Bucyrus acquired the Marion Power Shovel Company in 1997. This
takeover of the second largest dragline manufacturer in the
business (Bucyrus being the largest) effectively ended an intensive
competitive rivalry between these two companies, a rivalry lasting
some 113 years. Marion had been established in 1880 as the Marion
Steam Shovel Dredge Company and grew into one of the foremost
manufacturers of excavating machines. Marion built its first
walking dragline in 1939 and became a key player in providing giant
stripping shovels to the coal industry, being the first to put a
long-boom revolving stripping shovel to work in North America in
1911. Marion's succession of giant shovels, many breaking world
size records, culminated in the world's largest in 1965. This
behemoth, the Marion 6360 at the Captain Mine, Illinois, wielded a
180 cubic yard (138 cubic meter) dipper. With an estimated weight
of 15,000 tons (13,600 tonnes), this machine still holds the record
as the heaviest mobile land machine ever built. Marion entered the
walking dragline business in 1939 and just three years later
produced the largest dragline built up to that time. In April 1946,
the company changed its name to the Marion Power Shovel Company to
more closely reflect its products.
Marion made headlines when it built the famous Apollo moon
rocket transporters for NASA in 1965. Based on stripping shovel
undercarriage technology, the two diesel-electric transporters were
designed to move fully assembled lunar spacecraft and rockets from
the assembly building at Cape Canaveral to the launch pad, a
distance of three miles. These huge vehicles weighing 3,000 tons
(2,722 tonnes) without load are powered by six diesel generator
sets generating 7,600 horsepower (5,667 kilowatts). Still in use
today, the transporters have taken part in most of the major space
programs including the Space Shuttle.
The Marion acquisition broadened Bucyrus' product line, adding
over 120 operating draglines to its fleet and enabling Bucyrus to
gain a wealth of technical data relative to design concepts and
historical performance of its former chief competitor. Updated
versions of some former Marion machines are now marketed under the
Bucyrus banner. The reinforcement of the shovel product line with
the Marion 351M (now the 595B) coupled with the existing successful
495-series shovels, places Bucyrus in an ideal position to satisfy
customer requirements.