American Electric Power's "Big Muskie"

[Joethemechanic]

220 Cubic Yard Bucket


Big Muskie was powered by electricity supplied at 13,800 volts via a trailing cable, which had its own transporter/coiling units to move it.[1] The electricity powered the main drives, eighteen 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) and ten 625 horsepower (466 kW) DC electric motors. Some systems in Big Muskie were electro-hydraulic, but the main drives were all electric.[3] While working, Big Muskie used the equivalent of the power for 27,500 homes, costing tens of thousands of dollars an hour just in power costs and necessitating special agreements with local Ohio power companies to accommodate the extra load. The machine had a crew of five, and worked around the clock, with special emphasis on night work since the per kilowatt-hour rate was much cheaper.

 

[Jraef]

LOL, 13.8kV trailing cable... That took some kahunas!

 

[Joethemechanic]

LOL, 13.8kV trailing cable... That took some kahunas!

Up here in The Anthracite Region, they used to lay the cable on stacks of junk tires.



This one that is about a mile from me ran on voltage close to that. something 13Kv ish. Back in the 60's they walked it like 10 miles with a generator on a very large lowboy trailer. Not sure what capacity but I'm sure it was over one megawatt. Belongs to the Pagnotti Family (Jeddo Coal). They built it in 1957, and it's been sitting since about 2010

 

[jim dungar]

The iron mines in our area have had 25kV trailing cables.

The Legacies of Iron County: Mining - The Ore Shovel — Frontier Homestead State Park

Mining, represented by the ore shovel, is the industry that began it all, proving to be the initial motive for settlement. In 1923, the mines began producing ore by the tons and elevated Iron County to one of the richest counties in the Utah for nearly 50 years. In the 1930s, iron mining expanded

frontierhomestead.org

 

[Joethemechanic]

The iron mines in our area have had 25kV trailing cables.

The Legacies of Iron County: Mining - The Ore Shovel — Frontier Homestead State Park

Mining, represented by the ore shovel, is the industry that began it all, proving to be the initial motive for settlement. In 1923, the mines began producing ore by the tons and elevated Iron County to one of the richest counties in the Utah for nearly 50 years. In the 1930s, iron mining expanded

frontierhomestead.org

I'm guessing you probably know this company