Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Marine Review (Cleveland, OH), November 1909, p. 459

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November, 1909 alongside the coal cars to the hatch of the vessel. The first ore unloading machines were of substantially the same type, known as whirlies, and the method of handling was simply a reversal of that employed in load- ing coal, except that the buckets were, of course, comparatively small. As the ore trade increased, Brownhoist machines were installed, and _ still later Hoover & Mason machines. The tapid increase in the coal trade also compelled the adoption of improved methods, and the Lake Shore railroad installed the first coal loading ma- chine used anywhere on whe Great Lakes. This machine was simply a pivoted incline, resembling a children's see-saw, the cars being hauled up by cable and the outer end depressed so that the car on reaching the lower end and the end gate being dropped, discharged the coal into the ship. This machine was installed in what was known as the lake front harbor, and was afterwards replaced by two of a more modern type, which in operation, hoist a loaded car' to an elevation from which it is dumped into a pan and thence spouted into the vessel. Abandoned a $7,000,000 Investment. Dockage was increased by further dredging in the fiver and also across the old dock front and in making slips' until in 1905 the Lake Shore tad a number 'of docks in coal and ore service and a number of slips which from time: to time have been deepened to accommo- date the increasing size of vessels. Dock- age space had also been created for stor- ing ore until the Lake Shore alone had in round numbers in 1905 a general in- vestment in docks, ore and coal ma- chinery and slips, of about $7,000,000. The crooked channel in the old river was always more or less an incon- venience to shipping, and when about four years ago the present type of 10,000-ton freighter came into existence, the entrance to the various slips through the tortuous channel became almost prohibitive. As the 10,000-ton carrier rapidly multiplied, the Lake Shore pre- pared to meet the changed conditions by sacrificing its old docks and old ma- chinery and providing new docks and new machinery. It abandoned com- pletely its investment of $7,000,000 and in 1906 began the construction of two very large and entirely new docks on 'the lake front extending directly out into the lake, each dock containing nearly 30 acres and requiring the re- newal of the old breakwater and the construction of a new one further s out into the lake. The government TAE Marine ReEvIEwWw provided most of the breakwater, but the railroads had to dredge new slips. These two new docks alone have cost about $2,000,000. They are separated by a slip 200 ft. wide and dredged to a depth of 23 ft. The New Westerly Dock. The westerly of these docks has re- cently been equipped with the most modern ore handling machinery, oper- ated electrically, including one ore bridge 625 ft. long for carrying the ore into dock "storage. This ma- chinery faces the intermediate slip and was erected at a cost of $1,500,000. The ore machines are of the Hulett type with buckets of 15 tons capacity, the largest on the lakes: The bridge bucket for carrying ore taken from the trough to dock storage has a ca- pacity of about 18 tons. In equipping this dock the Lake Shore acted in con- junction with the United States Steel Corporation. On this dock also, fac- ing the river channel, a new coal handling machine is being erected at a cost of about $150,000 for next sea- son's 'business. Tracks and flooring on this dock will probably cost $100,000. more. New ore machinery, to be ready for service next season, is now being in- stalled on the easterly dock, practically duplicating the machinery on the west- erly dock and costing the same amount of money, or about $1,600,000. For the present no coal machines will be erected on the easterly dock. It is expected that next season and there- after all ore and coal will be handled on these new docks. A little of the machinery will remain on the outer end of the old docks which are coupled up with the new, but the bulk of the old machinery will be scrapped and some of the old slips filled 'in to make train yards for handling and storage of cars. Enormous Handling Capacity. Thus in the past four years, and in- cluding up to the opening of next sea- son's navigation, the Lake Shore will | have spent for new docks about $2,000,- 000, for new machinery over $3,000,- 000, or a total of approximately $5,000,- 000, and will abandon (except that the ground will be used for tracks) about $7,000,000 worth of property. The old machinery, if ships had continued to be built small enough to use the old slips, could have handled readily be- tween 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 tons of ore per annum and from 1,500,000 'to 2,000,000 tons of coal. The new machin- ery will have ample capacity for at least 2,000,000 tons of coal, and from 7,000,- 000 to 8,000,000 tons of ore. The Lake 459 Shore handles ore direct from Ashta- bula to the Youngstown and Sharon districts and with 'its connecting line, the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railway, in- to the Pittsburg district. The shipping coal comes from the Pittsburg district from mines located or adjacent to the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railway. The westerly dock will be occupied, so far as ore is concerned, exclusively by the United States Steel Corporation, while the Pittsburg Coal Co., the larg- est soft coal company in the United States, will operate the coal machinery on this dock. The easterly dock, as stated, will be equipped with ore hand- ling machinery only for the present. This dock is designed for the service of some six or eight iron companies ' which are amalgamated into what is known as the Union Dock Co., the largest individual company being the Jones & Laughlin Co. of Pittsburg. At the present time the Lake Shore is taking out from Ashtabula to the Youngstown and _ Pittsburg districts from 500 to 800 cars of ore per day, occasionally shipping as high as 1,000 cars and more. During prosperous pe- riods it expects to handle from 6,000,- 0800 to 10,000,000 tons of ore per an- num and from 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 tons of coal through this gateway. Docks of the Pennsylvania Lines. The docks of the Pennsylvania line all lie west of Ashtabula river. The latest Pennsylvania improvements con- sist of the construction of docks Nos. 10 and 11, the filling in of the lake be- tween these docks, the erection of six legs. of a' Hoover &" Mason ore un- loader on dock' No. 10, a McMyler coal machine for loading coal boats on dock No. 11, a power plant for the operation of these machines and the track development for the proper handling of the business, The McMyler machine on dock No. 10 has been in operation for several years. Docks Nos. 10 and 11 are construct- ed of concrete on wooden cribs and the entire development to date repre- sents an expenditure of about $3,500,000. The Hoover & Mason ore unloaders were placed in operation in 1908, but as yet the new machine on dock No. 11 has not been operated, although it is complete. The tracks serving these two docks are now about 50 per cent com- plete, and will be ready for service in their entirety at the opening of nav- igation next spring. : A. brief description of the method of operation on docks Nos. 10 and 11 may be of interest: Coal loads are placed on the elevator hump tracks from which they feed by gravity and with the aid into

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