The Roundhouse.

Crane Repair Shop.

The celebrity building on the Works site is the Round House with it's unique polygonal timber roof, a marvellous piece of engineering in itself. It was here that rail mounted recovery and maintenance cranes were repaired and overhauled. This included the conversion of steam powered cranes to diesel hydraulic operation. The 75 ton capacity cranes were done during the 1970s and the 45 ton capacity cranes during the mid 1980s.

The following views depict the 45 ton conversions.

Built in the 1930s and 1940s a handful of 45 ton steam cranes were selected for conversion to diesel hydraulic operation. Above is an unidentified example in original format.

Above is the main part of the crane. This ran with match wagons at either end, a longer one to the right to accomodate the jib with a short one to the left. This view is taken from the electrical section with yours truly's bench clearly visible at the bottom left!

Once the centre portion had been stripped almost bare conversion work began in earnest. This interesting 'before and after' view depicts ADRC 96720 in the foreground with a nearly complete ADRC 96717 behind.

The main undercarriage was subjected to numerous modifications. Here electrical conduit is in the process of being installed in connection with various light fittings, switches and sockets. Note the speakers providing 'in house' entertainment for the night shift. The shed had what can only be described as superb acoustics!

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