Photo taken 12 June 2009. One of the steam shovels used to build the Panama Canal made the long, strange trip from sea level to an altitude of 8,228 feet (2,508 m) to reach its final resting place at the Nederland Mining Museum in Nederland, Colorado.
The sign on the side of the shovel reads:
1923 Panama Canal Steam Shovel Bucyrus Model 50-B
The only Bucyrus model 50-B still existing, this 1923 steam shovel weighs 130,000 pounds and is rated at 75 tons. 534 Bucyrus and Bucyrus-Erie 50-B shovels were built between 1923 and 1939. They were among the largest tracked steam shovels in the world at that time. Until 1932 most were steam powered and moved on railroad tracks. In 1923, crawler tracks were added to the 50-B model, creating the first heavy duty, 360 degree rotation mobile shovels.
This shovel, with 24 others, was sent to the Panama Canal to build bridges, roads, and drains and remove the massive amount of dirt and rock cut from the canal bed. All the shovels but one were scrapped at Panama. The survivor was shipped back to California and then brought to Denver. In the early 1950s it was transported to Rollinsville by Roy and Russel Durand, who operated it at the Lump Gulch Placer, six miles south of Nederland, until 1978.
The shovel was donated by Steve and Laurel Higgins to the Nederland Mining Museum. On October 21, 2005 the shovel was moved from Lump Gulch to the Nederland Mining Museum. This national treasure links a historic engineering achievement, the industrial revolution of the United States, local history of Colorado mining, and good old fashioned hard work by two brothers trying to achieve the American dream. Today it is the largest operating steam shovel in the United States.
That’s pretty cool! Where is this in Nederland?
If you are in the Nederland traffic circle and you exit the circle like you are headed up Hwy 72 to Ward, it’s immediately on your right. You can’t miss it (unless they’ve moved it)!
Russell Durand was my Great Grandfather and he was very mechanically inclined. He and his brother Roy hauled the shovel in three loads and reassembled it on their property. He passed away many years ago, but I know he would be proud to see the old shovel still being appreciated.
Wow, thanks, Weston! It’s a great piece of history, it’s great that it’s being preserved, and I’m really pleased that you found it here and added to the story.