Mucking Machine - Thompson Falls, MT
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 47° 36.251 W 115° 22.332
11T E 622350 N 5273592
Along the side of Rimrock Lane, leading to the Rimrock Lodge, west of Thompson Falls, are a few old mining track cars.
Waymark Code: WM10MEE
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 05/27/2019
Views: 1
This one is a "Mucker" or "Mucking Machine", used in the coal mines of Western Montana. Made by Eimco, its proper name was an Eimco Rocker Shovel. A century ago, and more, Muckers were pretty common, being used in, at least, North America and the UK, in both coal and ore mines. As compressed air was available in the mine to operate rock drills, these were powered by compressed air as well. Wonder how long a hose was required to follow this thing around? Actually, behind the Mucker are more railway cars, one of which has a large air tank mounted on it. Possibly it supplied the requisite compressed air, following behind the Mucker.
The mucker was meant to scoop coal/ore, etc. from in front of it and load it into a small gondola car behind it. The cars behind would have to be switched out as each one became full. These muckers were mounted on tram wheels and went wherever the tracks went.
