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Big Hooks by Louis A. Marre Wrecking Cranes Soft Cover 2013
Big Hooks by Louis A. Marre Soft Cover 2013 First Printing
Withers Publishing
By Louis A. Marre
Soft Cover
Copyright 2013 - First Printing
This modest volume is a visual tour of a kind of railroad zoo, inhabited by such vanishing species as steam locomotives, freight train cabooses, and, in this case, wrecking cranes, those large lifting engines on wheels called out when flanged wheels departed from parallel rails unexpectedly. These were generally referred to as the Big Hooks, in obvious recognition of their primary function - to lift equipment.
A full scale treatment of the development of the steam wrecking crane on American railroads is yet to be written. Here, we have a survey of about 100 examples of the genre. The builders of these were numerous, but our survey includes mostly products of the major builders within the first three quarters of the 20`" Century, and the histories of those builders themselves is an undertaking far beyond any current publication. Locomotive builders have been the subjects of numerous books, but there is no volume on Bucyrus or Industrial of comparable scope. Perhaps this album of photographs will inspire someone to undertake such a work.
Here we are concerned with a sample of those machines in railroad service, actually working if illustration could be found. The casual viewer will notice that the Big Hook did not usually arrive on a wreck scene alone. There was always an "outfit" ranging from just a flatcar to provide space for the boom while in transit, to elaborate trainsets including not only a mere boom car but a custom-built car that frequently contained a variety of support equipment such as water and fuel supply for the hook itself.
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