On the open-air grounds, visitors can admire some of the first large handling equipment from the early days of containers: Van Carriers, the gantry trucks used to transport “crates” at the terminals, gantry cranes that ensured handling between ship and shed, grabbers for bulk cargo handling, as well as historical port railway wagons, maintained by the Historical Port Railway Association.
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Van Carrier
The van carrier is the busy one of the machines in a terminal – a mixture of lifting device and mean of transportation. It is planned for picking up the containers at the terminal and moving them between the gantry cranes on the quay and the temporary store. Furthermore, it supports the delivery with trucks or stacking containers in the intermediate range. As container handling keeps growing, van carriers have been developed further constantly. The first ones could stack two containers, one on top of the other; today, they are able to stack four containers on top of each other.
The first-generation van carrier VC 26 is the last one from that time that is still serviceable. On 1st May 1992, it was donated by HHLA as a gift to the museum. On 5th June 1991, they had taken it out of service after 37.000 operating hours in order to scrap it. It can lift containers up to a weight of 30 tons and drive at a speed of 40 km/h. It is hydraulic driven and powered by a diesel engine of 200 hp. The driver in the capsule is located at about 7, 50 metres above the road.
Harbour Railway
Since the second half of the 19th century, the railroad has been the most important link between the port and the hinterland. For the German Port Museum, it is an indispensable component for displaying historical vehicles, driving on the extensive grounds and, above all, being able to demonstrate ship/shed/rail/road transshipment. The Hamburg Maritime Foundation operates the Historic Port Railway at the German Port Museum.
The collection comprises a total of 29 vehicles, including two steam storage locomotives, workshop wagons, various goods wagons, a transport wagon with a hand crane from 1869, a trolley and the VT 4.42 rail bus – known as the “FRIDOLIN”.
