We have been advised that the UK's sole remaining diesel-mechanical breakdown crane ADRC96100 is available for purchase upon offer of "a fair price".

Four diesel-mechanical breakdown cranes were ordered from Cowans Sheldon by BR for their Southern Region, two of 30-ton capacity being built in 1962 (C66/96100 and C67/96101) and two of 75-ton capacity in 1964 (C88/96200 and C89/96201).

All four cranes were withdrawn from service in 1996, with the 75-tonners subsequently scrapped and the 30-tonners sold into preservation.  96101 went to the Forest of Dean Railway in 2005 and was scrapped in 2008 (despite appearing to be in "remarkably good condition" according to an observer), whilst 96100 ended up at Carnforth in 2006 and is owned currently by the West Coast Railway Company.

WCRC recently considered bringing 96100 into working order for yard use and they contracted engineer Jon Bennett, of B&C Transport Ltd, to assess in particular the condition of the engine (a Rolls Royce C4NFL). Jon got the engine running and reported it as being in superb condition, and he has since also made progress in other areas. He was unable to evaluate the transmission as a fluid pump is missing, but with the BDCA's help a pump has been found and is available to buy for £250.

WCRC has now decided to call a halt to the work that Jon has been doing, the crane not after all considered to be suitable for their yard work. They had planned to return it into storage, however following further discussion they are offering it for sale rather than waste the work that has been put into it.

Jon says this could be a good opportunity for a group or individual to continue with his work as the crane is "not in too bad overall condition".  Any interested party can obtain contact details from Jon via myself.

Just to update this thread, it is sad to report that nothing came from the attempts to find a buyer for ADRC96100 and the crane was scrapped at Carnforth during March 2023.

This was the first of the Modernisation Plan 30-ton diesel-mechanical cranes to be built and was the first powered breakdown crane on the railways of Britain to have a power-source that wasn't steam.

Although the concept of a 30-ton breakdown crane was already seriously flawed by the time of construction and in consequence none of the 30-ton cranes was remotely effective as a breakdown crane, the two diesel-mechanical 30-tonners were good cranes for general work. The design was sound and they were reliable from the start (unlike the diesel-hydraulic conversions which initially developed a very poor reputation for reliability and, as a result, led to the continuation and subsequent preservation of several steam cranes).

It is a great shame that this pioneering crane could not have been preserved.

Scrapping at Carnforth last year.
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See the Friends of Cowans Sheldon face book page for a photo thanks to Gordon Dodds

There is more rail crane, and much more other crane material on this site.
Several recent posts have photos and details of Kiwirails rebuild of a 60ton CS hydraulic crane.