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Crowfoot Wrench
Catalog #: 2002.0075.13,
Accession #: 2002.0075 Currently on display
From the Smithsonian Collection
Used in steam locomotive repair work to reach and to hold nuts and boltheads in difficult-to-reach places.
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Physical Description |
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3" W x 28 3/4" L
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Details |
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Dates Used: |
1880s - Today
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Credit: | Gift of National Park Service |
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History |
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Part of a small array of hand tools displayed in "America On The Move" - such tools were used in the inspection and repair of steam locomotives. Light repairs on steam locomotives were usually done in roundhouses at the many small locomotive terminals throughout a railroad's system; heavy repairs were done in a large, centralized repair shop serving the whole system (often referred to as the "Back Shop"). Most of these tools date from the early- to the mid-20th century, roughly 1900-1955.
A "crowfoot" wrench was so-called because of its shape. Used in steam locomotive repair work and railroad-car repair work to reach and to hold nuts and boltheads in difficult-to-reach places. Used in locomotive boiler work.
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