Monsters of Metal: Diplomat Mine

Here’s a tour of two massive machines, along with all that remains of a third, that once worked at a Central Alberta coal mine. Look up, look waaaay up, they’re freaking huge! Wide angle lens are mandatory should you visit and if you’re not thoroughly impressed by their sheer size, then there’s something seriously wrong with you (said while grinning). And then it’s this reminder from us – by the standards, these are of rather modest proportions – wow, simply wow! Also seen, more mining giants still hard at work across the valley. We’re at the Diplomat Mine Site, home to gargantuan beasts built on a scale that’s hard to describe.

This is a fresh look, in pictures, at a place we’ve taken you before. We’ve done it twice in fact but some time ago, with a link to each respective article to be found by scrolling down.

Toiling away for years, they were simply left behind when the operation closed and later incorporated into a display for all of us to enjoy. See them for yourself, a bit southeast of Forestburg and towering above the prairies they’re near impossible to miss and offer up a donation when there. The Diplomat Mine dates back to 1950 and shut down in 1986.

The tinier (God, that’s funny) of the two is a Bucyrus Erie model 120-B built in 1944. It came here secondhand in 1950 (some papers suggest later). This is a loading shovel that would be used to fill haul trucks directly from the coal face. It weighs around 160 tonnes with a bucket capacity of roughly five cubic metres. It worked at the mine until it closed.

A buzzing sound…

The model 120-B was quite popular and built from the mid-1920s to the early 1950s. Bucyrus Erie dates back to 1880s and once a leader in the field of large scale surface mining equipment and today owned by machinery giant Caterpillar.

Bucyrus Erie’s major competitor was Marion Power Shovel and the second machine here is from that firm. This leviathan, a model 360, dates from 1927 and came to the area in 1950 on the mine opening. It’s from the States and is a stripping shovel, which is used to remove overburden so the coal face can be worked by loading shovels.

From someone in the know and a good friend, Tim Swaren:

…(The Marion 360) was actually a dragline when it was operated in Illinois. Marion introduced both the 350 and 360 models in 1927 and they were at that time the largest land machines in the world…360s were essentially 350s but in a dragline configuration. However, when the 360 came to the Diplomat Mine, it was converted into a stripping shovel. The 360 worked at the mine from 1950 until 1962. It was parked after the Bucyrus 950-B began working…but in 1976, as coal production reached a peak, was re-conditioned and put back to work. It then worked until 1980 and was parked again…exactly where it sits now.” What a great “now you know” moment!

Thanks Tim.

Weighing in at roughly 500 tonnes, so over three times that of the 120-B, it could take a seven cubic metre bite with each pass. Funny how it’s several times larger in size, yet in bucket capacity not so much – but it has quite the reach in comparison and there the advantage. It sits atop eight sets of caterpillar tracks and when moving forward about as fast as your granny. Underneath is an crazy collection of exposed drive shafts, gears, clutches and the like – a dangerous place!

Bubbling paint on the side of the house (where the motors and hoists are located), speaks of a fire that happened inside. Some fellow broke, a year or two back, started a fire, the cops and local FD were called. What a cluster. And now they’ll have to raise funds to repair it. Remember what we said about the donation box – we dropped in a couple bills.

Several dozen 360s were built in the 1920s and were quite the technical marvels in their day and for a time be biggest land machines on the planet. Bucyrus acquired Marion in the late 1990s.

Both of these shovels were electrically operated with power coming in via a large “extension” cable. This 360 is the very last of its type, anywhere in the world. The mine in later years looked like a virtual operating museum.

Also seen at the site is the dipper bucket assembly from a second larger (yes larger) stripping shovel. This came from “Mr Diplomat” the largest mining machine in Canada for many years. It was the Bucyrus Erie model 950-B mentioned by Tim, built in the 1930s and brought here in the early 1960s. It worked at the Diplomat Mine until about 1984 and only this one “small” piece saved after scrapping in the early 1990s.

Mr Diplomat came in at almost three times the weight of the Marion 360, so about 1400 tonnes and made the latter look like rather compact. If you can even fathom that. The bucket had a capacity of roughly 25 cubic metres. I’ve had apartments that were smaller.

