makes sense. They were made in Lorain, OH, so it seems there's an "H" missing off the nameplate. They renamed to Lorain after the ton they were build in, and it common to have the manufacturing city/state on the dataplate.
I was gona say before 1920 when they started welding
I know where there is an old dredge here in Alaska that is untouched. It is in a very remote location though. It was an old dredge that was refurbished and relocated up the Yukon for a private operation in the 1960's. Very few people know it's true location though. A true gem. I think the dry air is a big part in how the wood gets preserved. In winter there is almost zero humidity for the majority of the season. The meltwater does the most damaged. but in this case the roof is still able to shed the snow and water to a large degree.
We have found 6 dredges in the Dawson area
@@exploringabandonedmines very cool. This one is like 130-ish miles northwest of Dawson but on the Alaska side.
get a hold of some of the steam groups in the country, that thing needs to be restored!
I love seeing this old equipment and in amazing condition, pretty gutsy of Sharon to stay behind respect ✊
SUPER SCORE! WOW!!! Thanks for bring us along! 🍻!
Our pleasure!
12:17 That gives a different perspective to the term “chain drive” and it’s all wheel drive. I truly learned something new today. I’ll have a grin wider than that river when you get it moved. A Prize beyond imagination.
WOW! That thing belongs in an museums. Thanks all great find.
You bet
I Have photos of my Great Grandfather operating a steam shovel just like this one. Awesome seeing it up close. He built roads in Arizona in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Actually died on the job in a explosion.
Hi, Frank and Sharon, thanks for a FANTASTIC video. I was thinking just fire that baby up and drive it out under it's own power till I saw the steam whistle, then I wondered if there were enough parts and spares to remount the steam whistle. (Actually I know it would require a total recertification of the entire boiler system) and I was glad that you showed the boiler for generator for the electric drag line, it's too bad you didn't find the generator/inverter itself. I sure wish you could find a way to recover and save that steam shovel. God Bless and stay safe.
On the last crane looked at, the big piece that had the electric motor on it, that you didn't know what it was. It is the boom section for a shovel attachment. The dipper stick with the bucket on the end would have been in the opening between the two sides. Thus the machine could be a dragline, shovel, or a lift crane.
I reckon when the boom cracked they gave up on it. Looks like it has done no work. You can still see the numbers painted on the frame components for assembly. Part 1 to part 1 etc. Very cool find.G'day and Cheers from Tasmania.
the scrap and pallet man would love it he'd toss it on his ute and sell it for scrap and then retire !he he .
That is what I was thinking too, the workers back then were, "it's not mine".
Georgeous video, thank you so much for sharing! I love this stuff.
Wow I am in awe of what you had to do to get to that steam operated shovel - bloody hell 💪💪. It was certainly built to last, it was in such great condition - amazing. Sharon daring as ever climbing up to the end of the crane boom 😲. Lots of cool machinery. The photographs really add to the show. Thank you Sharon, Frank and Ben. ❤️👍❤️
Sharon takes the pictures...they are awesome!
Frank you have to get that out!! That’s in great shape for the age of it. Cool 😎
The government wants it to "rust in place"
Thank you for taking your time and sharing your travels and educating along on the way!!
Thanks for watching!
I was wondering about the threads top of the bucket and found this. "Captain Richard Thew is credited with building America's first fully revolving shovel" also one of the first gasoline powered shovel. Thew was one of the biggest shovel manufacturers in 1914. They are now part of Terex Corp.
Awesome Job again Frank & Sharon! These are the very best type of historical records that people will look back on for many years and generations to come. I'd love to see you get that old Steam Whistle Shined up and working in your Museum Fran, Just maybe need a compressor & airline going to it? My God!... Sharon! that was quite a height you climbed up to! Things always look twice as high once you are up there! Geez! You must have some Billy goat in you? :o) I've been away for a bit, and I just happened to catch the tail end of your last Live show! ( I'll go back soon, and watch it from the start again ). I hope that things are going good for you two. Mighty Beautiful country up there, and your pics are really quite stunning Sharon! Good Job! Yes,..watching these Videos really lets us all get a feeling of what life must have been like for the folk that existed long before we came along. An amazing thing really, to see all the trouble, and the overcoming of obstacles, that good old hard work accomplished back then. I felt bad that you couldn't get across that river too Sharon, but that was a very wise decision that you made! Much better than going for a swim in that cold river! I just wanted to say that I hope you carry Bear spray at all times!..promise me!.okay? ;o) Well, I see that you guys have done another video too since I was last here! ( The Tony Beets Camp, & The Last Chance Mine! )So I'm going to go check it out now too :o) KEEP UP THE FANTASTIC WORK YOU TWO! Peace & Luv, Aries ;o)
Amazing to see this steam shovel, it definitely needs to be saved. It is a shame that Sharon didn't get accross the river, she needs platform soles on her waders!!
