Big Hook Crane at RMDI (LV 96550)

[Erie13]

Does anyone know if this crane still exists or not?

[uhaul]

I think it does, but I will double check my photographs.

I write in Brown because I can.

[96550 LVRR]

Was that the former LVRR 96550 big hook that the RMDI owned ?? Or any info on the LVRR 96550 whereabouts would be appreciated...

[AdamCKach]

When I visited there in 1/05, I did not see it--and I walked the dead lines from the roundhouse to the north end. Where else might it have been?

[LV270]

RMDI - scrapped the crane a few years ago.

[96550 LVRR]

do you know about what year they scrapped it ? was that the 96550 LVRR crane by chance ?

[LV270]

Scrapped around 2004, It was the LV 96550, will try to get more info.

[96550 LVRR]

i would appreciate any info you can dig up on the 96550 crane and also if you know anyone with slides or pictures for sale,i would be very interested.my uncle ran that crane from 1956 when it came new till the day they shipped it out..

thanks again

jim

[RDGTRANSMUSEUM]

Interesting read, you can scroll down the list and see older posts on this crane from an earlier date in Dec. When the RBMN tip over happened, Conrail made a big deal out of it to us employees at Allentown. We were told to make shure outriggres were ALWAYS used.That was told to ALL employees as I was a Road Conductor back then. I do not know the fine details of the day the crane tipped, but CR harped on outriggers as a problem.

[96550 LVRR]

Since we now know it was the 96550 LVRR crane that sat in the RMDI lot and has since met the fate of the torches,does anyone know what number Conrail gave the crane when they took it over ?

[jadebullet2]

Ah, the Black Widow, as she was known. This crane has been responsible for several deaths during its life, and is now thankfully scrapped. I too was interested in this crane after hearing about its history.

Yes, this is the crane in the infamous RBMN tip over. From what I heard from someone who knew the operator, the crane was rerailing some derailed gondolas on a rainy day. Something happened when rerailing the last gondola, and the three people who were working got together and talked for about an hour about how to fix the problem. During this time the gondola was filling up with water. The three crew went back to their positions. As the operator went to pull himself back onto the crane, the act of him pulling on the handrails tipped the crane over on top of him, killing him instantly. The crane then sat in Cressona yard for about a year, until one day the railroad got reports that their crane was running. The crane, which had been sitting for about a year, had started up on its own, and was sitting there idling in the yard. Not soon after it was sent out to some yard where it sat until it got the torch. During that particular accident, the outriggers were not properly extended, which was one of the causes of the tip over.

I have also heard about an incident where the cranes cable snapped, and wrapped around the operator, as well as one where it dropped a car on top of someone. The crane earned the name the Black Widow, or Widowmaker because of its habit of killing people.

I was actually asking about her in this thread.
viewtopic.php?f=89&t=57282

Here are a few pics that were posted.






Any more info that people have on the crane would be greatly appreciated.

[lvrr325]

An operator error accident on the R&N is no real surprise, kinda hard to blame an outrigger issue on the crane.

[jadebullet2]

No, but it is the other incidents that add to its very interesting history.