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All Germany Schipkau Bagger 258: The "Blue Wonder"

Bagger 258: The "Blue Wonder"

The industrial monstrosity known as Bagger 258 is a colossal mining machine built in the DDR - but now left for dead in a German field.

Schipkau, Germany

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Darmon Richter
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The mighty Bagger 258   Robert Cannon
View from the cab   Robert Cannon
On top of the excavator arm   Robert Cannon
Schaufelradbagger by night at the Garzweiler mining area   ImCh via Wikimedia Commons
Lauchhammer stamp   Robert Cannon
Inside the cab   Robert Cannon
Bagger 258, false color infrared   hzoi / Atlas Obscura User
Bagger 258: The “Blue Wonder”   Sebastian Wortys / Atlas Obscura User
Bagger 258: The “Blue Wonder”   Sebastian Wortys / Atlas Obscura User
Bagger 258 seen from Aussichtsturm Hörlitz   honzahol / Atlas Obscura User
Bagger 258: The “Blue Wonder”   Sebastian Wortys / Atlas Obscura User
Bagger 258: The “Blue Wonder”   Sebastian Wortys / Atlas Obscura User
Signs neer the Bagger 258, I don’t understand German language   Sebastian Wortys / Atlas Obscura User
Inside the machine   Robert Cannon
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About

Bagger 258 is a bucket wheel excavator, or "schaufelradbagger," built by the heavy machinery company Lauchhammer. First put to use in East Germany in 1964, Bagger 258 was one of a series of such machines whose task was to assist in intensive mining operations.

This motorised excavator featured a total of 10 blades, cutting to a depth of 15m into the earth as it removed spoil from the layers of coal beneath. The buckets, each designed with a capacity of roughly 1.5m³, would also collect a thin layer of coal during the process. This was sifted mechanically and diverted to feed power stations

With a length of 171.5m and reaching a height of 50m, the 3850-tonne Bagger 258 rather resembles a factory; although this factory was mounted onto tank-like tracks and able to move at a speed of six metres per minute. It was powered by electricity, supplied through a cable.

Bagger 258 was abandoned in 2002, for no better reason than that it had simply run out of things to dig. By this point the behemoth was showing its age, and the cost of dismantling it wasn't justified by the tired mechanisms on offer. Instead the area around Bagger 258 was replanted, and redeveloped as a solar park.

These days, Bagger 258 stands desolate in a field in Germany. Its blue paint job - now chipped and fading - had once earned it the nickname, "Blue Wonder."

Check out the glossy report at for more images of this decayed industrial giant.

Related Tags

Instruments Of Science Retro Tech Ruins

Know Before You Go

The machine is behind a fence bearing "no trespassing" signs in German.

 

Community Contributors

Added By

Darmon Richter

Edited By

ahvenas, 1lorr1e1, maartensworld, sylderon...

  • ahvenas
  • 1lorr1e1
  • maartensworld
  • sylderon
  • Sebastian Wortys
  • hzoi
  • honzahol

Published

September 29, 2013

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Sources
  • http://www.ratsnruins.com/bagger-258.html#axzz2fFvrkZc1
  • http://www.panoramio.com/photo/35988502
  • http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaufelradbagger
Bagger 258: The "Blue Wonder"
71 Lange Straße
Schipkau, 01968
Germany
51.53564, 13.94923
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