Auxiliary Crane & Idler car
This Crane was built by the American Crane Company in 1967 for the Canadian Pacific Railway. It has a lifting capacity of 200 tons and has spent most of its career in Calgary awaiting calls for duty. This cranes primary purpose was to help clean up wreck sites, but it did get the occasional call to lift other large heavy objects. With the donation of this crane to the Museum it is the end of an era for Auxiliary trains. In today's competitive markets for railways, having a main line closed because of a wreck for days can cost millions. It is cheaper to push cars out of the way and scrap them on site later than it is to re-rail the equipment.
The Idler car was built by CP from an old flat car. Its purpose was to carry blocking and cables for the crane along with leaving a space for the cranes boom to rest in-between work sites.