Breakdown Crane

[Jim Summers]

D+S produced a kit for a steam crane many years ago, but it has become very rare and expensive. I have learned recently that there is the prospect of a new kit.

Alistair Wright of 5522 Models is evaluating if there is any serious support for an new etched kit for the crane in the form it was used on the Highland. However, the prototype crane was a standard item used on many railways. Alastair estimates that an etched kit could be done for about GBP60-80, depending on castings etc.

If anyone wants to know more or register interest, please contact awhwright (at) btinternet (dot) com

[johnp]

I have just tried to post an e-mail to Alistair but it has been bounced. Does anyone know of a different e-mail address for Alistair?

Regards,

John

[allanferguson]

The address I have for Alistair is

awhwright at btinternet dot com

Allan F

[Mark Tatlow]

Allan's email for Alistair is correct.

Unfortunately, I have to contradict our chairman's posting though. The Highland Railway's crane was a one off (for the UK anyway) and can not be used prototypically for any other railway. The differences to the earlier or later cranes of this series (according to my source, my father) are several and quite significant - different boiler size, longer jib, different arrangement of jib and a very unusual (a one off) arrangement of chassis.

Sorry to say, it is not a particularly realistic conversion to the other options.

My father supplied the drawings and photographs to Danny Pinnock (is this the right spelling?) to allow him to produce the original D&S kits - assisted by his son (me - when still in my shorts!) who produced a development of the top and bottom of the jibs. The prototype produced by D&S (two versions could be made of the kit) were rather more widely sold to a number of the pregrouping companies, and as the information is there to produce a new version of the kit of the same prototypes that D&S used to produce if a manufacture could be interested.

[Jim Summers]

Whoops, my mistake. I wrongly corrected someone else's. Sorry.

Alastair is: awhwright at btinternet dot com

Jim

[Mark Tatlow]

Regarding the announcement of the crane in the News.

Please note as per my posting above that this crane is not readilly convertable to the version that D&S did. There are a number of differences and some of these are quite big.

It is true that there is a lot of family resemblence and you never know if enough asking of Alistair would get a second version of the later model, but anything other than "in the style of" the later and more numerous cranes operated by the GE, Midland etc is not realistic.

Sorry to dissapoint!