Nevada Northern Wrecking Crane #A

Industrial Works of Bay City, Michigan was founded in 1873 to produce special equipment for mill, marine, and railroad use. In 1883, the company created the first steam-powered railroad wrecking crane in America, quickly becoming the leader in railroad cranes in the country.

In 1927, Industrial Works merged with Brown Hoisting Machine Co. becoming Industrial Brownhoist Corp. In 1960, American Hoist & Derick Company purchased Industrial Brownhoist and ran it until 1983 when the Bay City plant was closed down. The former plant site is now “Uptown Bay City”, a multi-use housing/office/shopping area.

Wrecking Crane #A was purchased new by the Nevada Northern Railway in 1907, and arrived in October. Originally labeled A-2199 upon arrival, by January 1908 the crane received the designation #A. It immediately went into service, installing machinery at the Mill in McGill, and cleaning up wrecks. It was even leased to the Western Pacific to help clean up wrecks along their line starting as early as 1915.  #A generally travelled with a wreck train containing everything that would be needed out at the wreck site. These were generally a mix of flat cars and outfit cars for crew living spaces. In 1939 a new train was created for the wrecking outfit.

Tool Car #A-1 was rebuilt out of a 300-series ore car into the configuration seen today with an enclosed box section, a lower deck for storage of blocks, and an upper deck with rails for transportation of ambulance trucks.

A Wrecking Outfit Dining Car #A-2 converted out of former Coach #2 was used for both dining and bunk facilities, and after 1952 the tender from #80 (originally off Rotary Snowplow #B) also travelled with the Wreck Train, being used as a canteen for #A. Both these cars survive, though are currently out of service.

Starting in the 1950’s, management began advising staff that #A could be rented by customers to load and unload shipments in the East Ely Yard. Additionally, with the railroad no longer having office cars by the 1950’s, the shed built to house them was repurposed to store Wrecking Crane #A when not in use.

In 1962, #A was used as well as Kennecott’s Brownhoist Locomotive Crane (which still exists as well) to clean up a derailed ore train on the west end of Ely (above Murdock’s Metal & Paint Shop). This appears to be the last use of #A by the Nevada Northern on a wreck.

In 1967, the Nevada Northern entered into an agreement with Kennecott to lease their Brownhoist crane, as according to the agreement the “Wrecking Crane” had broken down and their clamshell crane needed significant repairs. However, rather than scrap #A, it was stored pending an uncertain future.

Wrecking Crane #A was last used twice by the Western Pacific, once in 1978 and the second in 1982. The second time #A’s original trucks were replaced with trucks from a former WP crane of similar size. These trucks had been modified in the 1960’s to be equipped with roller bearings. #A returned in April of 1983, shortly before the closure of the Nevada Northern in June 1983.

In 2000, the Museum won a grant from Trains Magazine for the restoration of Wrecking Crane #A to service. Work started in December 2000, and the crane was returned to service August 8, 2005. There is a great write-up by Mark Basset about its return to service found here.

Today, #A is still in service. It is mainly fired up for demonstration purposes during the Winter Steam Photoshoot or the Iron Horse Symposium, though it occasionally comes out for actual service. It has helped unload two boxcars donated by the Union Pacific, participated in the conversion of the Boiler Building next to the East Ely Depot into a public restroom, and the unloading of a parts engine for VO-1000 #801. It was even called into service to do what it was built for in 2022 when #81 broke a tender flange!