Marion Steam Shovel (Le Roy, New York)
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Marion Steam Shovel
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South view of shovel in 2010
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| Location | Le Roy, NY |
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| Coordinates | 42°59′33″N 77°56′17″W / 42.99250°N 77.93806°WCoordinates: 42°59′33″N 77°56′17″W / 42.99250°N 77.93806°W |
| Area | 0.1 acres (0.04 ha) |
| Built | 1911 |
| Architect | Marion Steam Shovel Co. |
| NRHP Reference # | 08000038 |
| Added to NRHP | February 22, 2008 |
The Marion Steam Shovel, also known as the Le Roy Steam Shovel, is a historic Model 91 steam shovel manufactured by the Marion Steam Shovel and Dredge Company of Marion, Ohio. It is located on Gulf Road in the Town of Le Roy, New York, United States.
Representative of the type of technology developed in the late 19th century and early 20th century to provide large, inexpensive supplies of crushed stone for the vast American railroad network and later for the road construction, it is believed to be the largest intact steam shovel remaining in the world, and may have been used in the excavation of the Panama Canal. No longer operational, it was moved to its current site in the mid-20th century. It is currently owned by the town. In 2008 it became the first steam shovel listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the only listing in the Town of Le Roy and the easternmost in Genesee County.
The shovel is located on the north side of Gulf Road, two miles (3.2 km) east-northeast of the village of Le Roy, just opposite the driveway into the Hanson Company's limestone quarry. It is in a field behind a fence with locked gate. On the road there is space to pull vehicles over and look at it. The Register listing includes an area of about 0.1 acres (0.04 ha), delineated by a perimeter 10 feet (3.05 m) around the shovel.
While the original decorations have largely faded off the side, in several places on the shovel the Marion name is cast and legible. The model number plates have been removed, but the patent plate is still in place. The shovel weighs 105 short tons (94 long tons; 95 tonnes).
Its main section is the size of a railroad boxcar, 18 feet (5.49 m) wide by 42 feet (12.80 m) long, with an arched roof and siding of riveted sheet metal, now rusted. The operator's cab is on the east-facing front end, with most of the rest of the section housing the shovel's three steam engines and a 5-by-15-foot (1.52 by 4.57 m) boiler, no longer in working condition, with horizontal flues. A plate on its door bears the number 5304. An eight-foot (2.44 m) coal bin was added to the rear after it was built. The section rests on two caterpillar tracks, one pair out in front on a twenty-foot –wide (6.10 m) outrigger, the other in the middle.
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