This is Mazon Monday post #302.  What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com.

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The Marion Power Shovel Company was an American company that designed, manufactured, and built steam shovels, power shovels, blast hole drills, excavators, and dragline excavators. The company was headquartered in Marion, Ohio and operated from 1884 to 1997, when it was acquired by its competitor Bucyrus International, Inc. Marion-built shovels and other products were among the best known trade names in earth moving equipment during the twentieth century.

Marion’s large and small steam shovels were used by building contractors, railroads, and the US Army Corps of Engineers when they took over the building of the Panama Canal. During the Panama Canal project, Marion Shovels broke several world records in amount of cubic earth moved within a given time frame (1908) and greatest amount (8-ton) lifted by a single bucket (1911).

In the early 1930s, Marion created the 5560 class of power shovels, which were a huge step up from their previous models. 5560s and its successors were used across the country. They were capable of stripping 18 yards of material. A later model, the 5561, doubled that to 35 yards of overburden.

The first 5560 was deployed to Pittburg, Kansas for the Mackie Clements Fuel Company, which also operated under the Jayhawk Coal Company. It was in operation in 1980.

They were used in Illinois. Here’s one from Farmington.

The Northern Illinois Coal Company (NICC or the Northern) also used 5560s. On January 10th, 1942, one of its 5560s snapped cables while dynamiting stone. Its remains were stranded on the site in Pit 8 for a number of years until it was finally salvaged in the 1960s.

The following photos come from a collection at the Carbon Hill School Museum in Carbon Hill, IL. They have a massive collection of coal mining information and artifacts.

The wreck was referred to as a fallen dinosaur by locals who visited the site of the accident.

Here is a photo from the early 1960s as it was being salvaged.

The Carbon Hill Historical Society, a chartered and registered not-for-profit organization, invites anyone interested in our museum and local history to visit and also to join our society, which owns the school and sponsors all of its programs.

Please phone Michele Micetich, 815-347-0810 or email mmicetich@comcast.net for more information on programs, presentations, hours and appointments.