Every now and then the society that manages the interpretive site has an open house where you are allowed inside the machines. We’d love to! If you readers get the chance, tell us about it!

While the 120-B and 360 are each a colossus in their own rights and even Mr Diplomat, a monster’s monster, would look tiny in comparison to some of the largest stripping shovels made (draglines too).

Into the 1990s there used to be a third machine here, a Marion dragline similarly left behind when the mine closed. A little further west and not part of the interpretive display, it’s long since been scrapped. Scroll down for a link to see it from our first visit.

Most of the Diplomat Mine lands have been reclaimed but an area to the south of the shovels still shows the scars from being worked. Petrified wood is often unearthed during mining and some large chunks of that material are on display here.

It seems wasps like to nest in the machinery, so be careful when exploring. One colony, deep inside a hollow in some cast metal, must have been huge as we heard the buzz from some distance away.

The former tipple, where coal was processed and loaded onto trains, was a bit to the east but demolished some time ago. The interpretive site was established about 1990.

At the Diplomat Mine Site, Forestburg Alberta.

Across the Battle River Valley is the operating Paintearth Mine, whose output goes exclusively to a nearby power plant. We managed to catch both of their two draglines, the first near a public road and looking as thought parked for some maintenance (maybe). First it’s Brutus (Marion 8200, early 1980s) and far in back (right) and digging away it’s Bigfoot (Bucyrus Erie 1570W, late 1970s). These are both “walking” draglines that use a series of feet acted on by a cam system to move about (very slowly). Coal’s not a great business to be in right now, so the mine may close soon.

This piece will be a two-parter and for the second we’ll be looking at more coal mining machinery found at another museum, the Reynolds in Wetaskiwin. The stuff seen there is equally impressive.

Monsters of Metal…wasn’t that a Priest album?

Here’s a couple useful search queries if you want to know more: Diplomat Mine Site and Historic Mining Shovels and Draglines (<--- this is a deep rabbit hole).

Stay tuned for more new stuff!

They’re saying…

”Love the stories, love the history and appreciate the effort to document both in words and pictures before it’s all gone – or maybe to help keep it alive!” Kathleen Raines.

Previous visits…
Diplomat Mine Site – from 2014 & that God awful HDR phase.
Diplomat Mine shovels and draglines – 1997 – see a dragline that’s long since scrapped.

The second installment…
Monster of Metal: Reynolds Museum – They’re just as HUGE!

More metal…
Austin’s Collection.
Old Metal Sandon BC.
The Big Red Bus.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date of Adventure: July, 2020.
Location(s): Forestburg, AB.
Article references and thanks: Diplomat Mine Museum Society, Flagstaff County, Tim Swaren, Books – Power Shovels – The World’s Mightiest Mining and Construction Excavators, The Earthmover Encyclopedia, Bucyrus: Making the Earth Move for 125 Years, and for all the inspiration, Johanna (Connie) Biggart.
You are welcome to visit the Diplomat Mine Site. When posting your Facebook photos of these gargantuan machines mention @BIGDoerOfficial or @ChrisDoering and we’ll comment and share them around.

Big machine, little plaque.

1920s tech.

They’re always giving us the gears.

The underside of something massive.

It’s a monster of metal.

They’ve taken up residence.

The business end of the Marion 360.

The reclaimed mine lands.

Memories of the Diplomat Mine tipple.

Inside Mr Diplomat’s dipper.

Your author for scale.

The Marion 360 stripping shovel in it’s entirety.

It’s the tallest thing around.

This beast is close to a 100 years old.

On to the smaller of the two.

Everything is heavy duty.

The mine operated 1950-1986.

Petrified wood can be found in coal beds.

The Bucyrus-Erie 120-B loading shovel.

Seven cubic metres per bite – Marion 360.

It’s a relative lightweight & a bit newer.

Coal car reminds us they used to do it underground.

You have to stand well back to get it all in.

Failed artistic attempt.

There’s plenty of interpretive signs.

Not far away the operating Paintearth Mine.

Meet Brutus (front) & Bigfoot (distance, left).