This picture was purchased in the late 1990s in Columbus Ohio. I used a magnifying glass to read the number and it appears to be the 96550. The picture was taken in Sayre between 1974 and 1976. My father was a LVRR machinist and was assigned to the crane in the late 1960s.
LVRR crane.jpg (82.23 KiB) Viewed 5444 times
Railroad Forums
Big Hook Crane at RMDI (LV 96550)
- Discussion related to the Lehigh Valley Railroad and predecessors for the period 1846-1976. Originally incorporated as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad Company.
Moderator: scottychaos
Great Pic,i acutally have the same photo in a 5x9 that i had blown up to a 12x16 hanging in my house along with a few others that i bought over time.Any more pics of the crane in your collection by chance ?
" Yes, this is the crane in the infamous RBMN tip over. From what I heard from someone who knew the operator, the crane was rerailing some derailed gondolas on a rainy day. Something happened when rerailing the last gondola, and the three people who were working got together and talked for about an hour about how to fix the problem. During this time the gondola was filling up with water. The three crew went back to their positions. As the operator went to pull himself back onto the crane, the act of him pulling on the handrails tipped the crane over on top of him, killing him instantly. The crane then sat in Cressona yard for about a year, until one day the railroad got reports that their crane was running. The crane, which had been sitting for about a year, had started up on its own, and was sitting there idling in the yard. Not soon after it was sent out to some yard where it sat until it got the torch. During that particular accident, the outriggers were not properly extended, which was one of the causes of the tip over. "
Nice story, if only it was true.
The Crane was owned by D.J. Shirey although he did get killed from the crane tipping over, it wasn't because it was raining. They were temping to up right a box car .
D.J. didn't extend outriggers , He felt he didn't need them. D.J. like to take chances, this one cost him his life. It took the rescue workers to cut D. J. out of the wreckage Four Hours , He was killed on empack.
I was a personal friends with David James Shirey He and His Dad and Grand Father had the love of railroading and anything that dealt with steam operations. they even built their own railroad at their farm in Geigertown, PA.
Len.
Nice story, if only it was true.
The Crane was owned by D.J. Shirey although he did get killed from the crane tipping over, it wasn't because it was raining. They were temping to up right a box car .
D.J. didn't extend outriggers , He felt he didn't need them. D.J. like to take chances, this one cost him his life. It took the rescue workers to cut D. J. out of the wreckage Four Hours , He was killed on empack.
I was a personal friends with David James Shirey He and His Dad and Grand Father had the love of railroading and anything that dealt with steam operations. they even built their own railroad at their farm in Geigertown, PA.
Len.
http://business-news.thestreet.com/the- ... -history/1
Speaking of DJ Shirey... This is fascinating...
Speaking of DJ Shirey... This is fascinating...
