This crane assisted storage operations at a U.S. Army munitions site near Bellemont in northern Arizona.

The American Hoist & Derrick Company of St. Paul, Minnesota, built this crane for the U.S. Army in 1943. It can lift 25 tons, is self-propelled, and has a 100-hp diesel engine. It was initially stationed at the Raritan Arsenal in New Jersey, then moved to the Navajo Army Depot west of Flagstaff. While there it ran on 38 miles of track serving 800 storage bunkers holding bombs, rockets, and artillery shells.

The crane was later sold to the Valley Steel and Supply Company of Tempe where it served until 1995. They donated it to the museum, and it was delivered by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1997.

The crane is an American Hoist & Derrick model 825-CD, construction number 1924. It has a Caterpillar D-13000, 6-cylinder diesel engine with a 24-hp 2-cylinder pony engine for starting. The ballast bays were filled with weights to add stability. The weights were removed during restoration at the museum to slow further rusting, and holes were drilled in the bottom of the bays to prevent collection of rainwater. The weights included an assortment of lead bars and 37 mm M2 Canister Projectile shells which contained 122 anti-personnel steel pellets inside. Some had broken open, spilling their contents. This was one type of munition used on early WW2 light tanks. These shells may have been surplus munitions repurposed as ballast.

The Navajo Army Depot was constructed in 1943 to store and dispense munitions during World War II. This location was selected 600 miles from the west coast, to make it inaccessible to enemy forces. Over the years it transitioned to defusing live munitions and storing rocket motors for the Air Force and is now an Arizona National Guard base known as Camp Navajo.

The Union Pacific Railroad moved the crane to the museum′s Armstrong Park location at Erie Street on June 28, 1997, then it was moved south to the museum′s new Tumbleweed Park location on Ryan Road, along with the rest of the fleet, in 2006. The boom had to be lowered to fit under the Loop 202 bridge at the time.

	5/31/1966 - Photo of crane at Navajo Army Depot.
	5/5/1970 - Photo of crane at Navajo Army Depot.
	2001 - Photo of crane at old museum location.
	7/1/2007 - Photo of crane at ARM Tumbleweed Park.
	7/1/2007 - Photo of crane at ARM Tumbleweed Park.

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