Thinking about getting some postwar lionel operating accessories for my layout. I never had accessories, just rain trains. From what I could remember as a kid, my friends ice loader wasnt very reliable and half the ice cubes would end up outside the boxcar. I have a modern lionel log dump car and would like to get the 456 belt log loader and a lionel 164 log loader. I don't know how the logs will load on the modern log car, seems like they will just roll off as they are dump ed onto the car. They don't have tall sides to catch the logs like say a gondola, but gondolas cant dump back into the loader. I also have a Lionel 497 Coal loader I plan to install on the layout. Hopefully this was a good choice. What are your favorite, least favorite, and why?
My personal favorites:
Postwar American Flyer oil drum loader. Works great, everyone loves it.
K-Line watchman's shanty. Scale size, "realistic" operation.
Lionel "Test O Strength", "Playtime Playground"(the previous larger version), FasTrack "Track Gang", "Mo & Joe" operating lumber car. All look and work great.
MTH operating dump cars, "Signalman" box cars...action is slow and smooth.
MTH operating passenger platform. Passengers dissapear/appear at the push of a button.
I had bad luck with a MTH operating firehouse, but others have not had problems with later-issued ones. Joe
LIONEL,
I have the 164 log loader works great. It will work with your metal log dump car. I also have the AF 787 log loader and that work great also. Picks up logs and places them in gondolas or dump cars. I have the 397 coal loader both newer and older versions. The older ones have a loader sound to them then the newer ones, but both work great. I also have the other coal loader that lifts the coal to a hopper and that is good also, but moves a little slow. All and all I like all these accessories the only one I was dissapointed in was the Mr Spiddles animated guy tipping his hat while the dog lifts his leg. Dog didn't work. MTH accessoryies that I have is the disappearing beer platform, works good and the firehouse with fire engine coming out. Kids really like this one.
laz57
Almost forgot as JOE H.stated, the test o strenght, looks and works good, and the duck shoot,cool animation. All the hobo stuff adds ambience of the scene.
American Flyer 779 Drum loader, flawless operation great movement, minimum operator interface.
Least favorite 766 Gilford Animated Station, very hard to get passenger car in correct alignment to load and off load passengers. Noisy operation, OK action.
The 785 Coaler in the background is #2 favorite with the Talking Station #3
Favorites include Lionel magnetic crane, barrel loader, saw mill, Flyer 779 drum loader.
Least favorites include horse or cow corrals, coal loader (messy!).
To be honest, I don't have any operating accessories because I've heard so many people express disappointment in their operations. I just don't think they're worth the money. Too expensive for what you get.
Jim
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
My favoriate is the American Flyer 779 Drum loader. Least favorite is the cattle yard the cows always jam up or fall over.
Almost forgot the Gantry cranes. Have the Lionel Bethlehem Coal loading gantry and just won on Ebay for $61.00 a Lionel PRR electromagnetic gantry crane both work great and I send lots of time with them.
laz 57 wrote:Almost forgot the Gantry cranes. Have the Lionel Bethlehem Coal loading gantry and just won on Ebay for $61.00 a Lionel PRR electromagnetic gantry crane both work great and I send lots of time with them.laz57
Do they NEED to be sitting on rails, Laz?
I've got the 771 stockyard and a few 736 stock cars, and I really like them, they come in at #4. The stockyard is a great operator once you get the fiber feet adjusted correctly. The nap must be in the right direction for the cows to move right and the cows have to be in the correct side. Also, moths eat the original mohair feet and will mess up operation. The feet are easily relaced keeping in mind the direction of the nap. Here a picture.
I put an additional corral in back with more cows.
The cars work well, it is a fun accesory.
I just love the 3462 Milk Car. I guess it stems from my childhood. I love shooting milk cans across the layout.
Mitch
Bob Mitchell Gettysburg, PA TCA # 98-47956 LCCA# RM22839
jaabat wrote: laz 57 wrote: Almost forgot the Gantry cranes. Have the Lionel Bethlehem Coal loading gantry and just won on Ebay for $61.00 a Lionel PRR electromagnetic gantry crane both work great and I send lots of time with them.laz57 Do they NEED to be sitting on rails, Laz?Jim
laz 57 wrote: Almost forgot the Gantry cranes. Have the Lionel Bethlehem Coal loading gantry and just won on Ebay for $61.00 a Lionel PRR electromagnetic gantry crane both work great and I send lots of time with them.laz57
No JIM, just whereever you want, quite stable.
I really have no least favorites. I do prefer the postwar accessories of course. The only exception to that would be the ice loader. The can motored modern version is better and smoother. Otherwise I always go for the postwar pullmor noisy ones or solenoid type.
My favs are: 282R gantry crane, postwar version, 128 newstand, 397 coal loader, 364 lumber loader, 455 oil derrick and of course the milk car.
Mike S.
Nothing is sweeter than the #97 coal loader towering over everything on the layout (and sucking a lot of space too with the nearly 15" between spurs). But watching those chain buckets carry the coal up to the tower, and then dumping with the push of a button into another operating dump car - that's great stuff!
Other greats are what others have said - the cattle ramps, the gantry cranes, the barrel and log loaders, milk cars, oil derricks, and so on.
Least favorite is the cop and hobo chase set with the overhead gantry. The figures make the cars too tall to go through bridges and tunnel portals.
almost nothing puts a smile on a face quicker than toy trains!
Fred W
Someday I want to find a #96 coal loader - the crank-powered one.My current favorite is the Marx crane.My least favorite is the WW2 fighter plane pylon. Looks better inactive. The motor is LOUD.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Love the milk car/launch the milk cans. I too have the 497 coal loader, loved it on the tubular track, now I have to work on getting it to run on Fastrack.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
I like my 3472 milk car. I have had it since 1949. It still works good. I also like the 497 coal loader. I have a automatic gateman shack, that has the Roadrunner and Coyote. The Coyote comes out the door and finds the Roadrunner eating bird seed by the crossing sign. It is a Lionel, that I bought several years ago. Fun for kids. I would like to get a magnetic Gantry Crane some day.
Chuck
If you have the space:
The Bascule Bridge
The Lift Bridge
The Swing Bridge.
All are slick and very smooth operating. They do eat up space though.
Mel Hazen
Jacksonville, Florida
Mel Hazen; Jax, FL Ride Amtrak. It's the only way to fly!!!
My grandkids LOVE the Cow on the track; after the cow moves onto the track and the train stops, they all yell MOVE COW! and we push the button and the cow moves and the train starts.
Causes loads of laughter is the mail pick up car, when the mailbag is snached off the post and the onboard bag is tossed out. It is a lot of fun!
My Favorite: Lionel Magnetic Gantry Crane. You can spend hours loading and unloading all sorts of things. I glue small metal washers to all sorts of freight so that the magnet can pick them up. It can be a challenge to maneuver the crane around in an efficient manner, and it's lots of fun to operate and enjoyable to watch. I enjoy it best after a day of running trains, to load or unload various freight. It's more relaxing with the trains not running (I keep getting distracted by the operating trains)
Least Favorite: Lionel Modern Era Lumber Loader 6-12774. It loads logs (not lumber) onto a flatcar. It is a bad design that is poorly engineered, doesn't work well and in operation is quite silly.
my favorite accesory has to be the gateman, i love the way the man pops out lol i also like the postwar coal loader. i dont like the current accessories, most of them to me are weird. as in the historic layout series.
"No childhood should be without a train!"
The last time I replied, I don't think I had the Rotary Tipple hooked up. It has a big foot print and needs an elevated track. Fun to operate. Tests your skills as an engineer to get the cars just right.
Jacksonville, FL
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