Pt ant “2 } Ub sishosgT Page 12 Cassiar Courier February 1987 NUMBER THREE SHOVEL HERBERT DAUM was born and raised in Cassiar. He worked for the company from May, 1977 until June, 1983; two years of which was as Number Three Shovel Operator. Herbert is presently attending Molaspina College in Powell River where he is studying to become a Fisheries Officer. One of his assignments in English was to write a descriptive essay about something he was familiar with; and he has forwarded the story to us. It is 8:15 a.m. on top of a mountain and the autumn sun is rising over an open pit mine. A pick-up crummy discharges two men. The men are wearing steel- toed boots and company issued dark green coveralls. They also wear dull red hard hats which are equipped with muff type hearing protectors. The men, carrying their lunch boxes, walk towards Number Three Shovel. This shovel is a P&H Nineteen Hundred, an electric shovel that towers above the two men. One of the men, the shovel operator, is responsible for the safe operation of this one million dollar mining machine. He is also responsible for mainting high produc- tion of truck loads of waste rock. With his helper, the shovel oiler, he approaches the shovel. They both ex- amine the conditions they will be working in during their shift, the next eight hours. They inspect for damage to the bucket, which is resting on the ground. They also in- spect the sticks, the carbody, the boom, and the condition of the work face of the rock pile. Satisfied, they pull down the counterweighted ladder. The ladder comes squeaking down to provide the crew access to the lower walkway. Then, the ladder, which is released, shoots back up with a slam, out of harm’s way. The crew enters the machine room via a heavy steel door. The machine room, which is commonly referred to s “the house’, is painted white inside and contains the complex inner organs of this mighty beast. All is quiet except for the humming of transformers and the hissing of minor.air leaks. The crew recognizes the familiar smells of grease, cleaning solvent, and the vague electrical smell common to generators and motors. A pull of the dipstick reveals the oil level of the air compressor to be within pro- per levels. A turn of a valve releases a floor-wetting gush of milky liquid. This liquid is a mixture of condensed water, oil and methanol. It precedes an ear-piercing blast of compressed air. With the voluminous air tank now pur ged of condensate, the oiler closes the valve. The air com- pressor, ever faithful, senses the drop of air pressure and noisily starts up. It pumps briskly, restoring air. pressure to within operating range. The oiler carries on with his inspection and while he is ensuring an adequate supply of . grease for the automatic greasing sytems, the air compres- sor stops with a sigh. The operator has examined the black greasy hoist cables. The cables which are symmet- tically wrapped around the hoist drum, lead away over long rollers to the outside. Satisfied, the men step out, latch the house door and proceed up the narrow steep stairs. The stairs lead to a small square landing behind the operator’s cab. The op- erator takes a minute to inspect the external upper rigging of the shovel. This rigging is composed of gantrys, heavy gantry cables, and big cable clamps. The gantrys are heavy steel stuctures forming a framework that supports the boom. Nothing unusual attracts the trained eye of the operator so he enters the operator’s cabin. The cab, fairly clean and also white, is bright with windows. There are ' windows on both sides and the front is almost entirely glass. The offensive odor of the previous operator’s cig- arette smoke still lingers in the cab. There are four small. storage lockers, one per shift, and the many heaters re- quired to keep the glass free of frost during the frequent blizzards of the long winters. The metal floor is also heated to ward off the icy chill of winter. The center of the cab is dominated by a large black operator’s seat, which is flanked by a control console on each side. The view from the front windows, twenty feet above the ground, reveals the boom, the sticks, the cables and the bucket. They are all quietly waiting. The quiet is occa- sionally broken by a gob of grease splattering down on the ground below. At work up the hill is one of the P&H 1900ALSs. A glance at the voltmeter on the cab wall indicates that the normal voltage of fourteen hundred and sixty volts A.C. is available. The operator pushes the green start button and the cab lights dim as the big A.C. motor surges to life with a huge thirst for energy. This motor, six feet high, is shafted on one end to the