National story - 125 Horses
Series
- Series Name
- Mining Review 21st Year
Issue
Story
- Story No. within this Issue
- 4 / 4
- Summary
- NoS synopsis: The new Trepanner power-loader, which cuts even more coal cheaper and faster.
NCB Commentary - Mechanisation. And the men behind it. This is the story of mining today, with machinery giving power to the elbows of our miners all along the line. Today, more than 50% of our coal is cut and and loaded by machine. Even support systems are power operated.
This machine is called a Trepanner. It cuts - and loads - coal in hundreds of our collieries. And now it’s been given some more beef.
Early versions of the machine were powered by 70 h.p. motors - now they’ve been given an extra 55.
And this means quite a difference. Nearly twice the difference.
Here’s a 125 trepanner on the surface. The big wheel cores out the coal - all the other cutting picks work on the roof and the floor.
It’s a lot of machine to handle, but the men who drive a Trepanner, modern style, say that its more like driving a car than a truck. THe 125 horsepower trepanner is all set to cut and load even more coal - cheaper and faster.
The more powerful Trepanner is now coping successfully with conditions which would have stalled a lighter machine.
The extra horses make the difference. - Keywords
- Mining
- Written sources
- British Film Institute Databases
Films on Coal Catalogue 1969, p.55
The National Archives COAL 32 /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963
- Credits:
-
- Sponsor
- National Coal Board
- Production Co.
- National Coal Board Film Unit
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