The Mon Yough Trail Council has saved a 40 ft P&LE box car and placed it at the trail in Boston PA.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailyne ... 87817.html






Photos from The McKeesport Daily News

Anyone know why they would have used what appears to be 2 very large cranes to lift one little 40' boxcar body?

Interesting question. ONE crane that size should have been able to lift a piece of rolling stock at least five times the weight of that boxcar.

People with more experience than you or I surveyed the situation and decided upon two cranes. I tend to have a bit of confidence in the ability of All Erection to know the capabilities of their equipment, and if they think two cranes is needed then they should use two cranes.

Capacity drops quick as the load moves away from the center pin of the crane, and since all we have is two badly composed photos and no info. as to the distance of the load from the center pin, weight of load, load charts of the cranes, placement of the crane, track and semi trailer, how could anyone even possibly make such a guess as to what equipment would be needed to make the pick?

When I took my OSHA certification course I learned that on average there is more than one crane accident per day in the US. A 100 ton crane that is "boomed out" can be limited to 500 pounds. Multiple-crane lifts give safety people heartburn. Don't judge the crane guys, they are professionals.

I don't see any hardhats and very few pairs of gloves in the photos posted. To me, that is a bigger issue than questioning the use of two cranes.

On my job, working inside the plant, both the forklift operator and the 'flyer' have to wear hardhats while using a cage to do any overhead work such as lights, piping and wiring. Thats indoors, and the forklift operator in a very solid cage. Outside, on something like this boxcar move, a hook or sling could sneak up behind you, let alone what could happen if anything breaks. Wire cables and slings can have snags.

If something bad had happened on this move, we would have all heard about it by now. I am NOT being critical here, but just pointing out something that should get more attention next time. I'm not the safety officer at my job, but I work closely with the man, backing him up by doing many safety inspections daily and keeping my eyes open-

Our PS-1 40' box car was moved with one forklift. Granted it was one BIG forklift but they moved it off of it's trucks in Cressona Pa, and back onto it's trucks in Pemberton NJ after a 26" snowfall In December with one forklift. The idea of using a forklift never occured to us. I wasn't until we were looking at alternatives to paying two crane companies a full day each that we decided to contact a machinery mover. And that forklift wasn't their biggest one either! Maybe the crane company donated it's time and therefore figured two cranes would be bigger spectacle that might garner business from someone that was watching.

Either way, it's nice to see another one saved from the torch. Remember, they don't make these anymore.

Later!
Mr. Ed

Yeah, WRM does that all the time, picking up carbodies with our big forklift, affectionately known as the "Killdozer". The port of Oakland owned it to pick up whole empty containers When we had to move the 5 Red Car bodies and put them up on trucks, we did it with the Killdozer and another big forklift we rented.

I once helped a master rigger unload a 12,000 pound gantry from a railcar scale. He figured on borrowing a nearby business' forklift, but he was late and they were closed. So it was him, me, chain, a chain binder, a claw bar, some tieplates and oil. The chain binder would move it 1/2" at a time. It took 90 minutes. That convinced me that willpower, moreso than machinery, gets things done.

Then why do they have a crane accident once a day???

Guys,

Don’t always go buy what the crane company says you need, get a second opinion.

The pick on that boxcar was probably around 34,000 lbs. to 36,000 lbs. and the 70ton Grove in the foreground can pick about 35,000 in a 30’ load radius by itself. However, then you need to figure out spreader beams, parts of line, and blocks being used. All which reduce to crane capacity.

It can save you a lot of money if you do your homework. Like the old saying, “there are more ways to skin a cat”.

Scott

> Then why do they have a crane accident once a day???

A couple of reasons come to mind.

1) How many cranes are in use every day? They're run by humans, who make mistakes, and when you figure out how many cranes are in use, having an average of one accident per day isn't too unreasonable. Granted, "no accidents' is always the goal, but sometimes you have to be realistic.

2) While full time crane and rigging companys are almost always professionals, since they can't stay in business long if they're not, not all cranes are own by crane and rigging companys. We've all seen the old WW II clunker in some scrapyard that's been there for 60 years, never properly maintained, and run by some guy who thinks the answer to most crane problems is "Rev 'er up and try again!"

I've used All Erection MANY times. We have a 35 ton Grove we bought from them. I know of several times they showed up with a crane bigger than requested and they charged us the rate for what we requested. They only charged us for what we needed.sometimes it is just what ever is the most handy. They have also saved us travel time for using whatever they had close. They are a very good company to deal with

I was somewhat amused at news reports on this operation stating that they'll paint it green "because that was its original color." In 1929?

Or is it that someone has "green think" on the brain?

BTW, the car number is 36271. Found it on the underframe some years ago. One of a lot of 500 36000-36499. Not likely many other survivors.

David -

Thanks for bringing this up. I questioned the "original green color" too. I am sure that they are all wet on that particular decision! And thanks for mentioning the car number. Be interesting if someone could post a photo of that particular series of car so that we could see what it actually looked like in service. I am glad though, that they saved the car.

Les

Glad to help some, Les.

That group of cars was built by Standard Steel Car Co. at Butler, PA.

Very ordinary cars for the period.

This car and another of the same general design (perhaps the same series) plus the track under them had been left behind at this location when the P&LE's branch from Whitsett Jct. to Star Jct. was lifted in the 1960s. The other car was cut up about 10 years ago.

Built new in 1929 with steel sides? Maybe, but I'm thinking more like wood single or double sheathed.

Richard Wilkens