CPA helps rescue 1957 Ruston Bucyrus excavator
Construction Plant-hire Association donation to Vintage Excavator Trust contributes to 54RB transport costs
THE Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA), which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, has made a donation to the Vintage Excavator Trust (VET) towards the cost of transporting a 1957 Ruston Bucyrus excavator from the now closed Snibston Discovery Museum, near Coalville, in Leicestershire, to the VET’s home at Threlkeld Quarry in the Lake District.
The 54RB, which was originally built in the late-50s for Eastwell Iron Ore Co., a subsidiary of Staveley Iron and Coal Co. Ltd, was eventually acquired by Peter Bennie Ltd who, for a number of years, used it in dragline configuration at one of their facilities in Leicestershire. In 1995, when they no longer had a use for the machine, it was donated to the Snibston Discovery Museum.
However, in 2014 Snibston closed its doors for good and a new home had to be found for the 65-ton machine. Having a successful track record of preserving and restoring old rope excavators – and the space to operate them – the VET expressed an interest in acquiring the machine and, in December 2015, agreement was reached with Leicester County Council for the machine to be transferred to Threlkeld Quarry, near Keswick, for restoration to working order.
In January this year, the CPA made contact with the VET to see what it could do to help and made the offer of a donation towards the transportation costs. On 24 February, following much preparation work by volunteers and a journey of more than 200 miles on the back of a 28m long tractor and beam trailer unit, the machine finally arrived at Threlkeld Quarry.
George Chambers from the VET said: ‘Fortunately, we had a replacement for the 54RB’s damaged V6 Paxman engine and work has already commenced to remove the old unit and fit the replacement. Once powered up, our restoration team will be able to make an assessment of any other work which will be required to make the excavator fully operational again – which will hopefully be sometime in 2017.’
CPA director Kevin Minton said: ‘We were delighted to be able to assist the VET in moving the 54RB and we are looking forward to monitoring its progress. The machine is part of our construction plant heritage and its restoration back to a working machine is a worthy project. We wish the VET every success.’
