I’m in the process of building my new layout, and I’ve always wanted a magnetic crane. Of all the cranes Lionel has made past and present, witch one is most reliable for operation?
I have been looking myself… I am building an American Flyer layout and was not impressed with the American flyer post war magnetic crane operation or looks… the post war lionel turned more than 90 degrees and looked a whole lot more realistic… then I happen accross the latest Lionel crane with TMC controled functions, you can program in a routine and have it repeat the process if you like, or just manually operate it yourself. The price is a little more than I want to pay but with post war lionel crane going for 250… I am saving up for one…would be nice if there was a place on the web where you could see the latest accessories opperate. sure would be a great selling point.
I have a Lionel 182, similar to the 165, that I am in the process of renovating. This is my first crane, so I can’t offer any opinions. Sorry.
But here’s a video of the Lionel 2316 N&W Operating Gantry Crane http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XMgh6U3yNM
Hope it helps,
Kurt
very cool… so it looks like the operating functions are:
magnet travel up and down
crane tower forward and reverse
magnet off and on
but no boom up and down…
not bad.
Not quite - magnet on and off - yes
magnet travel up and down - yes
crane forward and backward - not without a user-added motorized addition
boom adjustments - yes, via hand crank in back of cab
- Terry