Mystery metal pivot

[Wexford70]

Hi guys,

Can anyone help identifying the item in the picture.

It was uncovered as part of the greenway works in Rosbercon (New Ross).

In the learned opinion of the members here is it:

a) a pivot for a turntable?

b) a pivot for a manual loading crane

c) something else?

 

 

[jhb171achill]

I'd say it's off a loading crane - was it near where the goods platform would have been? (West side of station).

[murrayec]

It's the pivot for a loading crane as JHB says;-

https://www.alamy.com/railway-crane-for-goods-oakworth-station-kwvr-image331291350.html?pv=1&stamp=2&imageid=C5433348-B77F-45BE-A690-711B1BF1C036&p=1124238&n=0&orientation=0&pn=1&searchtype=0&IsFromSearch=1&srch=foo%3dbar%26st%3d0%26pn%3d1%26ps%3d100%26sortby%3d2%26resultview%3dsortbyPopular%26npgs%3d0%26qt%3dgoods%20trains%26qt_raw%3dgoods%20trains%26lic%3d3%26mr%3d0%26pr%3d0%26ot%3d0%26creative%3d%26ag%3d0%26hc%3d0%26pc%3d%26blackwhite%3d%26cutout%3d%26tbar%3d1%26et%3d0x000000000000000000000%26vp%3d0%26loc%3d0%26imgt%3d0%26dtfr%3d%26dtto%3d%26size%3d0xFF%26archive%3d1%26groupid%3d%26pseudoid%3d%26a%3d%26cdid%3d%26cdsrt%3d%26name%3d%26qn%3d%26apalib%3d%26apalic%3d%26lightbox%3d%26gname%3d%26gtype%3d%26xstx%3d0%26simid%3d%26saveQry%3d%26editorial%3d1%26nu%3d%26t%3d%26edoptin%3d%26customgeoip%3d%26cap%3d1%26cbstore%3d1%26vd%3d0%26lb%3d%26fi%3d2%26edrf%3d%26ispremium%3d1%26flip%3d0%26pl%3d

[Wexford70]

Thanks for this.

Any idea who the main manufacturers were?

Edited December 9, 2020 by Wexford70

[Broithe]

This is where it was - were the remains far from that location?

https://brownesphotography.photoshelter.com/image/I0000RsjCwu5vggo

[murrayec]

2 hours ago, Wexford70 said:

Any idea who the main manufacturers were?

Most cranes were built in England, Turners in Dublin and the loco foundry in Drogheda may have built a few. The best preserved cranes today are on the waterways! and here is a link that has a few photos and some manufacturer's names in England and the North;-

https://irishwaterwayshistory.com/about/irish-waterways-furniture/the-machine-demands-a-sacrifice/

I would suggest removing the growth on your find to see if the castings have any markings as to whom may have cast them- doubt it though! manufacturers usually affixed a makers plate on the completed work!

The photo of the station above indicates to me that the crane was installed in a poor location- only affording access to one or two wagons in a train, it would have been far more useful located at the other end of the shed which would allow access to a plethora of wagons! Maybe they only needed access to one wagon or the designer thought so?

Eoin

 

[Broithe]

34 minutes ago, murrayec said:

Most cranes were built in England, Turners in Dublin and the loco foundry in Drogheda may have built a few. The best preserved cranes today are on the waterways! and here is a link that has a few photos and some manufacturer's names in England and the North;-

https://irishwaterwayshistory.com/about/irish-waterways-furniture/the-machine-demands-a-sacrifice/

I would suggest removing the growth on your find to see if the castings have any markings as to whom may have cast them- doubt it though! manufacturers usually affixed a makers plate on the completed work!

The photo of the station above indicates to me that the crane was installed in a poor location- only affording access to one or two wagons in a train, it would have been far more useful located at the other end of the shed which would allow access to a plethora of wagons! Maybe they only needed access to one wagon or the designer thought so?

Eoin

 

I was going to ask about the odd location - it seemed very strange to me - as you say, it would have been more useful where a few wagons could be shoved past it. 

This is a picture of the canal crane in Tullamore a few years back.

[jhb171achill]

It's located where it is due to thus beingclose to the vehicular entrance to the station; incidentally, I don't know why the photographer calls it "Rosbercon" station; its New Ross, fer gawddsakes.... probably the former is the name of the townland, but I think still wasn't "Rosbercon STATION"......

The crane in this location could probably lift stuff on and off horse-drawn trailers or lorries somewhat handier than if same had to trudge down to the other end of the station.

[Robert Shrives]

I bet moving the stone block it was bolted on to was no fun.  The internal crane in Minffordd goods shed/ exchange shed had top beaing block affixed  to a roof truss lower member and a trunion block at floor level with a castiron shaft between the two, what as not expected was it was almost 4 feet longer running in hole in a stone block - which turned out to be two halves clamped around the shaft and were perhaps 5 X 3 X 3 foot - it took a five tone site loader to extract them.  This took the reaction load of the crane and the top took bearing just a fraction. 

 I would think the crane here was mounted on a good sized stone block. - If crane is going to preserved compared to being conserved the block is part of the story. 

