Goods yard crane

[Andy873]

Hi, something that's puzzled me for some time is the description of Padiham goods yard (on the Great Harwood / North Lancashire loop line), the book I have calls it a "10 ton travelling or Goliah crane" - I presume they meant Goliath?

Anyway, it was situated between 2 pairs of sidings, each having two lanes (so 4 in total) and the book says it was able to reach across all four sidings.

What kind of crane would this have been around 1900? e.g. would it have moved side to side suspended from a gantry?

The O/S map (1912) shows it also moved forward / backwards?

Can anyone describe to me / show me any photos of the kind of crane it would probably have been please.

Thanks,
Andy.

 

[furnessvale]

Just google images for goliath crane and you will see lots of images for goliath type cranes.

Obviously, the ones at Harland and Wolff in Belfast aare a bit bigger than Padiham would have needed, but you get the picture.

 

[Gloster]

I think a Goliath crane is one which had an overhead gantry on supports which were themselves placed on small rail wheels. The whole unit was placed on rails, separate ones to the running rails, and so could move up and down the siding to deal with different wagons, rather than the wagons having to be moved to the crane one at a time. The beam across the top often had a small unit on it that could run up and down the beam: move it over a wagon, lift a load out, move a few feet so it was over the adjacent hard standing and lower the load onto a road vehicle (or v.v.), and then move along to the next wagon.

The interesting point is that there must have been sufficient throughput of some traffic to make it worthwhile installing such a unit. Most yards had to make to with a fixed crane: there may well have been one of these as well.

 

[gg1]

It would have probably looked not dissimilar to this. The picture is undated but I'd guess 1920s.

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/mrcgy922.htm

 

[Andy873]

Thanks everyone!

The interesting point is that there must have been sufficient throughput of some traffic to make it worthwhile installing such a unit. Most yards had to make to with a fixed crane: there may well have been one of these as well.

Yes, it's strange for this one station, the other two had fixed cranes.

Simonstone station doesn't figure in this but Great Harwood (a similar sized town to Padiham) only had a fixed crane. Maybe there were simply more cotton mills in Padiham - perhaps the crane at Padiham spent a lot of time lifting heavy bails of raw cotton? maybe.

Thanks also for the photo - it helps!

Andy.

 

[Gloster]

I am not sure if Goliah was a misspelling of Goliath, or whether it was an accapted alternate version at one time: it certainly seems to have been used deliberately on a number of occasions. I have seen it before and wondered if it was a crane maker’s trade name, or a nickname for this type of crane.

 

[contrex]

I am not sure if Goliah was a misspelling of Goliath, or whether it was an accapted alternate version at one time: it certainly seems to have been used deliberately on a number of occasions. I have seen it before and wondered if it was a crane maker’s trade name, or a nickname for this type of crane.

A Goliath (modern spelling) crane is a specific type of crane. A portal crane like the one in the picture. A Semi-Goliath crane is one with only one side of supporting steelwork and one floor-mounted rail. As for the name, Goliah and Goliath were both acceptable spellings for the Biblical giant, and terms derived from him, up to at least the mid 19th century. On 27 June 1849, the boiler of a locomotive called Goliah exploded whilst it was hauling a freight train on the South Devon Railway at Plympton. Nobody is quite sure whether the cable ship that laid the first international submarine cable (from England to France) in 1850 was named Goliah or Goliath. Contemporary accounts spell the name both ways, and both versions appear in illustrations of the time. There are no photographs of the ship known.

 

[randyrippley]

Cornishs' Stranger's Guide through Manchester and Salford. A new edition. With a map of the city, and engravings, etc

books.google.co.uk

Page shows an advert from ~1857 by the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincs railway announcing the installation of a 20 ton Goliah crane at Ardwick,. Seems to have been a speculative installation to attract business, use was free.
It seems to be linked to supplies of building stone with the railway acting as agent for local quarries - did Padiham have any nearby quarries, or was it a shipment / distribution point for building materials? Bricks were made down the road at Accrington, were they made at Padiham?

 

[Andy873]

Thanks and sorry I couldn't reply sooner.

The article is a great find and very interesting!

I've looked at several old OS maps especially the 1912 one and I can't find any clues as to why this one station was installed with such a crane. The industry around was mainly of cotton mills.

I can't see any brick works.

Maybe some clues come from the fact that this station was opened first, two years before the rest of the line was completed. I have just noticed though there was a quarry just on the edge of the town - maybe that's one reason?

Thanks,
Andy.

 

[Gloster]

It doesn’t have to be a brickworks or quarry. It just had to be that the yard would be the most convenient point for loading or unloading wagons carrying some traffic that needed to be lifted on or off in a single block, lump, package, unit, etc. It might not be the nearest to the customer’s premises, either because of better road access or because there could be two (or more) customers and one crane serves them both or all.

 

[randyrippley]

Just been reading this "Padiham Appraisal Heritage" booklet on Yumpo (warning 100+ pages) which gives a potted history of the town. Seems there was a local sandstone quarry producing rough building stone and ashlar, which may well have been sent by rail. However it looks as if building of the local terraces was started in anticipation of the railway arriving - which would have created demand for brick and welsh slate, making a 10ton crane useful.
Something else apparent from the booklet - Padiham had it's own coal mines, which appear to have fed loading staithes presumably on the canal? But it begs the question were the coal sidings actually originally for loading, not unloading?
Finally pages 84-85 have photos of the line, including a 1965 shot of what is presumably a demolition train in Padiham yard complete with crane mounted electromagnet

The Padiham Heritage Appraisal - Burnley Borough Council

The Padiham Heritage Appraisal - Burnley Borough Council

www.yumpu.com

earlier this afternoon there was an easier to read pdf version on the council website at

https://www.burnley.gov.uk/sites/default/files/____Padiham_Appraisal_Final_LowRes.pdf

but at time of posting it was offline

 

[Andy873]

Thanks guys, good points.

Just been reading this "Padiham Appraisal Heritage" booklet on Yumpo

That's a great find, and it's taken me a while to read through it!

However it looks as if building of the local terraces was started in anticipation of the railway arriving

Yes, a lot of building work was associated with the new railway line coming including more mills etc.

When you dive into the line you find the L & Y railway company was under pressure from all sides to build it. They were afraid the L & NW railway company was going to do it first, right in the heart of L & Y territory.

The line was the most expensive (per mile) line they ever built.

I suspect that Padiham station (first to be built) was more of a show piece, maybe that's why they installed such a crane - not the one seen in the Padiham Appraisal Heritage booklet. The Goliah crane was removed circa 1956 due to structural problems (age of).

As for coal mines, yes Padiham had one close by at Habergham (closed 1941 due to shortage of workers), and one just to the west of it at Calder - closed in 1958, apparently it produced a very high quality grade of coal which was in high demand.

As for why a Goliah crane at Padiham and not the other stations - maybe they found it a little OTT.

Thanks,
Andy.