MODERN CRANES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 7, 9 January 1937, Page 7

MODERN CRANES.

SALVAGE WORK.

RAILWAY EQUIPMENT. ASSEMBLED AT HXTTT. The> latest addition to the Railway Department's equipment in Auckla'nd and in Wellington is a 40-ton "wrecking" crane of most modern type in each centre, for : salvage work after train accidents. The breakdown train is to a railway what the fire brigade is to a town or city. It is kept in the yard, coupled up and complete, ready to hurry off to thg scene of an accident as soon as its crew can be assembled and a locomotive hitched on to it. Everything needed for dealing with a smash is carried on the train, including powerful jacks, wire ropes, and other special gear. There is also accommodation for the men, who after a bad accident may be required to work night and day until the line is clear (says the "Dominion.") Until lately such trains in New Zealand were provided with steam-cranes capable of lifting seven and a half tons, but with the increased weight of rolling stock and the use of more powerful locomotives it was found that these machines were inadequate. Another drawback was that they were not designed to be hauled at anything like the speed which the track and available engine-power allowed.

Accordingly the Department placed on order with an engineering firm -at Loughborough, England, for two 40-ton steam cranes of the most up-to-date type, designed for New Zealand conditions. The machines were assembled at the Hutt workshops last year, and no sooner were they ready than a call came to a particularly bad mishap.

This was on August 30, when the Auckland-Wellington Main Trunk express ran at full speed into a slip near Paraparaumu. The large "K" engine, weighing 136 tons, left the rails and rolled over a 10-foot bank, falling on its side. Four passenger carriages were' also derailed, one being badly smashed. Both cranes were sent to the scene, and after the line had been cleared bv a gang of 100 men their combined efforts

put the damaged engine back on the rails.

The cranes are now stationed at Auckland and Wellington respectively, and one or other can be taken in a few hours to the scene of an accident on any part of the North Island system. The Auckland crane, which has been on its present job for about six weeks, was used for the first time on Christmas Eve, when seven wagons and' two passenger carriages of a mixed train were derailed at Rewiti, seven miles south of HelensIt was of great help in reopening the line to traJHc. The derailed trucks were replaced at leisure by a lighter crane, the big one being returned to Auckland in case of eventualities during the busy holiday season.

Fitted with a powerful steam engine, the new crane has a long jib, curved at the outer end and capable of reaching to about 30ft from the centre of the track. At this distance, of •••ourse, the full 40 tons cannot be lifted, but it is estimated that about 15 tons can be raised in the extreme position. For travelling the end of the lowered jib rests on a separate wagon drawn along in the rear of the crane itself.

In New Zealand efficient wrecking equipment is specially necessary because most of the railway system is single track and a collision or derailucnt, unless it occurs in a station yard or on one of the short duplicated sec.ions, must cause a complete blockage of traffic for the time being. The salvage work may also take longer than it would if a second track were available alongside.