Day 1 - Parsons, Kansas

My first stop on my trip was West Mineral, Kansas, home of Big Brutus, the largest electric shovel still in existence. It stands 160 feet tall, and weighs about 5000 tons. There are stairs leading up to the very tip of the boom arm, but they haven't been open since 2004, so I wasn't able to go higher than the control booth. Still, the treads that it moved on (with a top speed of 0.2 mph) were taller than me, and it could crush my car without a second thought. But really, the pictures should speak for themselves.

That shovel holds 90 cubic yards of dirt.

Those treads on top were 6 feet off the ground. I was standing under Big Brutus at the time.

See those people down there? Yeah, neither can I.