Amazing find! Perfect video! Thank you and greetings from Slovakia!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I would personally donate to the save this shovel fund. Start a fundraiser to save this old beast!!
We have a few hurdles to jump first we need to get permission from the government and then we need to figure out where it should go.
@@exploringabandonedmines good luck. I hope you find her a nice home 👍
Kinda wish you wouldn't take souvenirs. It's the small things that are hard to replace if its ever going to be preserved in the future.
Nobody will ever see it, why leave them to rot into the ground?
Re-certifying that boiler could prove costly. Having someone retrieve it and restore it would make for a good show!
Boilers are often a lost cause, but an engine can be restored almost indefinitely. Often new babbits and rings are all that is needed.
The boiler can be bypassed and the engine run on compressed air.
@@markevans6751 I don't know that kind of defeats the purpose of it being a steam engine :P
Ya perhaps his new gold rush show would chip in Frank I say Let's get it out of there and running!! What a great show idea!!
Great Finds Frank Sharon Ben. Frank you need the steam shovel at your museum. Ben should clean up the steam whistle and try it with compressed air.
I like how the first thing people do is loot the shit outta it and still say, "It's all here still, wow." What about just leaving it be? Doubt this guy is doing anything but adding to his collection, example being the pot for his wife. Can we not just look and enjoy instead of purging sites from experience for the next group of people?
Nobody knows where it is. Might as well bring the artifacts out so people can see them. If you found a sunken ship would you leave everything as is?
@@exploringabandonedmines That is the exact idea actually, leave everything where it is. I do understand your side though, still appreciate the video and work done, what a find!
LOL while I agree with your sentiment if you actually read the description, they put it all into the museum they run in Canada which is free and open to the public and thus people can actually see it. While many times I would be on your side, these things are going to the one place they should be going, a museum.
@@exploringabandonedmines I’m not as sentimental as I used to be, bring them out, waste of time leaving them there to eventually rot away (no matter how long that may take)
I like how people like you come to RUclips, to put strangers down for absolutely no reason. Does that make you feel better? They did nothing wrong.
great video, i love steam engines and old machinery, thanks for going out there.
You bet
Absolutely amazing, just goes to show what real craftsmanship is. Unbelievably well preserved.
Well that and it is frozen most of the year!
Some folks used to work these shovels with compressed air. Cool find.
Awesome adventure you had. Thanks for taking us along.
Glad you enjoyed it
I've heard of a shovel out in the bush outside of Dawson that worked the Panama canal and was shipped to the Klondike to work on the Yukon Trench. The first shovel may be that one. I have visited the second electric shovel. If you can get into Bear Creek there is another shovel there.
I would say this one was disassembled and reassembled at some point after looking at the numbers painted on the frame.
@@zr700 That's the only way they move shovels any distance.
Amazing!
I like the pictures at the end. Thank you for taking us on another adventure. 3 thumbs up!
Glad you enjoyed it...you have 3 Thumbs?
@@exploringabandonedmines
Some days pretty much all thumbs.
Very nice finds. Time has been kind to them thus far.
Thank you for sharing this experience.
You bet
Too bad you couldn't get it moved to your museum! That is really one of a kind.
Love this show above ground! I’m glad he has some compadres now.
It show the quality in steel an craftsmanship what a find it will be there another hundred years
Good to see you again! Thanks for the video!
You bet!
this shovel is a real treasure!! I hope its saved some day!!
Wonderful find! Thanks so much for sharing the adventure.
Glad you enjoyed it
I’ve worked on a scrapyard my entire life and I’ve only once come across those smooth link plate tracks. Pretty old solid steel, no tread no lugs. Crazy old school.
Now thats the best shovel you’ve found to date. Awesome footage
Thanks 👍
Anything not bolted down was stolen in this video, nice work
We didn't steal anything.
Love your vids, this has to be one of your coolest finds yet in my opinion! Thanks for what you do!
Glad you enjoy it!
