The Cleveland Landmarks Commission has approved a proposal to resurrect one piece of a Pennsylvania Railroad surviving Hulett ore unloader at a new park on Whiskey Island at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river.
Full story here: https://www.cleveland.com/news/2019/08/landmarks-commission-approves-plan-to-erect-giant-hulett-part-on-lakefront.html
Need to have a full hulett to actually visualize how they worked -
No wonder they invented self-unloading boats.
I’ve heard of them but have never seen one, much less one in action. When was this filmed? Are there any still in use?
In as much as ConRail hoppers are pictured it was sometime in the middle 70’s or maybe early 80’s. Not aware of any that are still in use.
2 of the 4 still exist:
You know how I feel, I’d rather see a park opened around them where they are rather than just erecting one bucket like some kind of obelisk.
https://allthingsclevelandohio.blogspot.com/2008/01/hulett-ore-unloaders-clevelands-late.html
Aren’t all four of the ones in Ashtabula still up?
Can’t see any there on Google Earth, even in historic views back to 1994. A quick search seems to indicate the dismantled ones at Cleveland are the last.
They move around like something out of The War of the Worlds.
Mind-numbing work for the operator.
I was actually surprised how un-mind-numbing the actual operation of one of these things was. I suppose I had visions of some great complicated set of controls, like a cross between a crane and Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times. The reality as demonstrated in the attached video is surprisingly different – and admittedly experience makes the coordination between simple control manipulation and outside action more exact, but the controls facilitate it.
I was always a bit sad that no one seems to have carefully filmed steam-hammer men carefully cracking eggshells and watch crystals with their experienced control, but this is the next best thing. Glad it was preserved, as it’s a skill unlikely to be either taught or documented.
Predecessors:
Erie Huletts under construction:
[quote user=“NDG”]
More Ship Stuff.
1943 + 1925.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGO8GGozTe0
Looks as if they are ’ Feeding’.
I remember 2 things about a river cruise that we took on the Goodtime II back in the early 1980’s. The huletts and the S.S. Canadiana:
Both scared the crap out of me! [(-D]
+1
The current proposal seems absurd to me. Where’s the context? Imagine the picture with the ore boat gone (it’s been moved at least once and may someday move again): what’s left is “some kind of obelisk.” Who will gain any appreciation for Hulett unloaders if this is all there is to see? I think this proposal is simply to get the preservation group off the city’s back, as it were.
My first day as a deckhand on the Str. Reiss Brothers was in Ashtabula where I was immediately sent to the bottom of the cargo hold to help clean up what the Huletts missed. When I saw that enormous arm and gaping maw coming fast right down next to me I was really taken aback. To see these brontosauri in action was more than impressive and a serious introduction for me, a college kid, into the world of working men.
The Hulets would eventually have had to be replaced by self-unloading boats if for no other reason than the unavailability of spare parts. I’m very sorry they were dismantled in the first place, but they were in the way and Time moves forward.
Or, as we used to say in the 1950’s: That’s progress.
But it doesn’t mean we have to like it.
A Hulett boom as a oblisk is a travesty and doesn’t convey any understanding of what the Hulett’s were or how they performed their function. If the representation of a historical artifact doesn’t convey what it is and how it was used - it might as well be l
Thanks for writing that.
I’ve been staying out of this thread despite several failed attempts to compose my thoughts in a post. But you just said to a tee exactly what I’ve been feeling but couldn’t quite put down in words.
It’s a bit vague as to what they have in mind. One of the concept paintings shows a model, but whether an interpreter will be present (and/or how often) I haven’t found out.
I have to download and read the full proposals from here: http://canalwaypartners.com/projects/huletts/
There’s also going to be a Hulett Hotel:
Will the rooms replicate the motions of the Hulett’s operators compartment during the visitors stay? [pi]
I was going to ask if the mechanism could be adapted to be a couple of elevators, but I like your idea better. Suites on the top floor have the controls from a couple of the Huletts installed with a seat, and the view changes as you run up and down…
… or have a model in the room, with a camera duplicating the operator’s views, and control its motion from the ‘historic fabric’ controls.
I still think museums would love to have a ‘Hulett simulator’ perhaps with a soundtrack. I was frankly astounded how quiet it was in the cab in that video.
