stobart train derailment

...And you thought yours was a big one, Steven!!


46118

 

Oh err misses!

Goodness knows what the capacity of that crane will need to have been - the Kirow that did Bridge 30 was 125 tonne capacity but that it right next to the crane and the capacity reduces with length of reach (I think this is getting worse, isn't it!!!).

My first job were in the accounts office of Heavy Haulage contractors (Sunters which became Econofreight) and we had a sister Company, Grayson White & Sparrow, who were a major supplier of such massive cranes at the time. They got a major job in Norway for which we supplied the heavy haulage element in the late 1980s. Their main yard was just near Thornaby Station at the lineside. The massive cranes like that needed several low loaders to transport the various bits and the capacity of lift was enormous! Kev Yeoman, the NYMR Diesel Gala Organisor and one of the Kirow support crew (the one on lead rope during the "big lift") started his career with Graystons at Thornaby.

Sadly, the Company no longer exists - I think the crane used here may have been from Baldwins, another long standing operator in this area.

Steven

 

If the crane can get close up, that 66 isn't really a big lift. 500T capacity cranes are relatively common these days. It's when you can't get close to the job that it gets interesting. If we are telling tales about craning jobs, I was involved with putting a new boiler into a hospital and, although the boiler only weighed 35 tons, it needed 500 ton crane to get the reach. Coincidentally, it was also a Baldwins crane. The crane lifted the boiler off the low loader and started to swing it into position over the rooftops. Then the red lights came on and the alarms started ringing with still a long way to go. The boiler was put back on the ground. The crane should have easily done the job with 35 tons. The crane driver reported that the load indicated was nearer 70 tons. We initially thought that the load indicator had failed and had fitters out to check the crane. We made phone calls to the boilermakers who re-affirmed the calculated weight. They couldn't be that far out. A lot of head-scratching and a lot of people standing around for quite a while. Then someone curiously opened the drain valve on the boiler and we had 35 tons of water gushing all over the place. The boilermakers had never emptied the boiler from the hydraulic test. And the works crane that loaded it had a 40 ton capacity, as did the low loader........... I don't know about the bridges en route.