A steam crane is a crane powered by a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

. It may be fixed or mobile and, if mobile, it may run on

rail tracks Railway track ( and UIC terminology) or railroad track (), also known as permanent way () or "P way" ( and Indian English), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers ( railroad ties in American ...

caterpillar track Continuous track or tracked treads are a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the w ...

s, road wheels, or be mounted on a barge. It usually has a vertical boiler placed at the back so that the weight of the boiler counterbalances the weight of the jib and load. They were very common as railway breakdown cranes, and several have been preserved on

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Manufacturers

* Black Hawthorn of Gateshead (unrestored example at

Beamish Museum Beamish Museum is the first regional open-air museum, in England, located at Beamish, County Durham, Beamish, near the town of Stanley, County Durham, Stanley, in County Durham, England. Beamish pioneered the concept of a living museum. By di ...

Beamish collections
archive search * Joseph Booth & Bros of Leeds * Coles Cranes of Derby (restored example at

) *

Cowans, Sheldon & Company Clarke Chapman is a British engineering firm based in Gateshead, which was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded in 1864 in Gateshead by William Clarke (1831–1890). In 1865 Clarke took in a partner, ...

of Carlisle (rail cranes) * Craven Brothers *

William Fairbairn & Sons William Fairbairn and Sons, was an engineering works in Manchester, England. History William Fairbairn opened an iron foundry in 1816 and was joined the following year by a Mr. Lillie, and the firm became known as Fairbairn and Lillie Engine M ...

of Manchester *

Ransomes & Rapier Ransomes & Rapier was a major United Kingdom, British manufacturer of railway equipment and later cranes, from 1869 to 1987. Originally an offshoot of the major engineering company Ransomes, Sims & Jeffries, Ransome's it was based at Waterside Wo ...

of Ipswich * Ruston Proctor of Lincoln * Stothert & Pitt of Bath * Thomas Smith & Sons (Rodley) Ltd. of Leeds

References

External links

Steam cranes inc. Ransomes & Rapier

* ttps://www.bloodandcustard.net/CowansSheldon15T.html Cowans Sheldon 15-ton Steam Cranes
Model steam crane
Cranes (machines) Crane {{Mech-engineering-stub

Manufacturers

See also

References

External links