810 Derrick car

All of the parts are there but are tarnished and dirty. I've started the disassembly process and clean up. I'm waiting on the terra cotta , maroon , and peacock colors. The chassis I stripped with oven cleaner and sprayed with rusteoleum.

that's going to be great! I've wanted one of those too.

Daniel,

   Great job so far, please post the finished Crane Car when you have completed the restoration, they are my favorite rolling stock.

PCRR/Dave

Im with ha steamer, I've always wanted one too. I finally found a reasonable priced one on ebay.

 PCR, work trains are my favorite, and the crane car is the crown jewel.

 

I'm going to tackle taking the boom apart soon. Here's a pic of the assembly. I wonder how the factory twisted those tiny tabs? I would've loved to have seen that!!!

 

Here's one I did earlier this year. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

Steve

 

 

WOW Steve, that's great looking. I have a few questions. How did you take apart the boom? And do your trucks bind on the chassis when you turn them? I think my chassis is bent ever so slighty and the cooper journals hit the inside of the chassis. 

Thanks for posting that crane

Daniel,
    Here is the original 810 from the 263E Work Train, in almost perfect shape and a couple original 2600's series Crane Cars also.
PCRR/Dave


One of my favorite Crane Cars, is not available in any store, for any price.  A Pittsburgh, Pa Custom Original, American Flyer Mini Crane.  Have fun restoring your Crane Cars, they really come out fantastic and IMO are the high light of any layout.

wow, I never realized just how long that  boom is. Beautiful Steve.

Steamer,

   Steve's picture gives a great perspective with the standard gauge tracks sitting right in front of the O gauge track & Crane Car.  You get to see just how large the boom really is in comparison to the standard gauge tracks.  The old 810 Crane Car is no little piece of o gauge Tin.

PCRR/Dave

 

 

Pcrr /dave, you are right about its heft. I forgot to mention earlier how heavy this crane is. My 259e engine is only a little lighter in weight than the 810!! I guess now I'll have to look for a 260 or something in order for a proper engine to pull it��

Hey dave, is that crane in front of the GG on a burro chassis? That little thing is cool.

My 810 I have had for years but still, sort of, looks like yours, before your project.

Daniel,
   My 810 Crane Car came with our original Lionel 263E Work Train, it's definitely the right engine for pulling the big 810 Crane Car.  The 259E is definitely a little light for the job.

The mini American Flyer Crane Car is mounted on trucks from an old Lionel engine, if you search the OGR, we talked in another thread about exactly what trucks they were, and I showed some close up pictures of the trucks, and how the AF Mini Crane is mounted on them.  These Crane Cars are my very favorite piece of rolling stock, spent a lot of time playing with the big 810 as a little boy, the memories are great for me.
PCRR/Dave

 

I got my 810 Xmas 1934. My motive power at the time was box cabs 253s. One 253 had no problem pulling the 810, 820, 812 and 817 around at high speed.

 

Ron M

Dave, that's fantastic!! Thanks for sharing that, I'll have to do a search for that thread when I get a chance.

ron m and dave , thanks for sharing your memories of your 810s. When I'm working on these tin plate I often wonder about the original owner playing with them and what kind enviroment they lived in. I'm 44 and got my first set for Xmas in 79 or 80? cant remeber exactly. But it was a mix up of singles bought new at the Train Stop in Matawan nj. 

i forgot to add, ron I have a 253 also, but it's duty is pulling matching observation cars. it runs great for about 15 minutes but the motor gets warm and starts getting sluggish. I should post the 253 on the stel cab thread.

ron m,
   Those original 253 box Cabs were powerful engines no doubt about it!  Great train set with the 800 series cars.
Post a picture of her will ya!

