Installing a 30's or 40's vintage Manning maxwell and Moore bridge crane

As some may know if they have seen my old barn to shop thread I am installing a bridge crane which is an old hand operated Manning Maxwell and Moore load lifter. I am lengthening the rails that came with the crane and am having a hard time locating a source for the rails themselves as none of the local steel suppliers deal in rail. From what I can tell it is 45lb/yd ASCE rail as it has a 2in top and close to 3-3/4 tall. Does anyone know of a source for 45lb rail so i can match what I have?

How much do you need? Do you have a good picture of the rail?

Jason

May be easier to shit can what you have and start over with a heavier rail. Some measuring required because rail less than 100 lbs/yd has not been rolled in about 40 years. Remember that crane rail and railroad rail are not usually the same shape.

A couple of years prior to my retirement, we were replacing two "trash rack cleaning machines" at two of our remote hydroelectric plants. The original trash rack cleaning machines rode on inverted angle iron rail, and it was a source of continual problems. After about 20 years, with other problems with the trash rack cleaning machines, we were going to replace them. I had been asked to make recommendations for some replacement rails and how to mount and join the rails. I called for a rolled steel rail with "Thermit" welded joints. We left the sizing of the rail up to the manufacturer of the new trash rack cleaning machines. We got what looked like a light railroad rail section, but was in actuality, an ASCE crane rail section. I am guessing it was all of about 2" across the top of the railhead, and probably about 5" wide on the bottom flange. The vendor for the trash rack cleaning machine and the installation contractor had no problem in getting the new rail, and in getting Thermit molds for the welded rail joints.

After I retired, the old bridge cranes in each of those two plants were replaced. Sad day, as those were classic old cranes with the riveted "fishbelly" crane girders and open gearing on the hoist trolleys. Those cranes had two trolleys apiece, each with a 20 ton capacity hoist. Smaller bridge cranes were in each plant's headgate room to handle stoplogs. In the course of the replacement, even the crane rails were removed and scrapped. Not sure the section or weight of it.

The old crane rail had a few divots in it where the end truck wheels had slipped and spun. There was plenty of rail that went to the scrapper. Relating this gets me to thinking. In your search for crane runway rail, perhaps the thing to do is to contact shops which install, repair, or upgrade bridge cranes. Ask if they are doing any jobs where the crane rails are being replaced, and inquire about buying the used rails. Getting the rail is only part of it, as you will need the joint bars and bolts for them, along with clamps or "J" hooks to hold the rail and align it on top of your runway beams. The problem with jobs where the rails are going to be replaced is that the rails may well be cut into convenient lengths with a gas axe, with the priority being handling the rails as scrap rather then for re-use.

Here is all the information you need and they supply rail. Probably won't be cheap though.

http://www.atlantictrack.com/The Crane Rail Book.pdf

Atlantic lists no 45AS rail. I have to assume that whoever rolled that size is out of business and perhaps it is obsolete. I seem to remember Carnegie being on the side of the rails. I need two pieces between 25 and 30ft long to finish my job. If I can't find what I need I may have to go down to 40AS rail and just replace it all as it appears 40AS is made by several suppliers. I would really rather to have the proper width rail though so it fit the grooves in the crane wheels properly.

Here is your specific section from mid thirties Carnegie Pocket Companion - not specifically crane rail

Two possibilities suggest themselves here:

1. Ask about "compromise joint bars". On railroad track work, when we go from one rail weight to another, we get what are called "compromise joint bars". These bars enable two different rail sections to be joined and maintain the same railhead elevation and inside edges of the railhead form a continuous line. I do not know if this will work for your bridge crane, as some crane wheels are double-flanged (you mention "grooves" in the crane wheels in you post). Possibly, the railhead widths are the same for 40 AS and the 45 AS rail that you have. ASCE does use the same railhead widths for several different weights of rail.

2. As an alternative, if you find that a compromise joint will not work, you may be forced to go to a rail section being rolled currently. If that is the case, you may have to turn the treads and flanges on the crane's end truck wheels to enable them to run on the next heavier rail section.

I'd contact Whiting, out in Harvey, Illinois. They have been continuously building bridge cranes since the 19th century, and servicing and upgrading them. I'd ask Whiting if they have a few piece of the rail you need on hand. Whiting has records on every crane they ever made. I called them once or twice in the 1990's about a bridge crane they had made in 1921. They pulled the records on it while I was on the phone (no computer data then), and read off everything and anything to me until we got to what I needed. I learned what kind of lumber Whiting had used for the catwalk along the crane girders, who furnished the seat in the crane cab, and on it went until I found out what the crane hoist drums were cast from (we were looking at making some picks maxing out the cranes and doing some calculations). I'd think a shop like Whiting, or possibly Shepard-Niles (in Montour Falls, NY) who have been building, repairing and modifying bridge cranes forever might have some of the rail you need in their yard.

BrianB said:

Atlantic lists no 45AS rail. I have to assume that whoever rolled that size is out of business and perhaps it is obsolete. I seem to remember Carnegie being on the side of the rails. I need two pieces between 25 and 30ft long to finish my job. If I can't find what I need I may have to go down to 40AS rail and just replace it all as it appears 40AS is made by several suppliers. I would really rather to have the proper width rail though so it fit the grooves in the crane wheels properly.

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It's never simple is it?

enginebill said:

It's never simple is it?

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Nope! A seemingly simple task, that probably 50 years ago would have been simple is now complicated today by limited suppliers and an industry based on McDonalds more than manufacturing. I have contacted sveral places that all say they will see what they can find so hopefully something turns up.

Joe Michaels said:

I'd think a shop like Whiting, or possibly Shepard-Niles (in Montour Falls, NY) who have been building, repairing and modifying bridge cranes forever might have some of the rail you need in their yard.

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I don't think there's enough left of Shepard Niles to say so.
Might be a sales office where they talk about support and repairs, but all of the plant was auctioned off some years back.
More recently some buildings were torn down. i believe they might outsource repair parts on a custom order basis, but doubt any rail would be left around.
But ya never know....

Kovalchick Salvage probably has a pile of it. Indiana Yard

40 ASCE is available in West Virginia for $179 a stick https://www.ez2rail.com/relay-rail