The tower frame and boom are steel. The tower rolls on two rails along
the dock and is self-propelling. The lift is unusually short; for the
reason that the weighing apparatus is removed horizontally to one side
in a separate house, instead of lying vertically below the crusher.
This arrangement reduces by 40 per cent. the lift of the bucket, which
is of the clam-shell type of forty-four cubic feet capacity. The
motive power for operating the bucket is perhaps the most massive and
powerful ever installed for such service. The main hoist is directly
connected to a 200 horse-power motor with a special system of control.
The trolley engine for hauling the bucket along the boom is also
direct coupled to a multipolar motor.

The receiving hopper has a large throat, and a steel grizzly in it
which sorts out coal small enough for the stokers and bypasses it
around the crusher. The crusher is of the two-roll type, with
relieving springs, and is operated by a motor, which is also used for
propelling the tower. The coal is weighed in duplex two-ton hoppers.

Special attention has been given to providing for the comfort and
safety of the operators. The cabs have baywindow fronts, to enable the
men to have an unobstructed view of the bucket at all times without
peering through slots in the floor. Walks and hand lines are provided
on both sides of the boom for safe inspection. The running ropes pass
through hardwood slides, which cover the slots in the engine house
roof to exclude rain and snow.

This type of motive power was selected in preference to trolley
locomotives for moving the ash cars, owing to the rapid destruction of
overhead lines and rail bonds by the action of ashes and water. The