The Finnieston Crane (also known as the Stobcross Crane) is the largest of the cantilever cranes, of which four remain along the river.
The last to be built, it was erected in 1931 especially to load
huge locomotives, a major export and Glasgow's second most
important engineering industry. It is still in working
order.
Local author James Cowan described a trip up the crane and to
the far end of the jib in 1935: 'A noticeable peculiarity of each
lateral movement was that it was not continuous, but took place in
gentle jerks of a few inches at a time. The object of this is to
prevent the load at the end of the cables acquiring a swinging
motion, which would soon render the accurate placing of any load a
matter of great difficulty and danger...I saw the heavy machinery
... placed in a few minutes into a space where there was hardly an
inch to spare on one side or the other, all the directions during
this delicate operation being conveyed to the craneman by signs,
and blasts on a whistle...'
The crane's capacity was 175 tons. It is 175 ft high with a 152
ft jib which could make a full revolution, of 1,000 ft at the tip
of the jib, in 3½ minutes. It was built by the Carlisle
firm Cowans, Sheldon & Co. At the time it was the largest
hammerhead crane in Europe.
Its principal purpose was to load heavy locomotives for export
but it was also used for fit ships' engines for yards which lacked
their own fitting out dock, and to load heavy armaments into
warships. At first the massive locomotives were drawn slowly
through the streets from the works by steam road locomotives. Later
they were put onto low-loaders. There were a number of
locomotive builders, including the Caledonian Railway, and
Andrew Barclay, Sons & Company of Kilmarnock. By far the
largest was the North British Locomotive Company which was formed
in 1903 when three rival companies - Dübbs & Co, Neilson, Reid
& Co and Sharp Stewart & Co - joined forces. At its
height NBLC employed over 5,000 men and exported 90% of its
output.
In 1987 the Glasgow sculptor George Wylie created a memorable
and poignant artwork, The Straw Locomotive, for the Finnieston
Crane in 1987. Made from straw in the form of a full size
locomotive, the sculpture processed slowly through the
streets, then dangled from the crane for two weeks, twisting slowly
in the wind, before being brought down and set ablaze, as a
commemoration of this once vital industry.
Also at Queen's Dock and Yorkhill Quay (Back to listings)