chain drive which spins two barrel-sized D.C. generators. The other end of the motor’s shaft spins the rotors of the twin magnetorques, supply the required torque, when desired, to turn the big gear driven hoist drum. As the spinning machinery ap- proaches operating speed the cab lights gradually return to normal brightness. The twin house fans then start up and pressurize the house with filtered air. The high pressure of clean air bars entry of air borne rock dust. The rock dust, which is abrasive to bearings, is capable of costing many thousands of dollars in lost production due to pre- mature equipment failure. Finally, about three minutes after the push of the start button, the trip motor suddenly springs to life, turning the small cable drum, which takes up the slack in the dangling trip cable. The trip cable, finger thick and stretching to the “banjo”, a suspended trip pendulum lever, is now taut. This signals to the wait- ing operator that his beast is now wide awake and at his command. Meanwhile, the oiler has descended to the ground, equipped with his life-saving lineman’s gloves, and pulled the slack power cable towards the rear of the shovel. The black cable is wrist thick and live with fourteen hundred and sixty volts A.C. It can easily kill if the thick rubber insulation is damaged. The cable is attached to the rear of the shovel’s carbody. Once cable slack is adequate for the expected amount of forward travel by the shovel, the oiler inspects the entire string of connected power cables feed- the machine. The operator has seated himself and adjusted his seat forward. Now, he places his feet on the pair of swing pedals protruding from the floor in front of him. He places his hands on the two control consoles. watch shows 8:30 a.m. A button push releases the hoist/ crowd brake and a switch thrown releases the swing brakes. The operator pulls back gently on the short hoist control lever. In the house below, the wind tunnel air flow of the house fans, where normal speech would now be drowned out by the roar of fans, generators, and motors, something stirs. The twin magnetorques sense the delicate manipul- ation of the controls in the cab above, and cause the hoist drum to revolve, rather slowly, pulling in the hoist cables. The two-inch thick hoist cables, oozing life-prolonging black grease, string over rollers, out and up to the top of the boom, where forty feet from the ground, they snuggle in the twin six foot diameter pulley sheaves. From there they plunge down towards the bucket’s bail near the ground. The bail is C-shaped and connects the bucket to the ascending hoist cables. The bail pivots upwards on the bucket. The cavernouse bucket, armed with its six hard- -ened teeth, wedges six inches wide, resists motion with its large weight, but its initial resistance is overcome. The bucket begins to_arc upwards. The arc is defined by the hoisting of the cables and the crowding of the sticks. The large sticks which are twin gear-racked, black and grease- GIGI GEM AND GOLD gold chains, charms, earrings Special Orders 323 Batemen Phone 778-7356 His wrist © dripping, are retracted, back or crowded out by the twin pinion gears. The pinion gears are pail-sized and also grease-dripping. They are turned by the crowd motor which is located on the boom. The boom is the largest component and angles up from the base of the house. It supports the crowd pinion gears, the sticks, and hoist cables with their lofty sheaves; they all control the bucket. The bucket, now hoisted high enough to clear the ground safely, stops as the operator sets the hoist/crowd brake. He switches another lever to redirect power from the crowd motor to the propel motor. He swings the shovel to his right. His foot pushes the right hand swing pedal. This causes the house, cab, boom, bucket and all, to revolve slowly on greasy rollers, pivoting above the sta- tionary carbody. When he sees the oiler, who gives him the all clear signal from the ground, the operator pushes the left swing pedal till he sees the work face of the rock pile. He then pushes the crowd lever forward and this causes the propel motor in the carbody to turn the twin tracks. The tracks, shoulder high and four feet wide, slowly pull this monster towards the rock pile. Having lurched and rumbled to within digging range, the operator switches from propel to crowd and then releases the hoist/crowd brake. Released, the heavy bucket, eager to eat, is pulled by gravity and descends. It descends slowly, then faster, and even faster yet, pulling out the hoist cables, the cables spinning the hoist drum, the drum spinning the magnetorque stators, all hoist inery now screaming and