I have never been to Cleveland docks so I do not have a clue.
http://www.clevelandflats.org/images/Huletts%201990%205x7.jpg
I have never been to Cleveland docks so I do not have a clue.
http://www.clevelandflats.org/images/Huletts%201990%205x7.jpg
Those are Hulett ore unloaders at the C&P ore dock. They haven’t been used since 1992.
Hulett unloaders formerly could be found at steel mills all over the Great Lakes. Those at Cleveland were probably the last ones in existence. The development of the self-unloading ore boat was the cause of their demise.
One minor quibble. I don’t think you’ll find them at steel mills, rather at the Great Lakes ports that serve the steel mills.
I don’t know about arrangements on Lake Erie, but in the Calumet Region, all of the mills had their own direct water connection, be it on Lake Michigan, the Calumet River or the Indiana Harbor Canal.
Ok, we’re both right, then.
Paul, I’m surprised at you!
There are (or were, in about 2000) a couple of Huletts along the Calumet River (can’t remember exactly where, along the east bank of the river south of the Skyway). When I took my extended family for a cruise on the rivers that year (brother-in-law’s boat; I was just the tour guide), one of them was still operating; my nieces and nephews were fascinated by the operator riding just above the bucket. I think that they’re no longer in operation, but don’t know whether they’ve been physically removed.
Excellent pictures of which can be found here
AG Thanks for the links. I have seen other photos, but never had a chance to see them in operation. The photos and descriptions confirmed my assumption that they used a bucket that dipped into the shipload and dumped into a hopper or directly into a freight car. (That as opposed to being some kind of belt or bucket conveyor).
They really must have been impressive at work.
Jay, the ones I saw working in Chicago dumped into a sort of shuttle vehicle which pulled back and unloaded behind the shuttle. The bucket and operator didn’t travel too far at all, and the movement of this shuttling vehicle seemed to be tied in with the movement of the bucket. They were unloading a barge when we saw them, and the tracks underneath the boom were unoccupied.
…Those are beautiful clear black and whites. It’s hard to imagine an operator working in the environment such as these machines required…today.
What kind of controls were at the operators control station…Those machines were constructed long before modern controls as are used today. Surely they were not mechanical…Must have been electric…?? Or…{hard to imagine}, hydraulic…??
That operator had to ride the “bucket” with every move…Can’t imagine doing that for 8 or more hours…And possible coal dirt, and so on…
Those were mammoth machines…Safety…?? I wonder.