Brownhoist Cranes

[crhostler61]

I am very curious about the Brownhoist steam cranes as modeled by Tichy. Since I model mid 1970's to mid 1980's would a crane of this style and vintage fit in? Would they have been dieselized? Retrucked? 

Mark H

[mlehman]

Yes, many still around in that era, but most all were dieselized. Trucks would have been updated with roller bearings, but otherwise the same.

[7j43k]

I do wonder how many 120 ton steam powered Brownhoist cranes were dieselized.  Rather than being scrapped.  Flanged wheel wreckers were being phased out about then (I think), so I question whether a railroad would put money in a crane that would soon be scrapped.

I see you're interested in Conrail.  Here's a photo of a Conrail steam powered wrecking crane:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1430339

It's a bit newer than that ole Tichy thang, but steam definetely made it to Conrail.

 

 

 

Ed

[dehusman]

The wrecker at 30th St in Phillie was steam powered up in the late 1970's.

As a side note, back in the late 60's early 70's there was a huge kerfuffel in MR over Walthers selling Penn Central decals for steam engines.  The tender for the 30th St wrecker was indeed a steam engine tender lettered for PC, so while not exactly a match for Walther's decals, it was ,in the most general sense, possible.

[mlehman]

7j43k

I do wonder how many 120 ton steam powered Brownhoist cranes were dieselized.

It certainly wasn't a majority of them, I'll bet. But dieselization of cranes began back in the 1950s as fires werre dropped on the rest of the steam power. The "rubber tire wrecking trains" like Hulcher weren't there yet, so many cranes were converted. It wasn't like wrecks stop happening. And wrecks are a lot like wars -- you tend to prepare to fight the last one. For most RRs, that meant some form of wrecker on rails until the late 60s, early 70s when the alternatives became available and started looking finanicially better than maintaining that rarely used wreck train.

[mlehman]

dehusman

The wrecker at 30th St in Phillie was steam powered up in the late 1970's.

Yeah, some lingered in steam remarkably long. I think the Soo Line may have been another. I know the Rio Grande had 'em into the 90s. But the Grande also converted one or two. They also bought a Rock Island wrecker in 81 and dieselized it when going through. Who knows what condition it was in from the Rock?

I suspect lingering steam wreckers depended a lot on availability of the shop forces to maintain them. Remember they need inspections and service similar to a steam loco. Once those guys are retired, your steam wrecker is on borrowed time. Not too big a problem for the PC, but with the Soo or other smaller lines the bench wasn't so deep.

[crhostler61]

Since my orginal post yesterday I got to thinking and remembered that Strasburg has a modest size crane. After a little research I found it to be orignally owned by PRR and subsequently PC. From the photo I found, it looks like a 120T Brownhoist but no markings as such. I don't know if it was converted to diesel but it is equipped with what looks like a heavy version of andrews trucks. 

I'm planning on building a Tichy and now have something to go on. I'll find some excuse to have a PC crane with Reading equipment. Eh...Reading took in a PC refugee. Sounds good to me

Mark H

 

[7j43k]

Looking at on-line pictures of the Strasburg crane, it looks like you can see a boiler through the open rear door.

 

Here's a neat shot of an obviously still-steampowered Conrail crane at work in 1984:

http://thecrhs.org/Images/CR-50089-Wreck-Crane-at-Rutherford-PA

 

Ed

[crhostler61]

Ed

Great discovery. I forgot about the Conrail HS. So it looks like the Tichy crane will fit in since I model Reading and Conrail in the Conrail transition years. This shot must be from before Conrail getting the hi rail Pettibone cranes I saw in use for derailments in Enola.

Mark H

[mlehman]

crhostler61

This shot must be from before Conrail getting the hi rail Pettibone cranes I saw in use for derailments in Enola.

Maybe. The Rio Grande ran a mix of both rail wreckers, steam and diesel, along with 4 road/rail Pettibones over the years between the 60s and the 90s. They each have their advantages and disadvantages.

It's alos the case that any crane is a sizable investment that often sits a lot between assignments. And for geographically far-flung lines, there must be several spread around to reach an incident fairly quickly in case of need. Even well-funded roads can't afford a total fleet replacement when new technology comes along. For wreckers, this was stretched out over longer periods than for motive power's conversion from steam to diesel, accounting for the mix of old and new technologies.

I will say that it's hard to generalize about wreckers. Each one's life cycle is governed by differing circumstances unique to its situation.

[jrbernier]

  I seem to remember that the SOO had a large wreck crane that was still steam powered into the 70's.  It was kept in the Shoreham roundhouse(on company steam) until an engine went into the TT pit.  They had to break out part of the rear wall and lay temp track so the crane could get to the engine in the pit!   And I think the MILW had a steam pile driver as well.  Boiler certification and retirement of certified folks who could maintain these relics marked their doom.  In the mid 70's, BN started buying 'Cline' trucks that could lift the end of a freight car.  This and side boom dozers spelled the end for much of the wreck crane operation in the US.

Jim