"Slave2anMG" (Slave2anMG)
10/23/2014 at 20:46 • Filed to: None
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"Slave2anMG" (Slave2anMG)
10/23/2014 at 20:46 • Filed to: None | 1
| 11 |
Before the ships were built with conveyors and self-unload systems, they were unloaded with Huletts. Huletts were late 19th century technology, built into the early 1910s and the last ones used (seen in this video) into 1992. The bucket did not rotate but only moved up/down and fore/aft. The bucket operator's cab was on the actual vertical arm - video has footage from inside the cab. Bucket capacity was about 10 tons. The bucket did not dump directly into the rail cars; it dumped into a receiving car that moved along under the main frame; that car dumped either into the rail car or out the backside to feed to stockpiles that were worked down in the winter when the lakes froze. And how did the get the ore out of the corners of the ship's holds? Originally a bunch of men with shovels; in later years a front end loader was hung from a chain and lowered down into the hold by the Hulett.
A friend, a retired railroad engineer who worked the ore trains, got permission to do some extensive photography around the Huletts around 1989. Amazing technology and I wish I could share his photos. They were great industrial-era machines.
area man
> Slave2anMG
10/23/2014 at 20:57 |
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This is so cool - I love massive old machines like this. Thanks for sharing.
Life and Times of Magoo: The People's Champ
> Slave2anMG
10/23/2014 at 21:05 |
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Absolutely crazy and awesome. Never heard/seen anything like this before. Thanks for posting.
ttyymmnn
> Slave2anMG
10/23/2014 at 21:05 |
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That's pretty cool. The scale of those things is amazing. I used to live a few miles from the Lambert's Point coal piers in Norfolk, VA. This was the end of the line for the coal that was mined in the eastern US, then loaded into ships. In this system, the entire coal car is rotated and tipped upside down. In spite of the sprayers you see trying to keep the coal dust down, the dust got in the air and blew for miles. If you left your house windows open you would get black dust in your window sills. It turned the tops of vehicles black, especially vans that were difficult to wash the top of.
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Slave2anMG
> ttyymmnn
10/23/2014 at 21:19 |
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Pronounce that "Nawfuk" too :)
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ttyymmnn
> Slave2anMG
10/23/2014 at 21:25 |
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Close. There's still a hint of an "r" in it. But it's impossible to type it phonetically. Just don't say "Nor-Foalk".
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Slave2anMG
> ttyymmnn
10/23/2014 at 21:30 |
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My mother's family are all from northeastern NC so I grew up hearing "nahr-fuk' or 'nawfuk' or similar...it's that weird northern NC/southeastern (aka southside) VA accent. It's not a Southern accent and I find it bewilders people. But to me it sounds like home :)
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ttyymmnn
> Slave2anMG
10/23/2014 at 21:37 |
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Eastern NC has a language all its own. And the particular Tidewater (Taadwahtuh) accent is only found, well, in Tidewater (Norfolk, Portsmouth, a bit of Va Beach, maybe a bit of the Peninsula). It's interesting how quickly the accents change as you pass the Dismal Swamp. I do miss that part of the country, though.
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Slave2anMG
> ttyymmnn
10/23/2014 at 21:39 |
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Yep, that's it. About 13 years ago I was visiting a customer in Smithfield, VA with a fellow from Iowa. Our host was a native Southsider and while I could understand him perfectly, to my guest from Iowa the Southsider might as well have been speaking Vulcan. The Iowan had not a clue what was being said; I was literally translating.
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ttyymmnn
> Slave2anMG
10/23/2014 at 22:13 |
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Mmm, Smithfield ham. Don't ever bother making ham biscuits with any other kind of ham.
TotallyThatStupid
> Slave2anMG
10/24/2014 at 16:32 |
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That. Is. Crazy. Like something out of some movie set in the "future". The scale is... wrong. Question: what powers the Huletts? They seem pretty quiet, especially compared to the diesel bucket loader running around.
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TotallyThatStupid
> ttyymmnn
10/24/2014 at 16:40 |
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A lot of gravity going on there. And the train car flipper thing is nuts.