Fire Bell at Big Brutus - West Mineral, KS
N 37° 16.418 W 094° 56.387
15S E 328017 N 4126991
Retired fire bell at the museum for Big Brutus in rural Kansas
Waymark Code: WMPGZJ
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 08/30/2015
Views: 2
According to the sign attached to the bell frame, this bell was the first fire alarm bell from the town of West Mineral in the early 1900s. It was donated by the town to the Big Brutus museum. On the yoke are the words Steel Alloy, the number 544, and Alarm Bell. On the other side of the yoke it says: C. S. Bell & Co. Hillsboro O.
Visiting this bell is not free, because one must pay to reach this part of the museum complex. But worry not. The price of admission is well worth it to see the second largest electric coal shovel in the world, as well as some other interesting artifacts outdoors with this bell: a couple of old horse-drawn road graders; a 40 cubic yard shovel bucket (Big Brutus touts a 90 cubic yard bucket); a saw for undercutting a coal seam in a mine; a rail car crane; and so on.
Inside the museum building are displays such as models of Big Brutus, models of coal mining tipples and other equipment, photos of other large shovels (such as the world's largest of any type from Percy, Illinois), and so on. There's also a gift shop.
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