Nostalgia & History > Railroad Cranes

Do any railroads still use these beasts? Who made them and what were they used for? First two photos were taken in Las Vegas, early 1970's, third was taken in Ft. Madison, Ia in 1977.
Commando

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etihparg Wrote:
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> Do any railroads still use these beasts? Who made
> them and what were they used for? First two
> photos were taken in Las Vegas, early 1970's,
> third was taken in Ft. Madison, Ia in 1977.
> Commando

Very few remain; those that do are probably already in museums.

They were manufactured by a company named Bucuyrus-Erie out of Bucuyrus, Ohio.

They were made specifically for cleaning up derailments.

The UP version you shot is steam powered, hence the tender.

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

The largest Rio Grande crane still works for the UP out of Grand Junction,CO.
Nathan Z.

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BNSF still has one in Interbay (Seattle) parked next to the roundhouse. It has BN numbers but when they worked on it this year they gave it a swoosh. It is in working condition and I was on a switch crew that moved it to the roundhouse for some mechanical work.
Kevin

Industrial Brownhoist also made railroad cranes. Montana Rail Link has an ex BN crane thats still in use periodically. The BN Spokane crane was donated to the local railroad museum. Arizona California has one last I was in Parker, two years ago.
Roger Beckett

I seem to remember reading that this type of crane had a limited useful arc, even with outriggers. This was a factor in the switch to the Caterpillar side booms.

Just this morning leaving KC westbound, I noticed two or three silver painted flatcars in the
Erman's scrap line stenciled "Belen Derrick"

I saw this one parked off of the UP Greeley Sub siding at Carr, CO on 7-3-09. Reporting marks UP 903073. Looks to still be operational, although I don't know if it is used for M.O.W. work or for clearing wrecks.

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They were used for cleaning up derailments and heavy construction. It is an expensive tool that has low utilization so outsourcing to contractors makes sense. I would guess that the 'big hooks' that remain are kept for use in areas that would be difficult for Hulcher to reach.

John Gezelius
Tustin, CA

Coloquially known as "big hooks" they did super jobs cleaning up wrecks. There was an SP one at Railfair 99 in Sacramento putting on demonstrations, and late in the show one of the diesels derailed in the yard--the big hook was put to work rerailing it. I have often wondered how they could handle such heavy loads without outriggers. They must be immensely heavy.

What a cool thread and what perfect timing. I just got home from spending an afternoon working on N&W 514900, a 200 ton Brownhoist at the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum that we are attempting to get operational for the night photo shoot on September 26. Does anybody have any cab shots of these beasts or one set up for operation. Our crane was built as steam-powered but was dieselized in 1959, so I am working with an antique engine that replaces antique technology. Any help or resources would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Denny

BNSF still has one sitting in Havre, MT or it did last month.

Steve

MW3 Wrote:
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> I saw this one parked off of the UP Greeley Sub
> siding at Carr, CO on 7-3-09. Reporting marks UP
> 903073. Looks to still be operational, although I
> don't know if it is used for M.O.W. work or for
> clearing wrecks.


This particular crane is more on the order of a "Burro" crane that is used in MOW service. I doubt seriously if the one depicted in your photo would lift a unit. Nice catch though.

V

SLOCONDR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/09 18:54 by SLOCONDR.

I agree with slocondr as that is more of a Burro crane. UP had one sitting in the Cheyenne yard in July while I was at the conv. Here is a pic. of it. upkpfan

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Here are a couple of shots of UP's ex. D&RGW wrecker. It was brought over to this coal train derailment in Price River Canyon, Utah on Sept. 27, 2007 to help with the clean up, but was not used.

Dick
Roosevelt, Utah

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You can see the roseville wrecker on the NCRY. Also we have the Boom tender which looks like this one on the NCRY. It is now a open car and you can ride on it. The car no. 1830

The Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth has three cranes on exhibit, one of which is steam. I'll be up in Duluth the 18th and will try to get some picutres inside the cab of number 38. You probably wouldn't be a ble to use the for your 9/26 show, but maybe can use them later.

http://66.116.202.72/Education/service.asp

NKP329 Wrote:
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> What a cool thread and what perfect timing. I
> just got home from spending an afternoon working
> on N&W 514900, a 200 ton Brownhoist at the Mad
> River & NKP Railroad Museum that we are attempting
> to get operational for the night photo shoot on
> September 26. Does anybody have any cab shots of
> these beasts or one set up for operation. Our
> crane was built as steam-powered but was
> dieselized in 1959, so I am working with an
> antique engine that replaces antique technology.
> Any help or resources would be greatly
> appreciated. Thanks.
>
> Denny

That will be great, thanks! The photo event is going to be stationary "snippets" of history so we won't be doing more than posing it. I would like to eventually use the crane as a demonstration piece when the museum is open and for special events. The interior needs to be restored and I have nothing to refer to but peeling grey paint. Have a good trip.

Denny



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/09 08:41 by NKP329.

Denny-

Check out all of these I.B. url's... Especially the "livesteam" url address for ordering ALL of the drawings for a 250-ton I.B. railroad crane...
Enjoy !!

KRK

http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2009/09/city_plans_for_the_demolition.html

http://comment-blog.advance.net/cgi-bin/mte/mt-search.cgi?extended_sort=photo_order%20DESC%2Ccreated_on%20DESC&IncludeBlogs=4468&index=adv_photo&filter_gallery=Industrial%20Brownhoist%20Buildings&limit=20&searchall=1&sort_mode=extended&offset=0

THIS ONE:
http://www.livesteamlocomotives.com/drawings/crane.htm

http://bjmi.us/bay/1pi/business/ib/intro.html

http://bjmi.us/bay/1he/bus/industrialworks.html

Cheers.

KRK

I always figured that getting rid of all of them was going to be a mistake. Sometime, someplace, somebody is going to dump one where Hulcher can't get. That said if you didn't have them all over the place getting them anyplace quickly wasn't and isn't going to happen.