Cranes and rails on Prince's Wharf

The cranes and rails on Prince's Wharf are a group of four high-speed electric cranes, built by Stothert and Pitt in 1951. They are numbered 29 to 32 and are mounted on rails that run east-west between the quayside and the M-Shed, situated on the Floating Harbour.

Each crane consists of a carriage or truck that supports the motor room and driver's cab, the jib, and its counterweight, along with a luffing derrick. The carriages feature four legs made of rivetted iron panels and lattices, with each pair of legs connected to a base of horizontal paired I-beams. The enclosed motor and driving wheels on either side allow the cranes to move laterally along the rails. Crane 32, located to the west, is designed to handle heavier loads and has a broader latticework carriage at the top. The cabs are finished with vertical timber weatherboarding and full-height glazing at the front, framed in multi-light metal, with windows on either side for the driver's visibility. The jib is a tapering square-section truss measuring 65 feet (20 meters) long, featuring a hook assembly with a Liverpool hook at one end and a balancing counterweight made of concrete slabs housed in iron at the other. The luffing derrick, part of the Toplis Level Luffing system, is positioned atop the cab.

Inside the cab, there are four sets of controls for lateral movement along the tracks, slewing, luffing, and hoisting, along with space for the driver at the glazed front. The motor room at the rear is enclosed and contains three motors that drive the slewing, luffing, and hoisting mechanisms, as well as resistance banks and cabinets with electro-mechanical switch gear.

The cranes are set on rails embedded in the dockside, and there are various cast iron fixtures related to the original power supplies for each crane.