The Cullen-Friestedt Burro Crane - An Untold Story of Engineering Innovation
Railroads, as we know them today have existed since
the middle of the nineteenth century. On a typical rail system, rail
cars move along a pair of steel rails that are evenly spaced apart.
Although narrow gauge systems still exist, the standard gauge
distance between the inside edges of the rails is 1,435 mm but in the
United States, Canada and Britain it is still called 4 ft. 8 1⁄2 in.
Wooden ties, laid in a bed of gravel secure these rails. This system of
rails and ties we call a railroad track.
Originally,
a group of workers (commonly known as a rail gang) would prepare the
rail bed and lay down the tracks. Using hammers and spikes, the gang
would manually set each individual tie on the rail bed. The process was
labor intensive, and potentially very dangerous. The ties and rails
were quite heavy, and there was always the potential to drop either,
for example, on a worker’s foot.
Early on, the need for mechanical assistance was recognized. Soon
enough, railcar mounted tamping machines and various cranes helped ease
the burdens of rail construction and maintenance of way (MOW).
Although some cranes were large enough to lift a locomotive back on to
the tracks, many others were just large enough to lay ballast, lift
ties and to position steel rails. As early as 1907, the
Cullen-Friestedt Company, 1300 S. Kilbourn Ave.,
Chicago, Illinois entered that business with four-wheeled cranes
designed to operate on rails. Although there is a contemporary
Cullen-Friestedt Co. in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, that company is a
closely held export management firm, not a manufacturer of mobile
cranes.
Hearkening
back to a pack animal of the Old West, the original Cullen-Friestedt
Co. used the trade name “Burro” to market their rail-mounted cranes.
Later, the Cullen-Friestedt tag line for the Burro Crane became the
"Pack Animal of the Industry". Although there may have been other
models during the past century, the Burro Crane progressed at least
from Model 15 to 20, 30, 40 and 50.
In the early twentieth century, the Burro started big, with the Model
15. It was a boxy piece of equipment, but the operator had good
visibility through the cab’s seventeen windowpanes. Projecting from the
front of the cab was a double-girder boom, stiffened by metal
latticework. In order to counterbalance the relatively heavy boom, the
cab extended aft, wherein lay heavy cast-iron ballast. In the early
twentieth century, gasoline and diesel engines were relatively small and
inefficient. Although wood gave way to steel, lightweight materials
such as aluminum were not yet widely used. Other than excess weight,
another other major drawback was its extended cab. On a rail-mounted
crane, the wide swing radius of an extended cab meant that the stern
might overhang an adjacent set of rails, thus raising the danger of
collision.
Since there is no separate Wikipedia entry
for “Burro Crane”, many highlights of its invention and evolution may
be lost to history. Thanks to a Google archive of old patent records,
we can deduce that Mr. Edward V. Cullen was the design genius behind
the Cullen-Friestedt Burro Crane. In a review of Cullen Friestedt
patent images, there is a 1945 patent submission for a wheeled mobile
crane bearing the signature of “Inventor, Edward V. Cullen”.
As befitting the logic of sequential numbers, the Burro Crane Model 20
was next to go into production. After scouring the internet, I found
only a few images of the Burro Crane Model 20. One was from an ad for
the Cullen 
Friestedt Company in Railway Engineering and Maintenance Magazine. According to that 1930 ad, provided by the Orange Empire Railroad Museum in Perris, California, the Model 20 could act as its own engine, pulling construction
or maintenance trains to needed locations. Referring to the
self-propelled nature of Burro Cranes, the ad read, “With draw bar pull
of 6,000 to 7,000 lbs. Burro Cranes frequently eliminate work trains or
locomotives. On new construction, Burro Cranes handle their own
trains”.
The second set of images derive from a 1929 patent submission,
which included an Albert Y. A. Schmidt as co-inventor. The apparent
differences between the Model 15 and the Model 20 were the introduction
of a lattice boom and a new "truck for rotatably mounted structures"
on the latter model. Representing a breakthrough in mobile crane
design, the new truck featured a 
retractable
crawler track for work beyond the railhead. The retractable crawler
track allowed the Burro Crane to go where no rail-mounted craned had
ever gone before. Later, Cullen modified its new truck design, fitting
it with flanged steel wheels for travel on a mother car. With that
option, MOW workers could quickly transport a Burro Crane over
distances than would be economical in self-propelled mode.
