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River Queen
"River Queen"-The Shovel.
 A Web Page About The BE-1650B Shovel.

A jrd stat on 1/19/11.
Reworked on 2/2/18.





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The pictures and graphics of this "Electric Power Shovel" was provided by Mr. Bob Herron. Bob had sent some pictures to Peabody Coal Company in 1986 and Peabody sent a "Thank You Letter" to Bob stating their thanks, plus his original pictures, a set of those pictures enlarged, the graphics and several letters of information. This web page has been constructed using the material that Bob has provided. Thanks Bob for your generous help. The following material was constructed from the information of a press release on Wednesday, May 8, 1957 that was contained in the packet provided by Bob.



Excerpts taken from a Press Release On May 8, 1957 by Peabody Coal Company.

80-ton Bites Taken by Huge, New Power Shovel In Kentucky Mine.

One of the largest mobile land machines ever built in the United States, a 2,400-ton power shovel named the RiverQueen, has gone to work in a new open pit coal mine in western Kentucky.

Taller than a 13-story building, heavier than a Navy destroyer, and able to take more than 80 tons of rock and earth in a single bite, this new shovel is being used to uncover two seams of bituminous coal in the River Queen Mine near Central City. The mine is owned jointly by the W. G. Duncan Coal Co. and Peabody Coal Co. It is operated by Peabody. When in full operation, its output will be 2 million tons of coal annually, mine officials say. Shipments will be both by rail and in barges loaded over the River Queen Dock on the nearby Green River.

The River Queen, a Model 1650-B special long-range stripping shovel equipped with a 55-cu-yd. dipper, is the largest power shovel ever built by Bucyrus-Erie Co., South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The 1650-B stands 140 feet high. It is equipped with a 145-ft. boom and an 86-ft. dipper handle, enabling it to dump rock and earth overburden nearly 300 feet away from the digging point and to stack it more than 100 feet high. In each pass of its mammoth dipper, the River Queen excavates enough material to fill a room 14x12x9 feet.

More than 70 railroad cars were required to ship the shovel from Bucyrus-Erie's South Milwaukee plant to the erection site. First pieces of the shovel arrived late last summer. Bucyrus-Erie personnel directed the erection of the shovel. the River Queen took its first bite of overburden in March.

And, what an appetite the River Queen has: At the rate of one digging-dumping cycle in a little less than a minute, this mechanical giant in 24 hours could pile up a mountain of more than 100,000 tons of overburden. The RiverQueen will excavate only down to the coal seam; actual coal loading will be done by smaller power shovels. They will load into large diesel haulers, which will take the coal to a washing and screening plant now under construction. The plant will be geared to wash 1,000 tons of coal per hour.

One operator controls the entire digging operation of the machine with two hand levers and two foot pedals. The operator's glass-enclosed, air conditioned cab, perched 30 feet above the ground at the right front corner of the machine, was constructed to provide maximum visibility. A loudspeaker attachment on the boom enables the operator to keep in contact with his ground men and those in the pit area.

Fifteen General Electric motors power the shovel--eleven for digging and four for propelling. The main motors are two 1,500-hp AC motor-generator-set, synchronous-driving units. The main functional DC motors consist of four hoist motors rated at 375-hp each; three swing motors at 187 1/2-hp each; two crowd motors at 187 1/2-hp each; and four 200-hp propel motors.

On May 9, 1957, one day after the above mentioned press release, the New York Herald Tribune newspaper used parts of the press release for publication in their paper. It was a front page article in the "Business and Finance" section and included a large picture of the bucket of the BE 1650B. Basically, the article told of the "Big Shovel" starting to work in the River Queen Mine in Muhlenberg County, KY, and some of the basic information about the shovel.



Click on the following link for further information of the River Queen Mine and of the BE 1650B Stripping Shovel.

The River Queen Mine.




This new shovel, in 1957, operated several years before it had a "Boom Failure". The boom was repaired in record time and the shovel was placed back in service in about two weeks, and then continued to operate for about ten more years. In 1969, the BE 1650-B was replaced by a much larger shovel, a Marion 5960. The BE 1650B was walked across Highway 175 to begin operations at the Peabody's Vogue Mine. When the Vogue Mine was shut down, the BE 1650B was then dismantled and sent to Peabody's Riverview Mine. From there, it was sold to Green Coal Company. I think that it has since been scrapped.

Thanks for looking and reading about this great shovel. A special thanks to Bob for the provided material.

Addendum:
Are you having to wear your sunglasses to finish this page? Yes, it is a little on the bright or flashy side. I had this page worked up, using mainly blue and grey colors, and I thought that it looked good. Well, maybe conservative and in the opinion of an old retiree. Then, I got to thinking that "Peabody Coal" was not "Blue and Grey". The "Civil War" was blue and grey and that was over a hundred and fifty years ago. Ever since I can remember, Peabody's color scheme was Red, Green, and Yellow. Yeah, a little wild maybe, but companies are noted for their logos and colors! I don't think that very many people, other than a few coal miners, will be looking at this page and those miners that worked for Peabody may want or appreciate a color scheme of the colors that they knew. As you can see, I went back to the drawing board and came up with what you see. What do you think? Your opinion matters. I am trying to keep this web site as a site for all and not an individual site. If you are still here and reading some of this "Jabber", I appreciate your time and effort. Even more so, I would appreciate any comments that you would make about this color scheme and for that matter, any comments on the web site. If enough people give negative comments about the page as it is, I will change to the "Blue and Grey" stat. Thanks.
See You......
jrd

The "River Queen" working in a pit in Muhlenberg County's River Queen Mine. The white object in about the center at the bottom is a pick-up truck.
The giant "Crawlers" are being inspected by a young boy. He is on the right near the bottom. Each crawler section is driven by a 200 hp motor.

The large bucket is capable of taking more than 80 tons of earth and rocks in a single bite or can accommodate a large earth moving dozer.
The 55 Cubic Yard bucket of the 1650B is huge. Note the photographer, bottom right, and his son, taking a picture of the parked bucket.

The "Bucket" of the BE 1650B in action. This bucket is capable of scooping up 80 tons of earth and rock in a single bite.
The BE 1650-B in the construction stage. Note the two men in white coveralls descending the ladder in left center.


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See you..........
jrd