Quarry Tools

"Dinky" the little engine that could. )Peninsula Library Historical Society)

“Dinky”, the little engine that could. (Peninsula Library Historical Society)

In the early 1800’s, most quarrying operations were done by hand with the aid of a horse-drawn two-wheel cart to remove the soil and loose rock (overburden) from the top of stone to be cut. In the 1870’s, a tripod drill frame powered by steam replaced hand drills and blasting powder. Then the process improved even more with use of the channeling machine, a steam shovel for clearing off the stone and then a small engine “Dinky” that ran on standard gauge railroad tracks that moved both the overburden and then the cut stone.

Workers in quarry with steam boiler c. 1900.

Workers in quarry with steam boiler c. 1900 (Peninsula Library Historical Society).

Horse powered hoist and derrick. From Manufacturer and Builder 18:7, July 1886.

Horse powered hoist and derrick. From Manufacturer and Builder 18:7, July 1886.

As stone could be cut more efficiently, more rail track and full size engines pulling flat cars were added to move the stone from the various quarries to the processing stations. Then the stone blocks were ground to the required shape and transferred to either canal boats or the railroad. A cumbersome wooden derrick moved the blocks; it was first powered by a horse walking in a circular path. As more derricks were added the horse was replaced with a combined boiler and engine house.

Even with improved quarry operations over the years, it was still difficult work and the men were always exposed to the stone dust. Considering all the saws, explosives, moveable derricks, horse-carts and locomotives, there were not many accidents at Deep Lock. The only serious one occurred in October 1890 when a derrick guideline was hit by a freight train flat bed, the derrick, in the process of moving a stone block, toppled over, crushing two men and seriously injuring a third.