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.