MP 105 crane

[princessclyne69]

There’s a dupe slide on eBay now of the MoPac crane that is or was at the Mid-Continent museum at North Freedom, Wisconsin. Their site doesn’t shed any light on the current location of this crane, so I don’t know if it is still there or still in existence. This photo is described as being from 1988.

Has anyone ever seen these pieces of equipment, the crane and its tender flat?

Ron Merrick

[princessclyne69]

Answering my own question:

There’ a British railway enthusiast site http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/cranes/steamcranes02.htm
that seems to have status on many, if not all, surviving steam cranes in North America.

Here’s what it has to say about this MoPac crane.

North Freedom
Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society

Industrial Works C/N 2927 120 tons Wrecker Steam 1914
St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern #Z-8
Missouri Pacific RR #X-105 1928
M-CRHS 1967
http://www.midcontinent.org/collectn/service/mpx105.html
(Sold for scrap 2nd May 2015)

There was another 18 ton crane also sold for scrap, same day. There is a surviving Soo Line 60 ton crane here.

So I suppose I missed my chance.

RG7

[Mike Vana]

Kind of a shame since I’m sure another group would have loved to have it.

Jim Ogden

[benjamintickell53]

I agree with Jim, museums who sell historic equipment for scrap rather than exhausting EVERY effort to find a more suitable home do not deserve further monetary support. This Iron Mountain crane is another example of equipment migrating far out of its area, having no great significance in its new area, and being summarily discarded or set aside when interest wanes. Its a difficult situation because almost all rail museums have too much equipment to properly maintain, too little funding and a diminishing base of volunteers. Mid-Continent does a lot of good, but they also sold off W&OV 1 to nothing more than static display, and D&R 9 languishes there in pieces even today, probably never to be restored.
Bill Pollard

[Mike Vana]

This is probably an urban legend, but I was told a group in San Antonio was given a pair of MoPac lightweights in the late 1960s only to sell them for emergency cash to purchase an electric locomotive unique to San Antonio that itself was about to be scrapped. (And MoPac was not happy) I’ve also heard a large national museum upon requesting a UP centennial was told to pound sand after Omaha found they scrapped previously donated UP equipment. About ten years ago, a museum in a Baton Rouge in the old IC/GCL depot got rid of the passenger cars (mostly IC) since the new strategic vision of the museum was art and not history.

These stories get more outrageous every time it’s told but so many museums and municipalities do these sorts of things that it’s understandable that railroads don’t like to donate things.

Jim

[bargetanika]

Up there with these stories is the T&NO 2-10-2 In Houston on display at a BRAND NEW museum without its tender, that got sold off to an operator because the engine with tender “wouldn’t fit” in the NEW building.

[Mike Vana]

Actually the museum is not getting built at this time and one of the curators let a group get the tender as partial payment for moving the engine. They thought the tender was a tank car!

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