Daniel828,
 
Man get somebody to repair that old 253 for ya and pull your 800 series Tin rolling stock with it, under your Christmas tree.  The 259E train sets came with 2600 type rolling stock, not the bigger 800 series cars.  There are actually 3 different sizes of these original O/027 Lionel Tin Plate trains, I have all 3 different sizes on our layout,
sometimes all at the same time.  I need to take some pictures of all three original different size engines & rolling stock and post them some time.

PCRR/Dave


      On the inside loop, the old 259E with 2600 rolling stock


Here are the other 2 size engines and tenders, each pulls different size rolling stock.

On the Christmas layout this year I will run all the different size trains at the same time and take some pictures to post, on the OGR.

Steve,

  I wanted to tell ya, I really like the custom paint job on your 810, the red cab base matching the roof makes the Crane Car look fantastic, great idea, when I pick up another old original to restore, I definitely plan to use your custom paint job idea.

PCRR/Dave

 

Steve,

   IMO it's a big time upgrade to my favorite Tin Plate rolling stock, as usual your ideas are sound engineering and I always look forward to your posts.  Lionel should put you on staff just for these kind of up grade ideas.

PCRR/Dave

Yeah I agree with Dave, Steve. Great job!!! 

I rcvd the paints last night and started the terra cotta on the cab. These are Charles woods paints.

Before

 

After

Oh and I almost forgot. I think I have an addiction. I just won a bid on ebay for another terra cotta and maroon 810. When will it stop?? Lol

Daniel,

   It never stop, it just get bigger!

PCRR/Dave

Steve, I have a question. What paint did u use on your 810? It's nice and shiny, I'm using charles wood paint from a spray can. It's duller than I expected. 

thank you

dan

 

Thanks for your reply Steve. So, rustoleum huh? Wow, that came out great. Those colors are more than adequate. Great job!!

Another project done with off the shelf paints. The Hellgate in the background is not a repaint. You can see how well the colors worked.

 

Steve

 

 

Steve,

   Another fantastic restoration job, is that paint the Rustoleum also?

PCRR/Dave

The yellow is Rust-Oleum. The green is Krylon. Krylon does not give the nice sheen like Rust-Oleum and needed some clear gloss. Since Krylon reformulated their paints, they just are not as glossy, but I wanted that color of green.

Steve,

   You really have become a master at making your restoration work look just like the originals, simply great Tin.

PCRR/Dave

 

 

im waitIng for paint to dry. Everything is disassembled and I want the paint to be nice and dry before I start that. Here's some pics of the colors. I think the paint finish is ok at best, but the color is much different than the original colors. 

The maroon is spot on. The cab is much darker, seems it should be more orange. And the boom's green is much darker too. But all these many years that have gone by, probably changed the original colors?

 

that's looking great Daniel

Daniel,

 

Looks great so far. You are right, the original colors do fade over time.

Hi joe, I used to have the ogr magazine issue that had your layout in it. I can't tell you how many times I've stared at that article. Very cool.

 You live in nj? Going to train fest 7? I've been to one in 2012. I want to bring my 2 sons this year. Er, next year ha.

 

Here's a mock up of the 810.

 

I'm waiting for misc parts. I broke the shaft that controls the winch. It had a slight bend and I tried to straighten it. It acted like aluminum and broke so quickly with out warning. i bought a basket case 810 but it must be from a different year because some things are different. And to add insult to injury, it has the same broken pieces that need replacement. Lol oh well. 

 

when this time of year hits, I go thru my old train mags, and I was just looking at the issue with Joe's layout...fantastic!

and a Basketcase 810...I like Basketcases....(my username on my car sites)

Dave, a man after my own heart. I like basket cases too. I just bought a model T engine. Literally In pieces in a wooden box!! Haha. 

 

My 66 olds cutlass is sort of a basket case. It's a 4 door, so it might fall lower on the spectrum than a basket case. But it's mine and I love it just the same ��

Thanks Daniel and Dave.

 

Yes, I'm in NJ. I'm planning on going to Trainstock in January.

I've noticed the four doors getting more love the last few years, even withthe extra doors, many are great cars.