Hello all,

I am looking for information about a hand cranked Freight Derrick Crane, that the Ct Eastern RR Museum in Willimantic, Ct, just received permission to move to the museum. Permission is from resident RR Co and Connecticut Department of Transportation Rail department (CDoT). I can not disclose the location at this time.

It may be a former New York, New Haven and Hartford crane. I am trying to get a blueprint of it, so when we go to move it, there will be as few surprises as possible, as it is disassembled for transportation to the museum.
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Unfortunately the builder's plate and hook have been removed, and I have yet to find any builder's marks, so here are the stats, to narrow the search down.

The lower 16 inches is still buried in the dirt, I only uncovered enough to get the mounting dimensions below the soil, the exploration trough was 2 shovels wide. Too much stone, cinders and other c**p to dig out completely, by hand.

--Stone base is 10' (feet) across, square, and is over 12" (inches) thick, it is made from a white or grey granite stone.
--Base cone is 10' in diameter and 6" tall.
--Next piece is bolted to base cone, or though to granite, with 8 bolts, this cone is 8' diameter, 6" tall
--Main cone, with boom mount is 24" across, 11.5'-12' tall, tapers to 12" diameter before flaring to 24" below saddle.
--Top saddle is 36" long, 12" tall, 6" thick, it receives 2 vertical bolts from the bottom of the main cone and 2 horizontal bolts from the boom tip.
--Boom is 25' long, with 3 pulleys and cable end connection loop
--Center of crane to center of tracks is 17'
--Approximate ratio at first crank is 12:1 to main drum, and high force crank is 70:1 to main drum (cable spool)
--Using gear sizes and assuming a 2' long crank, for high force crank, and a 80 pound cranking force, crane is 10-12 tons.
--Wooden brake shoe acts upon the inside of the main crank gear.
--High Force crank could be, or was mounted on either side of crane, possibly even with 2 cranks 180 degrees apart for 2 men? Shaft has square ends and threads for retaining nuts at both ends.
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For clarification: `contacts' will refer to gear tooth to gear tooth interlacing, and `turns' will refer to 2 items being mounted on the same shaft.

Here are the gear sizes for the verification of my rough weight rating calculation.

--I am assuming (1) 80# (pound) force on a 24" crank arm, turning the 4" r (radius) gear.
4" r gear contacts 12" r primary crank gear
12" r primary crank gear turns 4" r gear
4" r gear contacts 24" r drum gear
24"r drum gear turns 9" r cable drum
((80*24/4*12/4*24/9) based on using moment arms for calculations) total force on cable leaving drum, 3840#.

Crane boom tip has 3 loops of cable going to hook, load is carried by 6 lines, total lift is 23,000#, 11.5 short tons (2,000 lbs/ton) or
10.5 long tons (2,204 lbs/ton). If it turns out to be a 2 man crane then the load rating could be as high as 20 long tons.

If by this description, anyone thinks they know where this crane is located, PLEASE DO NOT MENTION THIS ON THE LIST, the RR Co and CDoT have been gracious enough to let us preserve this item, and I would not want to risk irritating them by having numerous people climbing around this area, until the day of removal. Beside, since it is located on state land, it would be considered trespassing.

Thank you for your help and cooperation,

Rich Cizik
MoW Foreman
Ct Eastern RR Museum
Willimantic, Ct
www.cteastrrmuseum.org

P.S. If you have the drawing of a Derrick Crane, that is close to this one by description, you can contact me off list.


Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum
rcizik5519@earthlink.net

Hello,

Thanks to a respondent, the manufacturer of the crane has been determined. It was built by Farrel Foundry and Machine Company of Ansonia, Ct, circa 1880.

I am hoping now that the manufacturer has been determined, that it may make it easier to find a blueprint.

The attached image is form `Scientific American', March 24, 1883, pg 183, engraved by A.F. Bishop.

Thank you for your help and cooperation,

Rich Cizik
MoW Foreman
Ct Eastern RR Museum
Willimantic, Ct
www.cteastrrmuseum.org

P.S. If you have the drawing of a Derrick Crane, that is close to this one by the image below, you can contact me off list.


Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum

crij5519@earthlink.net

Guys,

First, is to let you know that the Farrel Foundry and Manufacturing Co., Improved Railroad Crane I was talking about, back in April of 2004, is now at the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum. Previously it was located in Middletown Ct, just above Middletown Builder's Supply on North Main St.. We are still deciding exactly where to install her at the museum. Currently we are unsure if the crane served a local industry or if it was owned by the NY,NH&H, the May 1960 Crane list does not show one for Middletown, but it could have been out of service by then. The build date of the crane is after 1883. When an article appeared in the `Scientific American’ to introduce the `Improved’ version, unfortunately the build plate and hook are missing, but we have lines on 3 other similar cranes in existence.

Now for the Question, at the yards that had Freight Cranes, were they usually installed to serve the same track as the freight house or a secondary track? I would think if there was room, that it would be on a separate track so it's usage would not effect the loading and unloading operations at the freight house, but I am trying to find out how it actually was on the NY,NH&H and other railroads.

Thanks,

Rich Cizik
MoW Foreman
Connecticut Eastern RR Museum
Willimantic, Ct 06226
www.cteastrrmuseum.org

Here is the link to the `Scientific American' illustration of the crane, previously posted.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=200404142206352718.jpg