 

[minister_for_hardship]

20 minutes ago, Robert Shrives said:

I bet moving the stone block it was bolted on to was no fun.  The internal crane in Minffordd goods shed/ exchange shed had top beaing block affixed  to a roof truss lower member and a trunion block at floor level with a castiron shaft between the two, what as not expected was it was almost 4 feet longer running in hole in a stone block - which turned out to be two halves clamped around the shaft and were perhaps 5 X 3 X 3 foot - it took a five tone site loader to extract them.  This took the reaction load of the crane and the top took bearing just a fraction. 

 I would think the crane here was mounted on a good sized stone block. - If crane is going to preserved compared to being conserved the block is part of the story. 

 

I don't think anything will be preserved here. Left in the undergrowth or taken away by the scrapman to make way for a car park more likely.

[Robert Shrives]

price of progress , you cannot keep everything or the globe will top heavy and topple over !  A good find nevertheless and if the tatters do try hope the tranny flat bed can cope ...but unlikely. 

 

[skinner75]

11 minutes ago, Robert Shrives said:

price of progress , you cannot keep everything or the globe will top heavy and topple over !  A good find nevertheless and if the tatters do try hope the tranny flat bed can cope ...but unlikely. 

 

I only heard the other day that the combined weight of man-made objects worldwide has now overtaken the combined weight of living things, or bio-mass.

[Wexford70]

21 hours ago, Broithe said:

This is where it was - were the remains far from that location?

told it was found discarded at the north end of the station in the under growth 

Update: it was found in the overgrowth not far from the original position, near the entrance close to the Mart entrance. 

Edited December 10, 2020 by Wexford70

[Wexford70]

6 hours ago, minister_for_hardship said:

I don't think anything will be preserved here. Left in the undergrowth or taken away by the scrapman to make way for a car park more likely.

Actually I have heard Wexford CoCo are planning to retain and restore as much of the existing 'furniture'  including the lattice signal poles and the level crossing infrastructure. 

[Broithe]

2 hours ago, Wexford70 said:

told it was found discarded at the north end of the station in the under growth 

Update: it was found in the overgrowth not far from the original position, near the entrance close to the Mart entrance. 

I thought it might not have gone far...

I did a fence for someone and it involved removing an old concrete post that was concreted in. The lump was much bigger than we expected - it was like unearthing the submarine pens at Brest. Even when we had finally got it 'loose', we couldn't get it out of the hole. We ended up by digging a ramp down into the hole, so that we could roll it out - even that was very difficult.

I have great respect for those who built the Pyramids.

[TimO]

The position of the New Ross yard crane is not unique. The yard crane in the Portlaoise goods yard at the Conniberry (not sure if spelling is correct) was in a similar position. I presume the location was chosen so that an open wagon could be placed here and if it took all day to load/unload it was not in the way of other wagons being loaded / unloaded in front of the goods shed.
 

Of more concern to me would be doors to the goods shed being located directly in front of the cross over points. Shunting must have been very awkward.

Can someone tell me did the two ‘heads hunts’ to the right in the photo go to a cattle dock or other sidings?

 

[Mayner]

24 minutes ago, TimO said:

The position of the New Ross yard crane is not unique. The yard crane in the Portlaoise goods yard at the Conniberry (not sure if spelling is correct) was in a similar position. I presume the location was chosen so that an open wagon could be placed here and if it took all day to load/unload it was not in the way of other wagons being loaded / unloaded in front of the goods shed.
 

Of more concern to me would be doors to the goods shed being located directly in front of the cross over points. Shunting must have been very awkward.

Can someone tell me did the two ‘heads hunts’ to the right in the photo go to a cattle dock or other sidings?

 

New Ross must have been an interesting place to shunt in loose coupled days and an interesting model especially if you like corrugated iron buildings.

A single long siding served the goods shed loading dock and cattle bank accessed by the pair of crossovers outside the goods shed all movements to and from the main line to cattle bank out of the photo on the right would have involved a reversal. 

The 'head hunts' to the right appear to have served the turntable and loco shed in DWWR/DSER days.

 

[Wexford70]

2 hours ago, Mayner said:

New Ross must have been an interesting place to shunt in loose coupled days and an interesting model especially if you like corrugated iron buildings.

The 'head hunts' to the right appear to have served the turntable and loco shed in DWWR/DSER days.

 

[minister_for_hardship]

5 hours ago, TimO said:

The position of the New Ross yard crane is not unique. The yard crane in the Portlaoise goods yard at the Conniberry (not sure if spelling is correct) was in a similar position. I presume the location was chosen so that an open wagon could be placed here and if it took all day to load/unload it was not in the way of other wagons being loaded / unloaded in front of the goods shed.
 

Of more concern to me would be doors to the goods shed being located directly in front of the cross over points. Shunting must have been very awkward.

Can someone tell me did the two ‘heads hunts’ to the right in the photo go to a cattle dock or other sidings?

 

I'm assuming that the bulk of goods traffic in old days could be manhandled or otherwise trolleyed on or off and only small percentage needed to be craned, noting that closed vans appear to predominate in goods trains. Labour was cheap and plenty bodies around.

[Wexford70]

These are a few photos of the Enniscorthy crane which would have been installed by the same railway company as the one in New Ross. Interesting to see how securely the feet secure the base into what I presume is concrete.

Remarkably good condition gives its age but it is secure behind electric gates and fencing. 

[K801]

Wow, New Ross had a much bigger station than the one line and siding I always thought it had!