Although I cannot place a specific date on it, I found an early Model 30 in an image taken by Mitch Goldman and posted on Railpictures.net.
The Strasburg (Pennsylvania) Railroad’s Model 30 Burro Crane features
both the multi-paned windows and the double-girder boom seen on the
Model 15, but its cab configuration and diminutive size are pure Model
30. Since the Burro Crane Model 30 had a long production run, it
continued to highlight the improvements in materials and design we
associate with the mid-twentieth century. With the advent of
high-strength safety glass, the number of windowpanes surrounding the
operator dropped from seventeen to four, which were larger,
water-sealed units.
Taking
a cue from naval turret guns, the Model 30 featured a welded steel cab
and compact construction. With its internal cast iron ballast, the Model
30 could operate on one track without danger of the stern overhanging
an adjacent track. From the markings on a 1950’s Lionel Model 3360 Burro Crane;
we know that the tare weight of the real crane was 67,000 lb. I found
records of a Model 30 Burro Crane built in 1952. According to salvage auction website, a Model 30 Burro Crane manufactured in 1977 recently sold in fair to poor condition.
During and after World War II, there was widespread acceptance of diesel electric locomotives
on American railroads. Although the new locomotives often weighed no
more than did their steam age precursors, tandem diesel engines
commonly pulled more cars and ran faster. With all of that speed and
weight, American railroads upgraded their rail beds to include heavier
ballast, ties and rails. To keep up with the trend toward heavier
railroad infrastructure, Cullen-Friestedt introduced the 75,000 lb. Model 40.
Although
Cullen-Friestedt continued to manufacture and overhaul the Model 30 for
many years, the larger Model 40 became the MOW vehicle of choice for
many American railroads. In 1972, Federal Sign and Signal Corporation
sold Burro Crane #40-324 (construction #127005) to Northwest Pacific
Railroad in Ukiah, California. That retired Burro Crane now finds its
home at Roots of Motive Power in Willits, California.
By 1972, the old Federal Sign and Signal Corp. (now Federal Signal
Corp.) had purchased the Burro Crane name and its manufacturing
facilities from Cullen-Friestedt. From then until the current day,
there has been a dizzying succession of mergers, acquisitions and
assumptions of the Burro Crane name. Federal Sign and Signal did not own
the Burro Crane name for long. According to one source, in 1978, Avis Industrial, “owner of Burro Crane Corporation” purchased Badger Construction Equipment.
Badger
Equipment commenced operations in 1945, specializing in earth-moving,
railroad, and material handling equipment, parts, and other products.
According to Badger company archives,
Badger marketed Burro Cranes under the Badger, Little Giant,
Burro--CFT, Cullen FriestedtT, Western CullenT, and BurroT brand names.
In 1982, Badger introduced the heavier Burro 50
and Burro 6000. In 1990, Burro Crane Inc., then a subsidiary of Avis
Industrial Corporation, moved from its Chicago facility to subsidiary,
Badger, which acquired the Burro 40 & 45. Burro Crane was a sister
company at the time. In 1997, Badger produced the last Burro Model 40
crane. In 2009, Manitex International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTX), a leading provider of engineered lifting solutions acquired Badger Equipment Company of Winona, Minnesota.
On
the Badger Equipment Company website, is information on the current
Model SPR48 Workrane. Looking like an updated and larger Burro Crane,
Badger describes the SPR48 Workrane as follows: “When you need a true
workhorse on the rails, look no further than the SPR48 Workrane. The
only 20-ton, lattice-boom, rail-dedicated crane on the market, the
SPR48 operates with dragline, clam shell or magnet attachments, has
been completely updated with railroad safety items and meets the latest
EPA emission requirements”. Other than its larger size, the
description of the SPR48 sounds like a Burro Crane to me.
This is Chapter 2 of a two-part article on railroad Burro Cranes. To read Chapter 1, please click HERE.
By James McGillis at 08:19 PM | Technology | Comments (0) | Link
