Shipyard Trivia: Locomotive Cranes – Steel Wheeled Beasts of Burden

Courtesy Photo | An image of Breese Street looking west from December 11, 1917.  

UNITED STATES

05.01.2024

Story by Marcus Robbins 

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Shipyards have used various methods to move materials since their beginning. The very nature of the materials utilized within the trades are heavy, awkward and most times difficult to place.

Manual labor could only go so far. Animal labor such as beasts of burden (oxen and horses) could only do so much also because Norfolk Navy Yard continued to service larger ships over time, which required the use of dry docks. Due to that change, both man and beast’s abilities to perform larger and heavier tasks decreased so cranes became the way of the future.

Before we leave this subject of the dry docks it is important to note that prior to this, there were material slides built into the early dock structures of Dry Docks 1 and 2. Those slides depended on both man and beast to convey materials and use the concept of a simple machine that slowly became obsolete as the work became more expansive.

For my regular reader, you know that I am a facility guy at heart, and as the 1890s turned into the new century, the “iron horse” became the dominant way to transport things around the Navy yard; that’s right, we gained our own short-line railroad. There were new railroad track all over the grounds, strategically placed to service facilities such as buildings, dry docks and the waterfront in general. These rails also connected us with the outside world.
While trains are important for moving heavy loads, that was not the only thing that was changing around the yard. The turn of the century also witnessed a tremendous growth in the number of fixed rail dock cranes due to an increase in the number of dry docks.

What if you had the ability to lift and handle great weights and tasks all over the Navy Yard while traveling on a network of new railroad tracks? There would be no more strained human backs, no more oxen and horses, plus their care and upkeep would no longer be necessary. That would have been an amazing change and I’m sure the impact on each worker was significant.

Next came the locomotive cranes, which became the modern-day beasts of burden with steel wheels. While it is hard to honor an object most of us have never seen operate, let us look back on how the workers of this shipyard interacted with it to perform the day-to-day work over the decades.

The images show a range of locomotive cranes that served here at NNSY from 1903 until the mid-1960s. While more modern rubber tire mobile cranes have since replaced these locomotive cranes, they performed countless duties by lending lifting support all over this shipyard during their time here. They were the true can-do machines of the day.

Sometimes, it is the workers; other times, it is the machines but, at all times, it is about the mission here at NNSY because, "history matters."

• Date Taken: 05.01.2024
• Date Posted: 05.01.2024 09:22
• Story ID: 469959
• Location: US