Interesting facts about the "the worlds' largest steam hoist." At 2500HP it was not the most powerful or moved the most rock. C&H had multiple engines bigger than this in Calumet - like the 4700HP "Superior" and 7000HP "Mackinac". Tamarack #5 had dual 6500HP hoists, each able to lift a 10 ton load up to 55MPH!. In the heyday, the faster you hauled ore, the more money you made. The Nordberg at Quincy was built to maximize economy, with the same steam being used in multiple condensing stages and lowering their coal bill. This was built later on when copper prices were down and the mines had to lower the production costs or shut down. It's "largest" title is due to the largest cable drum. With the longest shaft in the Copper County, it had the longest cable to wind (capacity to 10,000').
There is also room for interpretation on deepest or longest. Tamarack #5 is 5,300 ft deep; the Red Jacket Shaft over 5000' (both vertical). Quincy #2 is about 9,200 ft. deep on the dip, which starts at 54 degrees and gradually flattens out. Vertically, Quincy #2 is over 6,000 ft, and at the time it was the deepest shaft in North America – it has since been exceeded in other parts of the world. Calumet #4 and Hecla #7 were sunk to 9,600 ft on the dip. but weren’t as deep vertically due to the flatter dip of the Calumet Conglomerate (I don't think rock was hauled up from them in a single stage, either, but I'd have to do some research). So all of these were claimed as "biggest" or "deepest" at some point. When you think about Tamarack #5 being 26'x36'x5300' - that's a big hole in the ground (imagine stacking 442 3-car garages). As for the most rock pulled out of the ground, that has to be the huge matrix of shafts underneath Calumet.
There's still a huge amount of industry in this country. Especially if you live in the Great Lakes area. I have a similar fascination with industry (and it definitely shows up in the pictures I take... 
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