Hemmings Motor News Blog

That's a cool truck if you need to transport stuff over a shortish fixed route.
Must be problems avoiding the powerlines whilst loading unloading? Maybe they turn the truck sideways on to the lines?
Del

What I have heard is that the truck ran on batteries. The truck would come off the lines and enter the quarry. Onced loaded, would head back to the "GRID" and continue its jurney.

Hi DStrohl,

I got over my inability to comprehend Russian car culture while spending time in Finland, 1986:

The family I spent time with - farmers living near the city of Kouvola, close to the Russian border - drove a Lada, a car much different - to say the least - than the much larger Oldsmobile station-wagon my dad was driving around at the time. I remember there even being a Lada dealership there.

On weekends in Kouvola, young Finns would gather downtown, and show-off their hot rods - mostly modified American cars, but I think there were also some modified Russian cars as well. The kids showing off their cars even did their hair and clothes in U.S. 50's style, like in the 70's TV show "Happy Days". :)

Car culture did (does) exist in Russia, and even traveled a bit back in the day! Thanks for blogging on this topic.

- Larry

<-- 1985 Lada Riva, much like the car used by the family I stayed with in Finland. Photo courtesy Wikipedia.

Hi again DStrohl -

Forgot to mention - the vehicle the Finnish farming family I stayed with were most proud of, and that brought in their livelihood, was made in the good-old U.S.A. - It was a tractor from American company International Harvester (Chicago).

<-- Photo courtesy Wikipedia.

With all the bad news about GM, thought I'd bring up something positive about U.S. manufacturing's global reputation. :)

- Larry

If the structures are a pantograph, I suspect the truck would be "Trolley assist" rather than a totally trolley design. The long bonnet will certainly house a diesel engine of some sort. Trolley assist supplies extra power to the wheel motors for greater speed on ramp and the maneuvering is done under diesel electric power. Unloading and loading would not be a problem. This machine would be in the 20 to 30 tonne range. The rear wheels house a somewhat larger wheel end than is usual for this size machine, so electric drive is likely.

Trolley assist is used in deep pits such as Bingham Canyon in the US and some pits in South Africa. The trucks used in those locations are both larger (200 + tonne) and more modern than the item photographed.

Vehicles certainly were made behind the iron curtain, the BBC program Top Gear did an amusing segment about Communist built cars including their own Morris Marina (British Leyland).

Electric drive trucks are produced by Belaz from the Republic of Belarus. They look like American dump trucks if you stand far enough back and they use Cummins engines, but that is where the similarity ends. Belaz have a website for those interested, just take a grain of two of salt.

You're right about trolley-assist in South African mining but not at Bingham Canyon. It's a somewhat rare system owing to the inflexibility but has some major cost/fuel-saving advantages in deep/steep pits. Equinox's Lumwana copper mine in Zambia is the only big new open pit in recent years to utilize this system, I think.

Yes the 930E (AC 290 tonne) trucks currently deployed at Bingham are not trolley compatable. The only 2 trolley trucks I've worked on personally originated at Barrack Gold mines and had been "converted" to standard. They were both 730E (DC 186 tonne). The inclusion of Bingham Canyon came from an old photograph showing a trolley truck. Since Bingham was the first customer for 930E trucks any trolley system that exists will be long gone, I stand corrected. The 860E (247 tonne) will be the first AC trolley and the first new trolley truck since the 730E.

I couldn't get any photos to attach.

This is not something strange. The truck on backside of motorcycle is old model of KRAZ dumper truck () with trolley assist. This tippers were used in coal mining in Ukraine in 1960's.

http://www.znayki.com/blog/archives/21-Rogatyj_samosval.html

In 1954 was redisigned MAZ 525. It was equipped with two electrical motors 172 kW total capacity. This tipper was on 76% more efficient than diesel analog.

Thanks for the detail. The more things change the more they stay the same. Modern AC drive dump trucks (without trolley) use about half the fuel to do the job as mechanical drive models. Until recently only DC trucks were put on the trolley, that is about to change. I know the make, model of both the truck and propulsion system but don't yet have details of the trolley system.

I'l be very interested if you reply to post 8. I looked up the link you provided but unfortunately I don't speak or read Russian.

I haven't seen a lot of Russian residents on CR4, it is good to hear from you.

A Workable English Translation:

If you do not govo-rye-you pa-russki, but do speak and read some English, try this:

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-res&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.znayki.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F21-Rogatyj_samosval.html&amp;lp=ru_en&btnTrUrl=Translate

Occasionally Babelfish is not workable, especially for philosophical texts, but this one does fine.