News on Screen

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 21st Year

Issue

Issue No.

7

Date Released

Mar 1968

Stories in this Issue:

• 1. Flying Scotsman
• 2. Nottinghamshire - Easy Does It
• 3. County Durham - Old Folks at Home
• 4. National story - 125 Horses

Story

Story No. within this Issue

4 / 4

Summary

NoS synopsis: The new Trepanner power-loader, which cuts even more coal cheaper and faster.
NCB Commentary - Mechanisation. And the men behind it. This is the story of mining today, with machinery giving power to the elbows of our miners all along the line. Today, more than 50% of our coal is cut and and loaded by machine. Even support systems are power operated.
This machine is called a Trepanner. It cuts - and loads - coal in hundreds of our collieries. And now it’s been given some more beef.
Early versions of the machine were powered by 70 h.p. motors - now they’ve been given an extra 55.
And this means quite a difference. Nearly twice the difference.
Here’s a 125 trepanner on the surface. The big wheel cores out the coal - all the other cutting picks work on the roof and the floor.
It’s a lot of machine to handle, but the men who drive a Trepanner, modern style, say that its more like driving a car than a truck. THe 125 horsepower trepanner is all set to cut and load even more coal - cheaper and faster.
The more powerful Trepanner is now coping successfully with conditions which would have stalled a lighter machine.
The extra horses make the difference.

Keywords

Mining

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases
Films on Coal Catalogue   1969, p.55
The National Archives COAL 32   /13 Scripts for Mining Review, 1960-1963

Credits:

Sponsor

National Coal Board

Production Co.

National Coal Board Film Unit