The Allure of Gigantic Excavators

Big Muskie bucket

A young girl stands inside the enormous bucket of “Big Muskie”, the world’s largest dragline excavator. Photo: Charles Barilleaux/Flickr

Near McConnelsville, Ohio, just off State Route 78, is the Miners’ Memorial Park dedicated to the coal mining industry of southeastern Ohio that dominated the economy of this part of America until about fifty years ago. The small park is centered around a single exhibit—a colossal steel bucket that was once attached to the business end of the largest single-bucket digging machine ever created.