That steam shovel is awesome oh, it was so intact and in such great shape I bet the old Beast would probably fire up with a little bit of TLC
Excellent drone footage. Crossing the river is similar to the rivers here in the New Zealand High Country. Sharon did the right choice of not attempting to cross due to her height and probably to her inexperience of crossing rivers. As for the Steam crane, that would be an excellent addition to your museum. Might take a bit to get out but at the end of the day it would be well worth it as you would be preserving an excellent piece of engineering history.
Hi Robert
Hello from British Columbia Canada 🇨🇦
Definitely should be in a museum
Unbelievable find Frank. To think it has sat there all this time and probably only a few people have ever seen it.
The steam shovel,would make a great will it run episode.
This is a super piece of equipment. Oh it would be lovely to preserve it. I love old machinery.
You and me both!
What an amazing find. A real time capsule into the past. Great video 👍
Yes it was
At 13:00 the thing you surmising to be a parking brake is a rail clamp( one on each frame corner) along with the 2 swing out brackets on each side to keep the wheels on the track while it is digging.
Frank, thanks for sharing your adventures with us. Totally kool.
My pleasure!
Canada is so freaking beautiful !!
The Thew is quite a find, this is the only Thew railroad shovel left in the world. This machine serial# 69 was brought to the Yukon with #70 in 1904 to mine a placer deposit by the Detroit Yukon Mining Company. It loaded pay on to ore carts on a railway and then they were winched up an incline to the top of a wash plant. The venture was too expensive to operate and only ran for one year. The next year the shovels worked on two large dredges #3 and #4 near Dawson City. They excavated the ponds the dredges floated in then were used as construction cranes building the dredges. Early Thew shovels are easy to identify, because they have the patented “horizontal crowd” mechanism to extend and retract the dipper. That’s what that triangular structure is for just below the boom; the stick’s pivot point moves horizontally along a rail at the top of this “triangle” to crowd the bucket into the bank. This was invented by Thew to facilitate unloading ore in the bottom of a ship's hold, since the bucket can move along the floor horizontally to clean up the last of the material, unlike a standard shovel, which can only dig in an arc movement. The boom could swing about 200 degrees, so they were called “part-swing” shovels. From the 1920s on, Thew sold their machines under the brand name “Lorain”, named for it’s hometown in Ohio. Lorain became one of the biggest makers of “construction-size” machines, but failed to get on board the hydraulic revolution (as did most US makers) and faded from the scene starting in the 1970s. The company was sold for pennies on the dollar during the recession in the early 80s to Terex corp, like many others.
The second machine is a Marion 450. These were built from the late 20s through to 1944. As someone commented on YT, the motors in the back convert AC high line power to DC, because all the motors powering the different functions are DC motors. So in the back, there’s an AC motor turning a DC generator and that powers the hoist, boom hoist, drag and swing works. Travel power comes from the hoist motor. As you said in the vid, those things next to the external spur gears driving the crawlers slide the pinion in and out of the final drive gear, for steering the machine. There were a couple of steel bars that would be lowered from the front of the house onto this steering mechanism and act on those levers to slide the gears in-out to steer, simply by slightly swinging the house left-right. Weird, but it worked. This machine, too, is a rare species Strange choice of an electric machine to work in such an isolated spot, but it probably was previously used in conjunction with a gold dredge, where they have electric power set up anyway and was then sent on the ditching job simply because it was available locally and was a fair size machine for the job.
Great that you add all this information in the comment section! There aren't many excavators from the 1800s left, part because they were invented quite late so few were produced and part because they were quickly outcompeted by newer machines that were easier to operate and transport. In Sweden where I'm from there is probably only one true steam shovel remaining. After the 30s excavators became a lot more common though. I have three myself from 1941, 1954ish and 1962.
Yes the knee action crowd i collect lorain shovels that is a very rare piece indeed
Excellent stuff!!!
I live in the Yukon and it pisses me off you took everything out of it. Now when I explore it I won't be able to experience what you did or anyone else. Good job to being a selfish tourist and stealing the antiques. I hope you never come back here.
@@quicknick9758 stop being a sally your all wrong unless one of you steps up and saves this shovel
Such a nice machine indeed. Thank's for the video😊
Our pleasure!
That is neat and very interesting!!
This is a very cool find , looks like the Holy Grail to me . Maybe one of the greatest finds you have done .. You just keep finding them .. Yukon what a long history of gold mining , i would love to go into that country myself .. Dawson is on my bucket list ... well done ...
Thanks, will do!
