Museum
Crane: Smith 10-ton 24579
Diesel crane
Historical note: The Smith family of Rodley started building cranes in 1840, and Thomas Smith took over the company in 1861 on the death of his father. The company was taken over by T W Ward of Sheffield in 1939, but continued to trade as a subsidiary. It was taken over again by Northern Engineering Industries in 1978, and eventually ceased manufacturing.
| Built | 1960 as a diesel crane by Thomas Smith, at Leeds |
| Load capacity | 10 tons 0 cwt |
| Jib length | 25' (approx 7.6 metres) |
| Previously worked | British Steel (latterly Corus), at Scunthorpe |
| Entered collection | Purchased from there in 2001 |
| Current status | Awaiting overhaul |
More details of this vehicle are given in our stockbook.
Go on to Smith 5-ton crane.
Go back to Isles crane.
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Crane: Isles
Historic steam crane
Historical note: Job Isles worked at Thomas Smith until 1864, but by 1869 he had set up his own firm in Farsley, and had then moved this to the Prospect Foundry in Stanningley by 1872. The firm ceased making cranes in 1928, and very few of their cranes have survived.
| Built | Probably in the late 1890s or early 1900s by Job Isles Ltd., at Stanningley near Leeds |
| Load capacity | An early catalogue lists it as a 5 ton design, but 2 tons would be a more realistic figure |
| Jib length | 20' (approx 6.1 metres) |
| Previously worked | Various local firms, finishing at Clayton Son & Co. Ltd |
| Entered collection | Donated by Clayton, Son & Co Ltd. in 1983, when their Dartmouth Yard closed |
| Current status | Displayed as a static exhibit |
More details of this vehicle are given in our stockbook.
Go on to Smith 10-ton crane.
Go back to Booth 2-ton crane.
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Crane: Booth 2-ton
Historic steam crane
Historical note: This crane is believed to have been built for the Great Western Railway while this railway still had some broad gauge track (ie before 1892), as the crane has fittings that are intended for use on broad gauge rails as well as a set that are intended for standard gauge rails.
| Built | Probably early 1890s, by Joseph Booth & Bros, at Rodley, near Leeds |
| Load capacity | 2 tons |
| Jib length | 31' (approx 9.4 metres) |
| Previously worked | Probably on the GWR, before being sold for industrial use. It had been used by Clayton, Son & Co Ltd. prior to the early years of preservation of the MRT. |
| Entered collection | Donated by Clayton, Son & Co Ltd. in 1983, when their Dartmouth Yard closed |
| Current status | Displayed as a static exhibit, but requires the jib re-fitting |
More details of this vehicle are given in our stockbook.
Go on to Isles crane.
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Rolling Stock - Cranes
Ever since the preservation of the Middleton Railway, it has needed to use cranes for all kinds of lifting operations. In the early years of preservation two steam cranes were available for this, and these are still in the MRT's collection. Then an ex-Midland Railway hand crane was acquired, but since this had a wooden jib it was not long before it became illegal to use it for lifting operations, and so it was passed on to the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley for preservation as a museum piece.
In the late 1970s a 5-ton diesel crane, which had been built by Booth of Rodley, was purchased by a member and donated to the MRT. Over the next 25 years or so it proved invaluable, particularly for permanent way work, but eventually had to be taken out of use because it was no longer safe. By this time the MRT had acquired a 10-ton diesel crane, which had been built by Smith of Rodley, and this had become the main operational crane. By 2012, however, it was beginning to need an overhaul, and fortunately the MRT was able to acquire another 5-ton crane, also built by Smith of Rodley, to ensure that lifting operations could continue while this overhaul took place. This meant that the 5-ton Booth crane was no longer needed, and it has been dismantled to provide spares.
The MRT's collection of cranes therefore consists of two group. The first group is the old steam cranes, which are no longer operational, but are now historic items in their own right. They are as follows.
- Booth 2-ton crane; and
- Isles Crane.
The second group of cranes in the MRT's collection consists of the operational diesel cranes, and these are as follows.
The pages for these cranes give a brief overview of our collection, but for more information about it our stock book is available in the shop. Click here for more details of this.
Return to the page for our museum collection.
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Pages about other categories of museum exhibits:
- Steam Locomotives;
- Diesel and Electric Locomotives;
- Coaches (and other passenger vehicles);
- Goods wagons;
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Wagon W113084
Open wagon
| Built | Great Western Railway, Swindon, 1927 |
| Load capacity | 12 tons |
| Length over buffers | 20' 6" (approx 6.2 metres) |
| Previously worked | British Railways Western Region |
| Entered collection | Purchased from British Railways in 1965 |
| Current status | Operational, but awaiting restoration |
More details of our rolling stock collection are given in our stockbook.
Go on to goods wagon B420709.
Go back to goods wagon LMS 85133.
Return to the list of goods wagons.
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