Survey Data
Reg No
13008005
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Social, Technical
Original Use
Machinery
Date
1860 - 1900
Coordinates
213405, 274905
Date Recorded
31/08/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding crane with cast-iron winch, cast-iron cog wheels and timber and cast-iron lifting arm/jib, erected c. 1880, set in a concrete base. Now disused. Situated adjacent to railway tracks/on former railway platform and to east of railway goods shed (13004150). Set back from road in yard to the south of Longford Town centre.
Appraisal
This crane is of industrial archaeological significance as a reminder of the great age of the railways during the second half of the nineteenth century. Retaining its original mechanisms, this crane, which was intended to be operated by hand and was designed to swivel, is of technical and engineering importance. It was originally erected by the Midland and Great Western Railway Company to serve the Dublin to Sligo railway line, which reached Longford in 1855 and was completed in 1862. It forms part of an extensive group of structures associated with Longford Town Railway Station (13004044) and forms a pair with the associated goods shed (13004150) to the west. It remains an integral component of the built heritage of Longford Town, and of the social and economic history of County Longford.