railroad crane

this is the beasty i have been fixin up lately was built by the industrial locomotive works in 1914 as a steam powerd unit got converted to deisel sometime in the late 50's early 60's going by the engine its rated at 150 tons

starting at the operators position (on the right side of the boom looking out) the most forward control is the throttle (air operated, idle or about half throttle) the two behind it i havent been able to identify one is obviously a brake but the one in the middle is harder to pin down

moving back there are four valves in a row at the top starting at the front they are house lock (havent investigated as to whether it is a swing brake or a spud lock) and the dog clutch controlls for the tag line, main hoist, and the boom hoist. the two "wheels" below that are the brakes for the tag line and the main hoist the lever in between them is the swing control

the view looking back toward the engine the red handel hanging down the the fore ground is for the air horn (i dont know about elswhere but on most railroads before radios during nighttime operations the wreck forman would have a blue lantern, it was the only lantern that could give the crane operator singnals)

the engine, runs like butter

more the same, oddly enough the amp meter (white face black lettering) is a cummins unit

when the great northern shops converted this crane to desiel they built a whole new house and honestly they did a superb job of it a good example of this are the hand crank rack and the peanut tank for the pony motor everything had a place on this thing and nothing was done half assed

a veiw looking forward over the drums, the roof of the house is hinged over the drums and rides on the boom hoist cables when the boom is at a high angle. note that the boom is out as far as it will go judging by the single wrap left on the drum

the link belt silent chain drive dont know mutch about this any info would be apreiciated

the first shot is through a neat little window next to the operators position giving a view of all the clutches, visible here are the bevel gears and clutch of the boom hoist to the right of that is the clutch and brake for the tag line and to the right of that is a glimpse of the swing mechanism, the second picture is of the boom hoist worm gear drive whitch appears to be origional equipment

finally a view of all the clutches and brakes as well as the swing looking forward and a view down through the house actualy showing the top of the car whitch its mounted onto

thats a sweet little project you got goin there! keep us updated

That is very interesting as you knew it would be.Thank you for sharing this with us.Ron G

Thanks for posting these. Any idea when it was last used? The crater lube is hanging onto the cables pretty well so they may still be in good condition. Where is the yard located, looks like a few worthy products. Good luck on your project.

The NC Transportation Museum has a crane whose boom and works look very similar to this one. It was also converted to diesel. I was thinking the house on yours looks much more modern, but you say it is new. Their crane is a display piece but it is used frequently in their restoration projects on other engines and cars.

http://www.nctrans.org/

That looks a bit like a Pettibone I watched lifting tank cars at a wreck. Had a murphy engine I was told. Sure shook the earth when lifting. Pretty sure the hook was bigger. No clue what the lifting cap. was. I love to hear that one run. Good luck on the project. muzy

YES!!! - Train / Crane Porn

Thanks

Over here most of that equipment was hit with the gas axe,delighted to see those pictures...

update

well it turns out that the last group of "gentlemen" who "worked" on this crane had to lower the boom to transport it (if you look at the pics the boom drum has only about 1 wrap left on it) and instead of putting some gas in the pony motor and priming the fuel system and fireing it up in order to lower the boom. they simply took apart pieces of the drive till they could get the boom drive to turn useing a pipe wrench :Banghead the frustration is compounded by the fact that by all apearances it was fully functional before they messed with it

on that note i now have to re assemble / readjust every brake and clutch in the whole thing whitch is all well and good except that i dont know the first thing about how to do any of that, so any help / pointer would be appreciated

on a happier not i did find some more info on it it turns out that it was built by the industrial works (no "locomotive") whitch was in bay city michigan that company eventually became industrial brownhoist (1960 something) whitch later became part of american. it also turns out that this crane was part of a pair

3009 150t W 1914 Great Northern Ry #96023 to #96014 to #X1735
(converted to diesel)
Burlington Northern #D158 05-73
Minnesota Transportation Museum Osceola, WI 10-27-85
Scrapped 06-06
3010 150t W 1914 Great Northern Ry #96024 to #96015 to #X1736
(converted to diesel)
Burlington Northern # D159 05-73
Northwest Rail Museum Portland, OR 02-09-88
Willamette Pacific RR #X1776 (loan) (here 03-01)

the one i am fixing is serial 3009 witch is obviousley not scrapped i found a picture of the other as well as a picture of a similar crane when new

These Guys have one made by Industrial Works. Good luck with your project


http://www.mcrwy.com/collectn/service/soox3.html