Hudson eccentric cranks

[lionelsoni]

Has anyone noticed backwards eccentric cranks on Lionel Hudsons? I realized the other day that the left-side crank on my 773 was wrong. (The eccentric cranks on most locomotives, including NYC Hudsons, should trail the main cranks by 90 degrees when the locomotive is moving forward.) When I removed the crank, I found that it could be installed either way; so it was easy to fix the problem.
I know that Lionel was known sometimes to install water scoops backwards on tenders; and they were adamant that red be above green on their color-light signals; but I have never heard anything about cranks.
The throw of an eccentric crank is usually about half that of the main crank, which means that it needs to be rotated only about 50 degrees about the main crank to get it completely to the other side of the axle. However, the difference between the two positions of the 773's crank is 90 degrees, because the eccentric throw is equal to the main throw. I can imagine that Lionel did this deliberately, to get a bigger motion in the valve gear. But can anyone tell me whether they also did it on the 700E, which was supposed to be very much a scale model?
Bob Nelson

[lionelsoni]

Has anyone noticed backwards eccentric cranks on Lionel Hudsons? I realized the other day that the left-side crank on my 773 was wrong. (The eccentric cranks on most locomotives, including NYC Hudsons, should trail the main cranks by 90 degrees when the locomotive is moving forward.) When I removed the crank, I found that it could be installed either way; so it was easy to fix the problem.
I know that Lionel was known sometimes to install water scoops backwards on tenders; and they were adamant that red be above green on their color-light signals; but I have never heard anything about cranks.
The throw of an eccentric crank is usually about half that of the main crank, which means that it needs to be rotated only about 50 degrees about the main crank to get it completely to the other side of the axle. However, the difference between the two positions of the 773's crank is 90 degrees, because the eccentric throw is equal to the main throw. I can imagine that Lionel did this deliberately, to get a bigger motion in the valve gear. But can anyone tell me whether they also did it on the 700E, which was supposed to be very much a scale model?
Bob Nelson