MOST ACTUAL PERIOD PHOTOGRAPHS of Whitby show a mobile hand crane parked up in the yard. It appears to be a normal simple crane but I had seen pictures of an unusual crane fitted with a bipod arrangement which could be lowered to stabilise the crane when a heavy lift was being done and I fancied making one for my railway.

I had no drawings to work from and the crane I had seen pictures of was a Stockton and Darlington Railway vehicle of a slightly earlier period. Additionally, it appears that the Highland Railway had a couple of similar cranes so I determined to make a freelance design using a Meteor Models crane and runner kit as a basis but with the addition of the bipod legs which had intrigued me. The kit was unimpressive because when the crane was mounted on its truck it overhung considerably at both ends and needed two runner trucks instead of the single runner which came with the kit. The two bipod legs sit in a cradle above the unit when in the travelling position and are pivoted at the end of the jib on a kind of self-aligning rose bearing to allow the legs to be lifted from the cradle and lowered to ground level. To be able to lift loads the jib needs to be raised to a suitable height and this is done by removing a portion of the jib bracing.

A general view showing counterweight and toolbox

As there is no jib winch the procedure to raise the jib is to wind up the hook until it contacts the pulley at the end of the jib then just take the weight of the jib before removing a section of the bracing structure; then the hook is further wound up until the bracing structure can be re- joined. The bipod legs can then be positioned for the lift and the hook lowered ready to lift the load.

The Inspirational S+D crane: With acknowledgments to the Ken Hoole Collection and Head of Steam – Darlington Railway Museum

The removeable section.

The bipod cradle

A second runner truck was constructed from a dumb-buffered truck and fitted with a box casing to hold wooden packings for crane work. The original runner truck was fitted out with a large toolbox for slings and chains used in operations.

There seemed to be limited space for the crew to stand when winding the winch so a folding deck was arranged with fold out supports. This deck is only cosmetic and does not actually fold out. The hook itself does not wind up as the gearing also is cosmetic, but the removeable brace section actually does remove and can be seen laid on one of the runner trucks. When this is removed and the jib re-joined to its working position the chain length hangs nicely for a lift.

A general view showing counterweight and toolbox

The crane set up ready to lift, removeable section on runner