This enormous piece of mining machinery, known locally as the ‘Oddball‘, is a walking dragline excavator, and thanks to both its size and its position on a top of a hill dominates the St Aidan’s nature reserve near Leeds. It was made in the USA in 1947, and was one of three brought to the UK. However unlike the others brought to the UK its electrical supply remained on US electrical frequency and consequently it became known at the ‘Oddball’.
It began its British working life in Wales in the 1950s, before heading to Staffordshire in 1964 and then finally to this site Yorkshire in 1974. It was excavating and walking here (a step of 6.6ft each time at a speed of 0.19 mph) until the late 1980s when flooding in the open cast mine brought production to a stop.
If you look carefully at my photograph above you can just about see a person walking in front of it. It really is enormous, equivalent to 60 double decker buses! However these days it would be considered small at less than 2000 tonnes. Most modern walking dragline excavators are around 8,000 tonnes and the largest is more than 22 stories tall at 13,500 tonnes! ‘Oddball’ though is rather special as it is a national landmark to opencast miners, and the largest remaining historic preserved dragline in western Europe. You could say it is one of a kind!
The life of B 
That’s quite a rig! I’m dropping by today with all kinds of woods! https://catsandtrailsandgardentales.com/2020/10/20/my-happy-place-is-in-the-woods-all-kinds-of-woods/
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It really is . . . and your squares today are so calming and lovely. Perfect way to while away an hour or two
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Those machines are huge. There is a giant one just like that in Mineral, Kansas called Big Brutus.
Here is my square for today: https://wordpress.com/post/sketchingwords.com/485
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Big Brutus is an appropriate name for these machines!
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Omg! This is huge… interesting! Here’s one of a kind from me too – https://myheart2heart.blog/2020/10/20/the-spirit-catcher/
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Glad you found this interesting 🙂
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https://geriatrixfotogallerie.wordpress.com/2020/10/20/one-of-its-kind/
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Interesting. 🙂 Here is my kind: https://picturesimperfectblog.wordpress.com/2020/10/20/five-out-of-five/
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That is “BIG”! Now I have to investigate what do because I never heard of one before.
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Neither had I until we walked out of the wood and saw this! MrB of course knew all about them . . . . btw are you getting my comments on your fabulous posts?
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I think i saw some of your older comments but nothing recently. I did get this one. 🙂
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Glad you got this one – do check your spam folder as I might be disappearing in there. I am leaving a comment on every one of your squares 🙂
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You were right Becky! For some reason the comments went to spam. Thank you for commenting and this cool month of squares! Any ideas on how to stop them from going to spam? I’m all ears. Robert
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Yay so glad you found me. Now you have rescued me I should not disappear any more into it. It sometimes happens because during the challenge i am leaving so many comments. I have replied to a couple of replies, so hopefully they will not go into spam now. keep me posted
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Seven or eight from me for day 20:
https://davidmsphotoblog.com/2020/10/20/seven-or-maybe-eight-of-a-kind/
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Are you testing me again on numbers?!!
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Cheetah today, Becky https://tishfarrell.com/2020/10/20/kinda-chilling-cheetah-style/
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awww my favourite cat (don’t tell Septimus!)
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Mum’s the word.
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that is huge. and how fascinating! here is mine for today: https://lolawi.blog/2020/10/20/kinda-cloudy/
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