The Cornwall Peninsula in the very south of the United Kingdom is famous for its pasties, beaches, cider, and – at one time – mining.

This began with silver and tin, plundered by the Romans, and ended with coal, plundered by the Government.

Mines were a combination of dangerous ‘pits’ and open cast, with the latter exploited by enormous mechanisation in later years. This is one such machine from the time, the 390-ton Ruston-Bucyrus 195-B electric rope shovel.

Recreated in 1:28.5 form, this spectacular replica of the Ruston-Bucyrus 195-B comes from recent bloggee Beat Felber, to work alongside his Terex 33-11C mining truck.

Like his previously featured Terex, Beat’s electric rope shovel is packed with electronics to bring it to life, with four Power Functions motors driving the tracks, two the swing motion, another the main winch, and an eighth the dipper handle. No, we don’t know what a dipper handle is.

Finally two CaDA micromotors power the bucket door release and motorised access ladder, there are two sets of LEDs lighting the model, and the whole lot is controllable remotely via twin SBricks.

It’s a hugely impressive feat of engineering, with lots more of the model to see at Beat’s ‘Ruston-Bucyrus 195-B’ Flickr album – where it’s pictured alongside the Terex 33-11C with which it would have worked mining Cornish coal.

Grab a pasty and a cider and head to 1980s Cornwall via the link above.