Historic crane fully restored by Waterford Suir Valley Railway

In 2020, a volunteer of Waterford Suir Valley Railway identified the remains an old crane in the undergrowth at Ferns Railway Station in Co Wexford.

Upon investigation, the two tonne manual goods crane was found to have been manufactured by Bray Waddington and Co, the company responsible for building the first railway bridge of the River Thames in London in 1859.

The crane is likely to have been installed in Ferns Station around the time of the station’s opening in November of 1863.

In 2021, Irish Rail donated the crane to Waterford Suir Valley Railway.

The team extracted the pieces of the crane from the site and transferred them to the station at Kilmeadan, in the hopes that it could be preserved there.

In 2025, the Board of the Waterford Suir Valley Railway applied to the Community Heritage Grant Scheme for funding to restore the crane and place it on one of the two platforms at the station in Kilmeaden for visitors to admire.

Funding was received, and the crane is now in place.

The restored Bray Waddington Crane will be dedicated to the memory of James Kelly, ex-engineer at the railway who sadly passed away in July of this year.

Alan Moore, one of the WSVR Board Members involved with the project, stated:

“We are very grateful to Irish Rail for donating this valuable piece of industrial heritage to us. Without the funding from the Heritage Council the restoration project would simply not have been viable.

"The expertise of Dr Colin Rynne and Andrew Clarke has ensured the 160 year old railway goods crane has been fully restored and should survive for decades to come for visitors to the railway and Waterford Greenway to appreciate as part of the railway’s growing collection.” 

A formal unveiling event will be held at Kilmeaden station on Tuesday November 11 at 11am.