whining in angry protest. The experienced operator, by judiciously applying hoist counters the powerful pull of gravity and the tremendous momentum of all this falling and spinning steel. The bucket stops at precisely the right place to gently engage the bottom of the work face. Then, with little effort, the operator applies full hoist and crowd. The bucket surges up, skimming blasted rock over its teeth and into its capacious ten cubic yard interior. nearly reached the top of the boom, is now filled to cap- acity and is spilling excess over its sides in a dusty clatter of falling rock. The operator lowers the bucket a bit, he swings the suspended full bucket to his right. The bucket is placed in a truck loading position and sets the brakes while waiting for the first truck of the shift. An empty eight-five ton dump truck is backed under the bucket. The shovel operator’s stop signal to the truck driver, an air horn blast, is facilitated by his squeez- ing a small secondary lever on the crowd control. This co- incides with his squeezing the trip control, another sec- ondary lever located on the hoist control. This activates the trip motor, turning its small drum which yanks on the trip cable. The cable jerks back the “‘banjo”; this in turn pulls up the trip chain attached to the trip lever on the bucket. The lever pulls the latch bar out of the dutch- man, which is a small hole in the heel of the bucket, piv- ots back and dumps the contents of the bucket. Twenty tons of rock crash down into the waiting truck in a cloud of dust. By the time the truck has stopped bouncing the bucket has been refilled and is swinging over the truck again to dump another load. Then filled and dumped, filled and dumped again, the bucket has loaded a truck full. Another blast of the air horn sends the truck away. The truck, filled with eighty five tons of useless rock trun- dies off to the waste dump site. Another empty truck backs alonside the shovel for its first ration of rock. Every few buckets full of rock removed from the work face unleashes a minor avalance of rock. The rock cascades down to the shovel’s feet with a roar. Each time clouds of dust rise to envelope the shovel but the house fans do their protective task ceaselessly. Soon the bottom of the rock pile is beyond optimum digging range of the bucket so the operator walks the shovel forward a bit. He starts to dig again, loading trucks. The eager trucks rotate in turn at being loaded and then hauling their cargo away. This process is repeated continuously, all shift long, except for two coffee breaks and a lunch break. At the end of the shift, having loaded about one hundred to one hundred and fifty truck loads, the shovel is backed away from the work face. Backed to a safe distance, the . shovel is shut down with a push of the red stop button. The crew disembarks. Silenced, the shovel, now a sleeping beast, await the arrival of the wee crew for another shift of loading rock. Bridge Club Want to spend a pleasant even- ing? Come play bridge each Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. in the Upper Leisure Room in the Community Clab. The bucket, having ° | | Cassiar Courier February 1987 Page 13 From The Neighbor’s Kitchen From the ladies at the Courier, some suggestions for a Valentine’s meal with the love of your life. Choose an evening, not necessarily the 14th, put the kids to bed and share a romantic dinner. SHRIMP TERIYAKI 7 Ib shelled, deveined raw shrimp Marinate for about 15 minutes in: 4% cup pineapple juice 2 to 4 T soy sauce (depending on taste) % cup bland vegetable oil Drain and arrange shrimp on soaked wooden skewers. You may alternate shrimp with pieces of green pepper or pineapple. Broil or grill kebabs for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, 4 inches from the heat. Your favourite choice of wine can enhance the taste of your food. Not to mention the fact that toasting your partner and gazing into his/her eyes makes subtle work of eating these kabobs. A suggestion for the wine here, something light and fruity, like a Piesporter Goldtropfen. You can design your evening to be a unique experience; however, be sure to add a romantic air to the night. Can- dles are a wonderful mood-enhancer, and scented ones are even nicer. 09000000 OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEOO® @ @ BONSPIELING IN CA SSIA In the last four weeks, the curling club has been bustling with activity. The family bonspiel was held December 27 to 28, and was a great success with seventeen teams parti- cipating. