SPRUCE PINE, NC – The boom was lowered at the end of July and after some small repairs to the brakes and the third hook, called the “stinger,” the “Waycross Crane”, as it’s known, in the yard at the former Mitchell Lumber was ready for its new home at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer.
The 389,200-pound machine, technically called a wrecking derrick, was purchased by Bud Phillips in the early 1980s and was donated to the museum by his estate.
“This was my dad’s passion,” said Bud’s son, Alan Phillips. “He kind of lost interest in the lumber business to some degree – he was more of a miner – but the railroad was his hobby.”
Workers from the transportation museum and members of the Phillips family gave the crane a final inspection Saturday, Aug. 6, to prepare for its trip to Spencer.
The crane was steam-powered when built in 1946 and was used primarily in Rocky Mount before being sent to Waycross, Georgia, hence its nickname.
“If the sun hits it just right you can see Rocky Mount written under the paint,” said Doug Nixon, rail operations foreman at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. “Waycross is painted over it.”
The crane was converted to diesel and from a two to three hooks in 1968.
Capable of lifting 250 tons, the crane’s main use was clearing wrecks and derailments, but it also spent time doing other heavy-lifting duties such as bridge replacements.
Many cranes like the Waycross were scrapped instead of being converted to diesel. Railroads have turned away from using rail-bound derricks because it’s cheaper and faster to contract the work out to cleanup companies, according to an article in Trains Magazine. While big hooks were once stationed every 75-100 miles, now most major roads have only a few derricks on the property, used for only the most severe or inaccessible wrecks.
“They’re getting rare,” Nixon said. “Many railroads scrapped theirs and some museums do have them. Many of these cranes that survived were bought by private individuals and preserved. We are really lucky to have it.”
The crane will leave the yard as soon as a CSX maintenance crew completes an inspection.
“It has the capability of moving on its own,” Nixon said. “But CSX will likely pull in with some cars and take it to Marion where it will then be handed over to Norfolk Southern and taken on to Spencer.”
