A Lima Crane. Slightly Off Topic.

[Anonymous]

Lima Crane. Date on Casting says 9-48.

[JoeKoh]

very nice pics!!! I wonder what rr had the crane before it got its new job!
stay safe
Joe

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Lima Locomotive Works purchased the Ohio Power Shovel Company in the 1920's. It made sense since steam shovel and power shovel were genuinely synonymous at the time. The market was by no means strictly railroad-oriented and Lima cranes and power shovels have shown up at construction sites, quarries, open-pit mines, etc. for decades.

[JDV5th]

Interesting. Didn't know they branched off to other industries. Did Baldwin or Alco do anything like that? Just wondering.

[CShaveRR]

I'm embarrased to admit it, but I knew about Lima cranes before I knew about their locomotives.

I saw two different Lima cranes working over a period of months in the early 1960s. They were both painted in a red-and-gray paint scheme (NYC Pacemaker colors, or close to them), which I also saw later on another company's crane--does anyone know if that was the way they came from the plant?

I also noted a lot of pneumatic noises coming from these cranes when cables stopped moving, etc.--something I didn't notice on cranes of other manufacturers. Kind of reminded me of brake noises on trains...then I found out that Lima did locomotives, too!

[samfp1943]

A number of years ago, Lionel modeled a crane of similar configuration, but it was on railroad wheels rather than tracks. It was called a "Burro" Crane and seemed to be quite common around groups of MOW equipment in the real railroad world. they were used to handle rails and other lifting tasks. I do not know who made the Burro brand of crane..Maybe some one else can supply more details.