A place for all things cranes, trains, and excavators, and stuff like that.
Recommended title format: XKCD or something else. Optional additional factual info in text field or comments.
Photographer: @Lynx@jlai.lu
It’s shot with an old compact camera from 2010 in low light conditions, so I hope that explains the potato quality. It’s crazy how much better my phone’s camera is (and it’s not even a fancy expensive phone). Still, I’m going to continue using my old camera, I’m a sucker for old tech.
Custom built high-wing monoplane (1927)
The Spirit of St. Louis (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France, for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.
EMD SD70 locomotive
The EMD SD70 is a series of diesel-electric locomotives produced by the US company Electro-Motive Diesel.
Production commenced in late 1992 and since then over 5,700 units have been produced.
While the majority of the production was ordered for use in North America, various models of the series have been used worldwide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun-class_ekranoplan
Only one built, and it's still on the shore of the Caspian sea:
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Thunder Crane TC20 stiffleg derrick crane
A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and a boom hinged at its base to provide articulation, as in a stiffleg derrick. The most basic type of derrick is controlled by three or four lines connected to the top of the mast, which allow it to both move laterally and cant up and down. To lift a load, a separate line runs up and over the mast with a hook on its free end, as with a crane.
A stiffleg derrick, also known as a Scotch derrick, is a derrick with a boom similar to that of a guy derrick, but instead of using guy wires to secure the top of the mast, it uses two or more stiff members, called stifflegs, which are capable of resisting either tensile or compressive forces.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick#Stiffleg
https://www.thundercranes.com/offshore-stiff-leg-crane-rental/
Bucyrus Model 50-B Steam shovel
Twenty-five Bucyrus Model 50-B steam shovels were sent to the Panama Canal to build bridges, roads, and drains and remove the huge quantities of soil and rock cut from the canal bed. All the shovels but one were scrapped at Panama. The survivor was shipped back to California and then brought to Denver. In the early 1950s, it was transported to Rollinsville by Roy and Russell Durand, who operated it at the Lump Gulch Placer, six miles south of Nederland, Colorado, until 1978. This steam shovel is one of two (the other at the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion in Rollag, MN) remaining operational Bucyrus Model 50-Bs, and is preserved at the Nederland Mining Museum. Roots of Motive Power in Willits, CA has also acquired a 50-B and operates it for the public once a year at their Steam Festival in early September.
Darpa Project Orion (1950-60s)
Project Orion was a study conducted in the 1950s and 1960s by the United States Air Force, DARPA, and NASA into the viability of a nuclear pulse spaceship that would be directly propelled by a series of atomic explosions behind the craft.
Non-nuclear tests were conducted with models, but the project was eventually abandoned for several reasons, including the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty, which banned nuclear explosions in space, and concerns over nuclear fallout.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion)
While Project Orion never progressed beyond the conceptual and early design phases, it remains a fascinating chapter in the history of space exploration. Its audacious approach to propulsion demonstrated the creativity and ambition of scientists and engineers during the early days of the Space Age. Although the project was never realized, it contributed valuable lessons and ideas to the field of astronautics and propulsion technology.
https://www.photonicsonline.com/doc/nuclear-dreams-the-race-to-build-project-orion-0001
Northrup Grumman B-2 stealth bomber
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses. A subsonic flying wing with a crew of two, the plane was designed by Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) and produced from 1987 to 2000. The bomber can drop conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as up to eighty 500-pound class (230 kg) Mk 82 JDAM GPS-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400-pound (1,100 kg) B83 nuclear bombs. The B-2 is the only acknowledged in-service aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration.
United Aircraft Corporation TurboTrain
Either way, these trains were fast. On December 20, 1967 a TurboTrain reached 170.8 mph during acceptance testing on a high-speed test track on Penn Central’s mainline. UAC’s creation not only beat the competing Metroliner project, but blasted past the speeds of what the Shinkansen could do back then.
The TurboTrain was put into service in both the United States and Canada in 1968.
[due to being plagued by many obstacles, mishaps, and setbacks] Today, you won’t find a UAC TurboTrain anywhere. Just seven trainsets were built and all met the scrapper. They now only exist in riders’ memories, the internet, and scale models.
1938 Railway gun TM-3-12
Humongous Railway Gun (used during the siege of Leningrad). This railway gun of the TM-3-12 model (below) can be seen at the St. Petersburg Outdoor Train Museum. This was not part of an armoured train, but was actually built with others in the late 1930s using guns taken from a battleship and placed on a rail chassis. It was used in World War II, but captured by the Finns and used during the siege of Leningrad. When Finland ended their war with the USSR in 1944, the gun was handed over as part of the peace agreement:
https://www.darkroastedblend.com/2013/05/awesome-armoured-trains-and-rail.html
A railway gun, also called a railroad gun, is a large artillery piece, often surplus naval artillery, mounted on, transported by, and fired from a specially designed railway wagon. Many countries have built railway guns, but the best-known are the large Krupp-built pieces used by Germany in World War I and World War II. Smaller guns were often part of an armoured train. Only able to be moved where there were good tracks, which could be destroyed by artillery bombardment or airstrike, railway guns were phased out after World War II.
