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McCloud Rails
Equipment Roster Cranes |
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Brownhoist crane #15 being pushed by locomotive #4. Photo from the Marc Reusser collection.
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Cranes are an indispensable piece of equipment around railroads, especially those tied to the
logging industry. The McCloud companies used their cranes for many chores around the property,
including cleaning up wrecks, loading logs, track construction and maintenance, construction
activities, and almost anything else involving lifting or moving large objects. The lumber company is generally credited with owning most of the early cranes. Some reports to timber industry trade journals credit the railroad with owning some of the cranes, but the railroad roster and equipment books contain no entries supporting this. Historical photographs of the lumber company cranes can be found on the Lumber Company Railroad Equipment page. Underlined numbers are clickable links to a photo page of that car. 8- Industrial Brownhoist Special Industrial Logging Crane, owned by McCloud River Lumber Company, purchased circa 1929. Largest of the early cranes on the property. Scrapped sometime in the 1950's, though boom remains on the ground at Ash Creek Junction. 15 (MR #72)- Brownhoist crane, purchased by the McCloud River Lumber Company prior to 1917. Early design, with boiler offset to the back right corner of the cab. Converted from steam to diesel power in the late 1940's/early 1950's, with original arch bar trucks replaced with Bettendorf trucks. Also appears to have swapped booms with the #16, perhaps at the time of the rebuild. Sold to McCloud River Railroad Company in 1964; Conveyed to Great Western Railway Museum around 1987; stored in McCloud until scrapped in the fall of 2010. 16-Brownhoist crane, purchased by the McCloud River Lumber Company prior in 1925 or 1926. Later crane design, with boiler centered in the back of the cab. Never converted from steam power. Conveyed to McCloud River Railroad, though never entered into equipment roster and almost certainly never used by the railroad. Stored derelict at Ash Creek Junction until scrapped in the late 1980's. 70- Orton locomotive crane, purchased from the U.S. Navy in late 1963 or early 1964. Operated in Navy gray until repainted orange by the early 1970's, then repainted brown to match the new diesels in the early 1980s. Sold to McCloud Railway 1992. Remains in storage in McCloud today. 71- Burro crane, purchased used circa 1986. Sold to McCloud Railway in 1992. Replaced by a Hy-Rail Crane in 1993 and sold to the Willamette & Pacific Railroad, where it served until scrapped by the late 1990s. 1765- Derrick, converted in 1910 by McCloud car shop from log flat #25. Consisted of an 8-horsepower Union gasoline powered windlass and double drum winch. Retired 1934. 1851- Model 30 Burro crane, serial number 106. Purchased 1954 from A.D. Schader Company complete with extra boom, dipper stick, and one-half yard bucket. Used to lay rails during construction of Burney extension; fitted with the shovel boom in March 1959 and then used extensively in widening cuts and fills on the Bear Flat to Ditch Creek trackage; then converted back to crane service in late summer 1962. Deeded to Great Western Railway Museum circa 1987, then stored in McCloud until scrapped in the fall of 2010. In addition to the above, the railroad leased cranes- primarily wrecking cranes- from the Southern Pacific or Great Northern companies as needed to clean up derailments. |
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