The two boiler in this video don’t look too bad! Usually they rot out at the tube sheets but both look good, the hand holes on the shovel were open which told me they had winterized it, so if the top tube sheet of the shovel boiler is as good as the bottom that boiler is still probably good and could be steamed. (I am a boiler maker and steam engineer) that shovel is one of the most complete abandoned machines I’ve seen! The split in the main boom, I would V out the crack, weld it and then rivet some plate over it and weld around the edge. That would be a complete repair. It looks like it could be drug out. Frank are there any plans?
Super cool peice of machinery. And in pretty nice shape too. Kinda of a shame its abandoned out there.
Yes indeed
Wonder even the last one still looks good. That shows you things were made to last Back in the day
Metal today certainly is even close to metal 120 years ago. Metal today dissolves into rust in less then 20 years. I dug a 1931 Ford Model AA Radiator Shell out of the ground metal detecting still complete with the Ford emblem and crank case covers. Chrome still shiny!
With the condition it's in, it's almost tempting to see if the old girl would puff back to life especially seeing as the boiler looks intact. I mean you got wood, water not too far away by the sounds of it and it might take some time to fill the boiler but it should work. Also before seeing if the machinery moves, I suggest a lot of oil and a crap ton of wd-40 or pb blaster of kroil or whatever you can get your hands on. That beauty should be in a museum and not rusting away in the woodlands.
I’m sure people have said you should leave items there for others to see like they do in old west towns
Far more will see in my museum. Nobody will anything where it is.
I want to hear some air hooked up to that whistle. Great video folks. Thanks.
I have a similar one I bought on Ebay hooked up to shop air. It is loud and high pitched!
Greetings from Clay County, Missouri !
@7:50 Lorain, OHIO
Thanks again, Frank ATB !! & HH !!! 10 thumbs up ! PEACE
My Great Grandfather was born in Appleton City in 1881.
That should be preserved in a museum!!
Hopefully that can happen in the future.
This is friggen cool!!!! There's a park nearby me with a bunch of trails that has an old deasil shovel abandoned in the woods. It was a rock quarry many years back in Snohomish Washington.
Great old shovel and crane looked very nice, and in bloody good condition aswel wow.
Glad you enjoyed it
Nice one , I hope to get up North some day and check all the old equipment boneyards.
You should!
Notice at 11:34, you can see a painted number, by each part and on the frame.It was shipped in pieces and assembled on site. Very cool
I saw this same thing, at a upper Tram House in Nevada. All the buildings parts were hauled in by wagon, then assembled up on the mountain.
That was a great adventure Frank , keep the videos coming 👍
Pete Australia
Glad you enjoyed it
loads of history there frank,, very interesting stuff
That electric one is quite something. Would be neat to see one get restored or to restore one since steam and diesel gets the most love, it's hard to even find much of anything about old electric cranes/draglines.
Google Threw steam cranes.
Nice research and find mate. Makes it that much better when its a mission to get there.
That last bit you looked at was the face shovel boom. The electric motor and gears drove a rack that had the bucket on the end. That gave you the up and down. Then there was a cable over the top to pull the bucket threw the dirt. And a rope you pull to trip the back door of the bucket to dump.
I vote you get that thing outta there Frank. Cool machine 👍
Great film, Preserving history not about the money 👍
Absolutely
Excellent, Frank....Lorain Ohio? was a big industrial city at one time.
Probably one of the most unique if not the most unique explore you’ve done....and yes like you I believe these shovels were use to dig ditches to supply hydraulic mine and sluicing....
Yes it is an amazing find.
Is it just me or is the steel in amazing shape for its age forget that the wood is still in amazing shape!
It is the cold dry air that preserves things so well.
@@exploringabandonedmines that's something I've never got see being in the most southern part of south east Louisiana, you could dip your shoe in this saltwater around here then leave it outside and in a month it will be only rust lmao
thats sick.. my old man had 2 cable shovel's similar. the walk in engine compartment was the coolest thing to play in for a 7 year old lol.
The steam shovel was patented by Otis who also invented the lift, his designs improved greatly the British steam excavator's that were not very good and needed a lot of work to do not a lot of work.
Can please somebody in this country found a club and rescue this stunning Beauty? She is AMAZING!!!
The powers that be have decided it should rust in place!
Great was getting to see that it was chain driven still on the railroad tracks but Best of all was seeing what type of chain being used that was driving it down those tracks.
Nice shovel to restore
Awesome video. Nice machine. Too bad its stuck in remote bush
Wow that is amazing. Thanks for making the video.
You bet!
The Thew Automatic Shovel Company, Lorain Ohio. I went to Lorain County Community College in the early 70's. By then that company was sold off and soon to be gone.