Jones KL44 Crane (Tri-ang)
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Jones KL44 Crane (Tri-ang) |
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Arch One , Area 71 1960 - 1969 |
A largeish pressed steel toy Jones KL 44 Yard Crane, made by Lines Brothers with their usual Tri-ang branding during the 1960s.
The crane has a red metal platform, with a central "motor" housing and the distinctive KL44 side-slung cab on the right-hand side, and a low-hinged jib with diagonal reinforcement.
The platform rotates through 360 degrees on a black base with four rubber-tyred wheels.
Mechanisms
Two winding handles protrude from the left of the left-hand side of the winding housing, with one raising and lowering the jib arm, and the other lifting or lowering the load. a cord runs form the winding housing over a pulley to the heavy hook, and then back via a second pulley back to the winder. Both winding handles are ratcheted, with two large "lift to release" ratchet release bars on the back of the housing.
Markings
Both sides up the jib end carry "JONES KL44 CRANE" decals with white text on a black background, and there's also a larger version on the rear of the platform, and a more stylish "JONES KL44 Crane" shaped decal on the side of the cab, with a white background, the words "Jones" and "crane" lettered in red, and a central black band and "splodge" with "KL 44" lettered in white. There is a small red-and-black-lettered-on-white "Tri-ang" decal on the top (rear) of the winch housing.
The underside of the crane's black base is lettered on gold:
- " A model of the 4 ton JONES MOBILE CRANE made by K. & L. STEELFOUNDERS & ENGINEERS LTD. of Letchworth, England, makers of the WORLD'S BEST MOBILE CRANES which are distributed in Great Britain by GEORGE COHEN SONS & CO. LTD. "
The tyre sides have raised moulded lettering, reading "TRI-ANG MADE IN ENGLAND L B LTD"
The Jones KL44
"Jones" cranes were built in Letchworth by Kryn and Lahy, hence the use of the KL prefix on their model numbers. As useful range of general-purpose mobile cranes, the "Joneses" saw heavy use in the preparations for the D-Day landings, and the KL44 appeared just after the end of World War Two, in around ~1946.
While Jones didn't have quite as high a profile in the crane world as Coles, the company was well-respected, and might have taken the decision to brand their entire range with the Jones name partly as a way of creating a marketing synergy with Coles, with the two similar British names reminding people that Coles and Jones were both good British crane brands (the name "Kryn and Lahy" probably wouldn't have been as useful in this regard).
External links
- V&A Museum: Toy Crane Lines Bros Ltd (collections.vam.ac.uk)
- Tri-ang pressed steel crane (essexmodelsandminiatures.co.uk)
- Tri-ang Cranes (triang.nl)
