Photo of Steam Shovel digging away Hillside

A Photograph with a ¾ rear view of a rail-mounted steam shovel with its crew at work removing hillside. A large pile of dirty has already been built up, and a steam locomotive can be seen approaching on another set of rails in the background.

Steam Shovels were some of the first ever excavators. The patent for the steam powered shovel was acquired by William Otis in 1839, and his cousin Oliver Smith Chapman continuing development and manufacture after Otis’ death that same year. By 1870, Otis’ original patent expired, and numerous companies began to manufacture their own shovels. They were common in heavy duty construction like railroad and canal creation due to their ability to move earth in far greater amounts than before. The earlier steam shovels moved on temporary rails laid by workers where they were needed, and they were in turn used to clear the way for permanent railroad tracks to be laid. When working, they would extend “outriggers” to stabilize themselves, as the one in this photo has. During the later years of their operation, they moved on their own caterpillar treads instead. They were rendered obsolete in the 1930s by diesel powered shovels.

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