Creque Marine Railway Machinery at Virgin Islands National Park in June 2007
The Creque Marine Railway (formerly the St. Thomas Marine Repair Shop) is on Hassel Island, Virgin Islands (18°20'5.5"N, 64°56'17.5"W). Hassel Island is in Charlotte Amalie Harbor, and had been connected to the island of St. Thomas until the Danish Government cut a channel in 1860.
Creque Marine Railway was built in 1840-1843, renovated in 1911, and continued operation into the 1960s. The headhouse contains a Bolton beam engine, used to drag ships from the water on rails. The beam engine powering the winch was built by the Bolton Company, Hamburg, Germany. It is one of the oldest surviving facilities of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. This record contains detailed photographs of the machinery.
Bolton beam engine and related machinery.
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