Nostalgia & History > OTD: workhorse: UP pile driver

The support equipment for RR's sometimes doesn't get the camera attention it deserves .... but here's something on the UP in Denver that was pretty hard to ignore 
Date was 3/13/76

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It almost looks like they spliced two engine cabs to make an operators compartment for the pile driver...

End of the line maybe. The flat car is marked for Scrap.  Heavy duty equipment. Thanks for posting.
RB

It's amazing that the pile driver is still sporting archbar trucks!   

Pile drivers were very interesting pieces of equipment.
I always enjoyed watching them work.  The sound did not bother me; in fact, I liked it.
ALLEN
 

That's a great photo and I wonder if it is the same pile driver that Jim Burrill's uncle operated long ago.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

ats90mph Wrote:

> It almost looks like they spliced two engine cabs
> to make an operators compartment for the pile
> driver...

That's an Industrial Brownhoist pile driver, and they just look that way:

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/notm17515.jpg
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/sp2709.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b9/d3/6e/b9d36ee1c4793d47b5797cb6b28bc08c.jpg

One example is known to still exist, rusting away at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, GA:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/timandrenda/8907903300/

WofA #20 when it looked a bit healthier:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=265530

UP 903112 was built in July 1920 by Industrial Works; originally numbered as UP 03112, renumbered to UP 903112 in 1959. It was retired in July 1975, and sold in March 1976.

The tender, UP 907830, was "built from salvage" in June 1963. Retired in March 1976. Tracing the history of the other Class 12-C (12,000-gallon cylindrical) tenders, most are accounted for following their removal from retired steam locomotives. Only three retired in 1962 are unaccounted for, but without the actual tender serial number (such as 12-C-307), it would be impossible to figure out which steam locomotive it was removed from. But all three were removed from Heavy Pacifics in the 2800 and 2900 series locomotives when the locomotives were retired in the 1947-1948 time period.

The builder was Industrial Works from 1873 to 1927; then Industrial Brownhoist Corporation from 1927 to 1960. It was sold to American Hoist & Derrick Company in 1960.

A bit more history is here...

http://utahrails.net/up/cranes-derricks-companies.php#industrialbrownhoist

Don Strack



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/19 04:36 by donstrack.