Whats the coolest Lionel operating accessory?

[laz 57]

Mine is the Bethlehem Steel gantry crane with the coal scoop. Had to experiment with different coal to find the best to be picked up but used a combonation of the flat coal with the bath tub gondola coal and it works great. Also I am a big fan of the duck shoot it reminds me of my childhood days in Ocean city NJ on the boardwalk they had a shooting range just like that.
Laz 57

[pennsy_fan]

my favorite is the 282R gantry crane, but a cool accessory with an RCS track is the lionel 497 coal loader....lots of action in a little space.

[bogaziddy]

What looks super cool [8D] to me is the #787 log loader in the American Flyer section of the Volume 2 of the Lionel 2004 Train Catalog. The ad copy states it is compatible with "S" or "O" gauge. Do any of you out there with Lionel O gauge pikes operate this primarily "S" gauge accessory? How is it working out?

[Anonymous]

The atomic reactor. Steel BB's in. Glow in the dark balls out and on the next train to Yucca Mountain.

[ChiefEagles]

All are great. Just added a new intermodal crane. Works great. Will pickup containers and move them to and from cars. Will do piggy backs too. I got this one because I run a lot of double stacks and trailer trains. Coal loaders and unloading ramps are great too. I run a lot of hopper cars filled with coal. Whatever fits your operation.

[Anonymous]

I just received the new Lionel AMC/ARC Gantry crane and must say this is an excellent operating accessory. I can't wait to get my command base cable to run the crane with the Cab-1!

[Big_Boy_4005]

I love the 264 forklift, and the 464 sawmill. Growing up in the 60's, I had to wait many years to finally get copies of them. The culvert loader and unloader are also great. Many of the American Flyer accessories are as good or better than their Lionel counterparts. The barrel loader, the sawmill and the coal tower are all excellent.

[iguanaman3]

My vote is for the 264 Forklift...it's close to scale and looks so realistic. But the 282 Gantry crane is more interactive so is probably more fun to operate.

[Anonymous]

This is a tough one:

Gantry Crane (any of them).
Saw Mill
Culvert Loader and Unloader
Milk Car
Dump Car

Maybe the best answer is all of them...

[Back2Trains]

A milk car/platform is a lot of fun for the kids in a small space. The 182 crane is a hit with my 7 year old grandson. With its 4 button controller it seems to be the most similar to a video game. The 164 log loader is a real hit with the 4 year old.
Almost all of the operating accessories are really cool, but these seem to be the most kid-approved on my layout.

[pbjwilson]

I'm a fan of the saw mill/lumber loader. There's a couple variations an reproductions.

Also the milk car and platform are a classic. And when the cans go flying or topple over it's even better.

[aiireland]

i like the Control Tower with the 2 guys chasing each other around. it just cracks me up

[cnw1995]

I think a real cool one is that AF-reproduction scooper I think actually produced by MTH that looks like a tower and picks up and dumps coal.

[Anonymous]

Coal loader? Barrels? Remote cranes?

Got a remote control section of track that is screaming for a cool operating thing next to it. What do you guys got?

Is there a remote crane that can unload stuff, or anything very interactive. Im looking for a high 'play' factor. Something newer if it matters. Thanks!

hgable