Saturn V rocket
As of 2024, the Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle to have carried humans beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The Saturn V holds the record for the largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit, 311,152 lb (141,136 kg), which included unburned propellant needed to send the Apollo command and service module and Lunar Module to the Moon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_V
Standing 36 storeys, twice as high as Niagara Falls. Weighing 2.8 million kilograms (6.2 million pounds). Producing 34.5 million newtons of thrust (7.5 million pounds) from its first-stage engines. In all, NASA flew 13 Saturn V rockets, and all of them did their job of delivering 24 humans to the moon — with 12 of those humans walking on the surface — as well as lifting the first American space station, Skylab into Orbit.
UNIC URW-295 mini spider crane
UNIC mini cranes are the world’s most compact cranes and have been used in a wide variety of industry sectors for lifting where space and access are restricted. There are currently 9 models in the UNIC range, from 0.995 tonnes to 10 tonnes in lifting capacity.
https://www.craneblogger.com/new-cranes/lights-camera-action-for-unic-mini-cranes/2013/02/05/
Hitachi EX8000-7B, T4F Mining Excavator
Operating Weight
Shovel 1,829,837lbs
British Rail Class 802
The British Rail Class 802 is a type of high-speed bi-mode multiple-unit passenger train designed and produced by the Japanese manufacturer Hitachi Rail. It has been operated by Great Western Railway, TransPennine Express, and Hull Trains.
The Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" was an American experimental test aircraft built as part of the Vought XF5U program during World War II.
Both the V-173 and the XF5U featured an unorthodox "all-wing" design consisting of a flat, somewhat disk-shaped body (like a pancake flying, hence the nickname) serving as the lifting surface.[1] Two piston engines buried in the body drove propellers located on the leading edge, at the wingtips.[2]
It used maple syrup for fuel.
just kidding on the last one ;)
The Convair XFY-1 Pogo was an experimental V/STOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft developed during the early years of the Cold War. It was intended to be a high-performance fighter aircraft capable of operating from small warships.
Ultimately, technical and operational challenges, along with the superiority of jet-engined fighters, led to the project's suspension in 1955. The XFY-1 Pogo is now preserved in the National Air and Space Museum.
https://www.flightjournal.com/10-cool-airplanes-that-wont-fly-again/
MANITOWOC - And the winner of the annual Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest is … the big blue Navy crane made by Broadwind Heavy Fabrications in Manitowoc.
British Rail Class 88
The British Rail Class 88 is a type of mainline mixed traffic electro-diesel locomotive manufactured by Stadler Rail for Direct Rail Services (DRS) in the United Kingdom. The locomotive is part of the Stadler Euro Dual family. It is the first dual-mode locomotive in the UK to use the 25 kV AC electrification.
The Class 88 is part of the Stadler Euro Dual family. This is a range of dual-mode locomotives that are fitted both with a pantograph, to collect electricity from overhead wires, and a Caterpillar diesel engine. The UK version is able to run either on electrified lines using the pantograph, which is the UK's standard OHLE current at 25 kV AC, or away from electrified lines with the Caterpillar C27 950 hp (710 kW) engine.
DRS has procured the Class 88 to serve as a mixed-traffic locomotive, capable of operating both passenger and freight services. Primarily, the type has been used by DRS to haul freight using electric locomotives without the need to hire in electric traction from other operators. As with the Class 68, they are also capable of operating passenger trains.
LeTourneau Inc. Overland train
In the 1950s, LeTourneau Inc. developed several overland trains, essentially oversized semi-trailer trucks that could travel over almost any terrain. Their intention was to be able to handle logistics needs without being dependent on local road or rail systems, allowing them to operate in back-country areas. The US Army had three experimental units built, the largest reaching almost 600 feet (183 m) long, which holds the record for the longest off-road vehicle. Road trains are in use in certain roles today, but the US Army examples and a few derivatives appear to be the only off-road examples built.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overland_train
https://blogdocaminhoneiro.com/2021/07/overland-train-o-mais-longo-veiculo-off-road-do-mundo/ (Portuguese)
A cool guide to what a crane's made of and how it's operated.
modified Volvo ECR235EL excavator
Chosen for its reduced swing radius which suited the tight, underground working conditions, the excavator is fitted with a dozer blade, a grinding wheel attachment, and a dust suppression system along the excavator arm.
Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton
The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton is an American high-altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed for and flown by the United States Navy as a surveillance aircraft. Together with its associated ground control station, it is an unmanned aircraft system (UAS). Developed under the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program, the Triton is intended to provide real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions, continuous maritime surveillance, conduct search and rescue missions, and to complement the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_MQ-4C_Triton
https://www.dronerush.com/military-drones-air-force-navy-marines-cia-10853/
It's for extinguishing oil well fires, owned and developed by MOL, the Hungarian oil conglomerate. It was used in Kuwait after the Kuwait-Iraq war, here is a video of it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyGDxglTVgA
It's still in use and maintained, the base was replaced with newer tank recently, as it was hard to find replacement parts for such an old model.
Video from some years ago, timestamped, there is a lot of Hungarian narration before that point: https://youtu.be/YYF8YQ7pLng?t=494
Good article in English about this beast, with a lot more images: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/a-firefighter-s-dream-meet-big-wind-a-tank-with-jet-engines-that-s-a-fire-truck-185011.html
