Tag: crane car

Wikipedia says: A railroad crane (North America: crane car or wrecker; UK: breakdown crane) is a type of crane used on a railroad for one of three primary purposes: freight handling in goods yards, permanent way (PW) maintenance, and accident recovery work.

A railroad crane generally resembles a conventional fixed-location crane except that the platform the crane sits on is a heavy-duty reinforced flat car. Directly underneath the center of gravity for the crane is a pivot point that allows the crane to swivel around 360°; in this way the crane can locate its boom over the worksite no matter what its location is along the track.

Breakdown cranes (sometimes called wrecking cranes or ‘big hooks’) were necessary to every railroad to recover derailed rolling stock and locomotives, while also assisting with bridge building and yard construction.