Were the 250 ton cranes self propelled? I mean being able to move slowly around a work site or did they need an engine to push them at the site to reposition them?
BobLI wrote:Were the 250 ton cranes self propelled? I mean being able to move slowly around a work site or did they need an engine to push them at the site to reposition them?They were pushed around the work site by locomotives as some of these big cranes still required water tenders to power there steam boilers. Many of these cranes lasted into the late 70's and 80's before being replaced by cranes set up with hi-rail capabilities. Standard pulling operations for a 250 ton crane required at leased 5 idler cars between the Locomotive and the Crane when in transit from one location to another. The reason for this was to give more brakeing power as these cranes were ofton just as heavy or heavier than a single locomotive.
Smaller 25 ton railroad cranes and Burro cranes are about the only cars that I know that are self propelled and able to move around a job site on there own.