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to Ross Harper and his group for arranging the lasagne dinner. Winners for this bonspiel were: “A” EVENT: Danny Harrison Janice Joseph Helen Joseph Jody Harrison “B” EVENT: Mario Gimmi Joe Saro Sonja Saro George Saro “C” EVENT: Ivan Vidovic 7 Dragica Vidovic Steven Vidovic Alan Vidovic Just after the family bonspiel, the men’s playdown was held. Congratulations to Bill Pratt, Ciril Habjan, Joe Bucar, and Paul MacRae. Nothing like doing things the hard way. Good luck in your curling in Whitehorse. The Inter—Departmental Bonspiel was held the weekend of January 14-16. Great participation and curling by the membership along with a terrific pot luck supper arranged by Ross Harper made this a very enjoyable weekend. We don’t know how this could happen, but the Mill really cleaned up on this one. BUTTER LETTUCE WITH LIME VINAIGRETTE DRESSING 1 head butter /ettuce (available hydroponically year round) or some other mild leaf lettuce Wash lettuce and pat dry. Tear into tiny pieces into large bowl and toss with dressing just before serving. Dressing (makes % cup): Xs tsp salt ¥s tsp freshly ground pepper 1 T white wine vinegar 7 shallot, finely chopped 1 T lime juice, freshly squeezed % cup oil, preferably hazelnut or olive Put salt and pepper into a small bowl. Add the vinegar, lime juice and stir until salt dissolves. Add shallots. Lastly, stir in the oil, drop by drop. The choice of vegetable is yours. Something lightly cooked and gently seasoned will add to the main course. No evening, however, is quite complete without mood music. Whether you prefer Willie Nelson, Mantovani, or classical music, find something soft and mellow to put on the stereo. Who knows? you might want to dance later on. The entree is filling, but not overly so due to the size of the tournedos. You can complement the meat with a wine like Chateauneuf-du-Pape, a nice French red. TOURNEDOS ROSSINI Pate: Must be made some time beforehand to cool and set. The quantity in this recipe will top 2 tournedos and leave enough for eight small hors d’oeuvres. 7 |b calves liver 2 eggs 2 T brandy or dry sherry salt and pepper to season pinch each of chopped thyme and grated nutmeg 4 Ib fresh pork fat or bacon 2/3 cup whipping cream 2% T beef stock “A” EVENT Dennis Anderson, Alun Evans, John Colak, Ron Muir “B” EVENT Clyde Miller, Gerry Pisonic, Dragica Vidovic, Ciril Habjan seaee DOSOO00000900000000000000000000000000000090000000000000000COOCOOCCCOOOODCCS Cocccececooeoooccce ee0000 weeeee hapten ff Put the calves liver and pork through a fine meat grinder, once or even twice. Blend with all other ingredients except thyme and nutmeg. When blended, add the thyme and nutmeg. Spoon the mixture into a well- buttered dish, cover with foil and stand in a bain-marie (pan of cold water - level about halfway up bowl). Bake for 1% hours in the centre of a very moderate oven (about 325 ). Allow to cool and set. If storing the pate, top with a layer of melted butter. This par- ticular pate freezes well for just a month. Tournedos: 2 - each about 1%” thick Add a little salt and pepper to the tournedos; do not overseason as the pate has plenty of flavour. Wrap each in a long thin strip of bacon and secure it. Broil the steaks, using butter or oil to taste but do not be over- generous with the fat. Cut some of the pate into small neat rounds or squares. To serve: Lift the steaks onto a hot serving dish, top tournedos with pate and serve at once. It is important that the pate is not put on the steaks until the last minute because it will melt and look less attractive in its presentation. Another special touch would be a bottle of champagne. If you don’t want to drink a full bottle, half-bottles can be ordered through the speciality section of the liquor store, CHOCOLATE DIPPED STRAWBERRIES Whole, fresh strawberries with stems attached 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate 7 tsp butter Wash strawberries and dry very thoroughly. Put aside. Over low heat, melt chocolate and butter in a heavy saucepan. Using a dipping fork, or (messier) holding the strawberries by their stems, dip the fruit into the choco- late and place on waxed paper. Keep cool (not cold) and serve within two hours. No one says dessert has to be eaten at the dinner table. Let your imagination be your guide. After all, the end of the meal may really be the beginning of your evening! : On=wp, ® 3 om — oo : n ry 3 o o < ° “C” EVENT Mario Gimmi, Scott Smith, Ivan Vidovic, Ellen Knowles The Lions Sweetheart Bonspiel, Renna 14-15, will be followed by the Mens and Ladies Bonspiel, scheduled for the last weekend of February. LIONS’SWEETHEART SPIEL FEB. 14-15 ©00000000000000080000000000000000000000008000009S90H00099890000008088800 08998988 0099800000089880000088000080800000000000000004