A must-have tool for every layout!

LOL!  I have a similar one that I use around the house.  Best back saver I have found.  Haven't needed it on the layout yet but I'm sure I will someday.

John

Got one.... used it to do the same thing....👍👍👍👍😂😂😂😂

At first glance, . . I thought is was a spear gun.

Mannyrock

Have exactly that one - it must be used carefully.

Got a similar one, it's great for fetching derailments just out of reach without the ladder.

I have a couple slightly different got them when I had my knees replaced and use them a lot around the layout. It is great tool.

Absolutely!

Peter

It handles a caboose or freight car, but can it handle a locomotive? Ha, ha.

I wish they made them 15' long! Thank goodness for our kid members at the club - they'll crawl under or climb over anything as part of just having fun!  Well worth the cost of a soda and a pretzel..lol

-Greg

@endless tracks posted:

Inherited from my Mother-in-Law!!! Highly recommended! You'd be shocked at how much you will use one! Just felt like sharing!

Bob

Absolutely right Bob .

I have one .   

I had a 20 car derail .  10 of the cars fell off the overpass onto the ' city park and small housing area '  .  Just happened in an area where i could have pulled a section out after pulling a swith and crawling under the layout for wire disconnect ...................😫

.................10 minutes with the ' magic crane  😉 '  and the consist was rolling again.

If'n you guys had built your table with strong girders and lumber like I told ya last year, ya wouldn't need one of these.   You could just go up the set of side steps and tromp over to the derailment and pick up the cars by hand!    :-)

Mannyrock

Nawwwww....not just for that. I pluck flash lights, hand-held controls, , cell phones, smoke fluid, hand tools, all that stuff. And oh yeah,....derailed cars!

@Greg Houser posted:

I wish they made them 15' long! Thank goodness for our kid members at the club - they'll crawl under or climb over anything as part of just having fun!  Well worth the cost of a soda and a pretzel..lol

-Greg

LOL....Definition of a kid: "Remote for the remote!"....

Manny rock, speargun! LMAO!

I use these, they're 51", also have a trap door inside the layout in case I can't reach the problem with the grabbers.  https://www.amazon.com/Unger-N...633735979&sr=8-2

@Norb Veit posted:

I use these, they're 51", also have a trap door inside the layout in case I can't reach the problem with the grabbers.  https://www.amazon.com/Unger-N...633735979&sr=8-2

Thanks.  I was hoping to see some reviews of other types.

Been using one for over a decade now.  Best tool ever!

@Mannyrock posted:

If'n you guys had built your table with strong girders and lumber like I told ya last year, ya wouldn't need one of these.   You could just go up the set of side steps and tromp over to the derailment and pick up the cars by hand!    :-)

Mannyrock

Manny , if I were a Middle School wide reciever instead of an NFL center size, I would use your advice 😄🤣😂  😉

The first time I ever saw one of these being used in a hobby setting was a few years back at a local slot car hobby store (Main Line Hobbies, when they had a store/club in PA's Plymouth Meeting Mall) and it was utilized to retrieve those just-out-of-reach flyers that frequently left the track. Thought it was great!  Just thought I'd also mention the proprietor also built custom train layouts. It was a very cool place.

This tool plus a magnet on a telescoping shaft are useful when dropsy happens.

@Mannyrock posted:

If'n you guys had built your table with strong girders and lumber like I told ya last year, ya wouldn't need one of these.   You could just go up the set of side steps and tromp over to the derailment and pick up the cars by hand!    :-)

Mannyrock

And ruin all of your scenic landscaping while you were at it.

@Mannyrock posted:

If'n you guys had built your table with strong girders and lumber like I told ya last year, ya wouldn't need one of these.   You could just go up the set of side steps and tromp over to the derailment and pick up the cars by hand!    :-)

Mannyrock

Yo, Manny?...

"Tromp"???   Really???

Tromp

verb

1. Informal. To walk with loud, heavy steps

2. To step on heavily and repeatedly so as to crush, injure, or destroy

!

Scenary?   What? . . . Oh, you mean those little bushes and stuff?   More trouble than it's worth.  :-)

Great for grabbing things out just out of reach.  My train table is strong enough to walk on but the amount of damage I could do is scary and would be real ugly fast.  Great tool.

I have a few different grabbers, some fairly good and other abominable, but I've never see one just like your inheritance.  Anyone know a source?

@Mannyrock posted:

Scenary?   What? . . . Oh, you mean those little bushes and stuff?   More trouble than it's worth.  :-)

So you have no scenery?  Just trains running on a plywood bench? 

So then why is your layout so big and strong to walk on?  Why do you need all that space in and around the tracks if scenery is more trouble than it's worth?

@Tom47 posted:

Great for grabbing things out just out of reach.  My train table is strong enough to walk on but the amount of damage I could do is scary and would be real ugly fast.  Great tool.

OK  Tom.........for realism ........how about a " Tornado Alley "  area ?  😉

Might sound too much like a Kansas layout but we've had some really good tornados come through central Pa.

@RJR posted:

I have a few different grabbers, some fairly good and other abominable, but I've never see one just like your inheritance.  Anyone know a source?

While several members have said they have one and it does the job, no one has really said which ones are good and which ones are bad.  To me, looking at the pictures shown here, you have to scoop under the car to grab it, maybe damaging the item.  One like this would seem to provide a better angle, although the pivot point should be closer to the claw.

Which would be good to pick up an Atlas Master Line boxcar without damaging it?  Can any actually pick up a large die cast steamer?

So many questions, so little time.

Actually, the inheritance looked good to be because it seemed to have a strong rigid scoop to go under the car and hold it.  I hate squeezing the car for fear of marring it.  I have 3 different types, and none of them would I trust with a loco.  I do have one cheapie which is lousy rotten, but I won't say where I got it because the seller might try to sue me.

Yes, the one I inherited is well made. I tried to find a couple more **good ones** for the kids, but the quality just doesn't seem to be there anymore.  Go figure.

It does a good job on cars, but also flashlights, tools and other do-dads. I pick up some heavy stuff, but never a loco.