I just read an account of the "Dwight Eisenhower" unloading at the National Railroad Museum. It's interesting (at least to me) that they were able to roll it off the flatcar onto a specially built ramp and then on to museum rails. So why isn't this method used more often, or at all, when it comes to moving steam locomotives and other railroad equipment? It seems that any mention of moving locomotives automatically means renting a pair of cranes at each end for loading and unloading. Back in the days when museums didn't have any money, there were a lot of moves where ramps were built at each end to get equipment on and off of flat cars. As museums became more affluent, that method has died off in favor of using cranes. I'm just curious if the ramp method is a viable alternative in today's world. Especially for those organizations where renting cranes would be a financial hardship.

I have been involved in loading and unloading many steam and diesel locomotives going back to 1971. While at the Illinois Railway Museum that was the standard method as labor was free and the museum always had all the track material, ties and blocking to construct the tie cribbed ramps and the cost for cranes far exceeded our limited budgets. Using ramps requires space, the necessary material on site and labor so on specific projects these costs can sometimes equate to the cost of cranes. Ramping is usually safer with little chance of damage to the locomotive due to bad lifting and rigging methods. While I was at CSRM we constructed many ramps. The usual ramp was 3 track panels long with a short connect track section at top and bottom of ramp to connect with the car and operating track. We even ramped 120 ton diesel switchers onto 8 axle flat cars but when doing this a "bridge" section needs to be construction to support the short ramp track over the end section of the flat car. We build tie cribs on each side of this section of the flat car then used rails between the cribs to support the ramps rails. The end section of the 8 axle cars are not designed to support the load of the locomotive. So to build a ramp to load onto a standard height flat car material needed : 3 track panels, about 100 ties, necessary wooden blocking, plywood shims, short connection rails, necessary gage rods, angle bars both standard style and short connect bars made from flat steel bar that act as "hinges" at the ramps vertical curves onto flat car and operating track. Also locomotives can be winched up or down ramps using large tow trucks if locomotives are not available. On heaver locomotives I used 8 ties for each crib layer. If anyone is interested PM me and I can send pictures of some completed jobs.
Ever project requires planning and cost studies so it can be accomplished safely, at reasonable cost and time so no one way is always the best!

Thanks for all the info! I just assumed that using ramps would be cheaper but I can see where that might not be the case. While the museum would have all of the material to build a ramp on their end, getting a ramp built on the other end would require a good deal of time and effort. And it wouldn't be cost effective without a volunteer work force. Still, there are a few cases that made me wonder if ramps could've gotten the job cheaper than the use of cranes.

Sometimes, a ramp down into a pit is dug for the flat car,
to reduce the amount and complexity of the cribbing.