Fairbairn cranes on Flickr

A reader who saw last night’s post about human-powered cranes and lifting machines e-mailed me to point out that many of the Fairbairn hand-cranked cranes featured in that post’s title image are still around, and that there is in fact a Flickr group that collects photos from enthusiasts. At least one of the cranes has been converted to steam power, but a couple appear to be still operable using their original hand cranks, such as this recently-refurbished example in Seville, beautifully photographed by Flickr user Sevillano. [Thanks, anachrocomputer!]