York National Railway Museum

Street CraneXpress Ltd designed, manufactured and installed bespoke mechanical handling systems for the Restoration Workshop, at the National Railway Museum in York.

The workshop (backed by lottery funding) enables the visiting public a rare opportunity to watch the Museum’s skilled craftsmen going about their work, restoring vintage masterpieces from the golden age of steam.

Pop record producer, Pete Waterman, was among those eagerly awaiting the 'big day.' In addition, he personally sponsored the restoration of one of the first steam locomotives to benefit from the new facility.

Street CraneXpress was awarded the responsibility of designing, manufacturing and installing the workshop's mechanical handling systems.

These systems, comprising of overhead travelling cranes and wheel drop equipment, enable safe movement and handling of heavy loads weighing up to 71/2 tonnes.

The systems were specially designed to overcome any public access restrictions, which would normally result from installing this kind of equipment.

A mechanical drawbridge is raised to allow the transportation of heavy loads from the loading bay, but is then lowered to form a walkway allowing total public access to the entire workshop.