Save The Silver Spade
When I found out the Silver Spade was the sister shovel to the GEM of Egypt, I had to see it. This was made more important by the news that the Silver Spade had been idled, and had broken down as they were moving her out of the pit. The chances of her working again when they started moving her out of the pit were slim, but with her breaking down halfway out. She was pretty much headed for the scrap pile. Luckly there is hope.
A group called the Harrison Coal & Reclamation Historical Park is trying to save her. I ask anyone who has a love for big machinary, history, or just cool oddities to help out. This group is desprate. The GEM of Egypt is gone, along with The Mountaineer & the Big Muskie. This is something I feel very strongly about and ask all of my visitors to stop and take a moment to consider what one of the last (if not the last) large shovel in the US is almost gone. Please help this group save her.
Another reason this shovel means so much to me is that when the GEM of Egypt was scraped, a lot of her useable parts went into keeping the Silver Spade running. For me this is a link to the GEM.