"Its boots may be made for walking, but after 37 years on the go, one of Transalta's giant draglines has run out of steam. Transalta's first walking dragline, The Ransomes-Rapier 1350 model, was built in England in 1958. Parts were then shipped through the Panama Canal to Vancouver. From there it was sent by rail to Wabamun, where it was assembled beside the railroad before it crossed the highway to the Whitewood mine. It operated in the Whitewood Mine until 1983 when it was retired and then reborn to excavate East Pit Lake, a strip mine turned into a fully reclaimed natural area. The dragline will be cut into pieces during the next two months and sold as scrap metal."
My father helped to build it, one brother and a brother-in-law were oilers on the machine. It was operated by my Uncle Fred for many years.
Poppa has many tales of being out on the end of the boom in -30 F. weather fixing cable sheaves or doing repair welding on the drag links which would break on a regular basis, especially in the cold weather when metal becomes brittle. They would also repair teeth on the 12 foot gears inside the machine and spend many hours refacing the bucket teeth.
Dad on one of the walking pontoons (boots). October, 1999
Return to "East Pit Lake"
Return to "Short History".