Oddball prepares for visitors again
ONE of the more unusual attractions over the national heritage weekend of 11–12 September 2004 will be Oddball, the 1,200-ton Bucyrus-Erie walking dragline preserved in retirement at the former St Aidans OCCS near Swillington, Leeds. Last year’s event brought a steady stream of visitors of all ages during the course of the weekend, and two open days earlier this year attracted a total of over 200 enthusiasts when other items of ‘classic’ plant were also on display.
The BE 1150-B, which shortly celebrates its 56th birthday, was one of a batch of three manufactured in Milwaukee in 1948, which went to work initially in West Virginia. All three machines were later shipped to Britain and started work at Tirpentwys OCCS, near Pontypool, in 1954. Subsequently Oddball moved to Poplars OCCS, near Cannock, and in the early 1970s was transferred to St Aidans, where it was a bystander when the site was submerged in 1988.
When the site reopened several years later Oddball was ‘pensioned off’ and, with the aid of RJB Mining, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Science Museum’s PRISM Fund, was acquired by the Friends of the St Aidans BE 1150 Dragline. Other excavators, including the 2,000-ton Rapier walking dragline Big Bob, which operated on the final phase of work at St Aidans, have now sadly been reduced to scrap.
Oddball was so named because its electrical gear was supplied by the General Electric Co., rather than by Westinghouse, who equipped the other BE 1150-Bs. It was also an oddity in use as it operated on the American 60 cycles/s supply, rather than the British standard of 50 cycles/s – a situation that was corrected through the use of a rotary converter.
In 1999 the frequency again proved a difficulty during the 48m trek into Oddball’s final resting place – a compound adjacent to the perimeter of the extensive St Aidans site. The move was achieved by contractors who were forced to cope with the frequency difference by the use of portable generators, which brought the dragline’s traction motors into play one at a time.
In recent times the ownership of Oddball has been transferred to the St Aidans Trust, a body with a membership nearing 100, which was established, in conjunction with Leeds City Council, to care for the country park and wildlife area planned for the restored site. The trust members see Oddball as an appropriate monument to the opencast coal industry, which began in the Leeds area over 60 years ago.
Information about the two open days in September, when some 300 visitors are expected, can be obtained from Dr Ivor Brown at: 95 Manygates Lane, Wakefield WF2 7DL; tel: (01924) 257137.
