The Society are very grateful to the Ivatt Trust for purchasing a hand operated crane and donating it to us for use in the up yard. This extremely useful addition to stock arrived on 17th September and is numbered ADM27. It was built by "Cowans, Sheldon & Co. Ltd. in 1944, maker's No. 7601. It has a maximum capacity of 10 tons at 13ft radius jacked and can reach to 24ft radius and) lift 3½ tons. It is one of a series built during the last war by C, S & Co. with different capacities, from 5 tons, 6 tons, to our size, 10 tons. The controls are quite modern and sophisticated for a hand crane and include run-up fast change gears to alter to slow hoist. No match trucks were built for this series of cranes - a bolster wagon was normally used. The crane looks a little odd, because it is built onto a well wagon and the counter balance weight forms the back of the cab. In effect it is an L-shaped structure on a turntable and all the controls are set over tile turntable portion. It is believed that about thirty cranes were built to this design, most being of 5 tons capacity. Physically they all looked the same, but for the larger sizes heavier steel sections were used for the jibs. Our crane was latterly at Rugby Diesel Depot, in use by the CM & EE, but they were originally intended for yard use and had the advantage that they could be manipulated in very confined spaces. The new crane is insured for work and will no doubt see plenty of action in the future.

Notes:
The text in this Quainton Railway Society publication was written in 1982 and so does not reflect events in the 32+ years since publication. The text and photographs are repeated verbatim from the original publication, with only a few minor grammar changes but some clarifying notes are added if deemed necessary. The photos from the original publication are provided as scans in this internet version of this long out of print publication.

Reference:
Hand Operated Hand Crane - Quainton News No. 46 - Autumn 1982