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Based on watching my 9 year old son's reaction to the MOW Crane Car that arrived yesterday, this has to be the best O Gauge item Lionel has ever made.  He just kept saying "That is so cool."  I hope this helps build interest that keeps him coming back over the years.  He just has a carpet railroad at the moment so I don't think this crane is going to stay out on his layout since knocking it over accidentally looks like a world of hurt if the threads get tangled.  But I have a 2000 reissue of the gantry crane that I've finally located an ERR crane controller for.  So hopefully I can add that to his carpet railroad in a "safe corner" close to the wall where the dog isn't going to pose a problem.  I think that'll give him 75% of the cool factor of this crane car.

I had some initial problem with cab rotation in one direction but that was solved by revisiting the gear engagement lever.  It looks like the gear popped back out between my pushing it in and moving the lever to the left.  I didn't really "get" that the lever was holding the gear in place.  I thought it was actually causing gear engagement somewhere I couldn't see.  Once I understood the intent everything worked as designed.   

The outrigger launching - particularly it's sequential nature - really impressed my son.  After getting the cab rotating 180 degrees in both directions we tried the hooks.  Having something as minor as a Lego tire hanging from the hook really helped going down.  We hadn't raised the boom much at this point, but had no problems raising and lowering both hooks about a half dozen times.  Next we cycled the boom up and down through it's full range of motion.  At this point we encountered a problem - the large hook would go down but not up.  Pretty soon I had a LOT of string out and moved the track and transformer to the table and had the hook over the edge.  There was no motor noise or movement at all when pressing the up button on the Cab1.  (I have legacy and the Cab2 but we were using my son's Cab1 during the demo.) I tried some more boom up and down movement but that didn't resolve anything.  There are limit switches that seem intended to shut down raising the small and large hooks once they reach the top of the boom.  I tried playing with the one for the large hook to see if it might be stuck - although I'd not raised either hook enough to actually engage the limit switches.  (It looks like there are limit switches on boom up and boom down as well.  It's just AMAZING what Lionel has engineered into this thing.  This thing has complications to rival expensive self winding swiss watches!)   On second thought I dismissed the large hook limit switch since the large hook would go down.  But thinking on it more I'm back to the opinion this could be part of the issue since it's probably just meant to shut off the motor continuing to try to raise the hook once it's already all the way up.  It probably has no part of whether the motor lowers the hook or not.  

Either a wire came off the board, off the motor, the limit switch is faulty or the wire for the limit switch has shorted somewhere making the board think the hook is all the way at the top of the boom.  Those are my primary guesses.  I don't think the motor is bad as the same motor works the hook up and down.  And going down is still functioning.  The up button on the Cab1 is still causing hook movement sounds on the matching boom car when pressed to it's not the button or TMCC.  I'm not sure whether lowering and raising the boom through it's full range of motion contributed to the issue or not.  But that is what we were doing immediately before the problem surfaced.  It certainly would have tested the play built into the routing of the limit switch wires.  

The other minor disappointment was that after carefully removing the crane originally, the eyelets and hooks intended as prototypical "decoration" were in the bottom of the styrofoam.  I'd already read the manual about not trying to use them "for real" so I'd intended to just take the hooks out and put them where I wouldn't loose them.  It didn't look like there was enough of a hole to receive the stub end of the eyelet to really hold it tight in the first place.  

I reapplied tension to both hooks, packed everything just as it was and shipped it off to Concord.  I've converted 1950's engines to full command control but I had ZERO desire to open the guts of this beast.  This thing is just too complicated.   The folks in Concord will get things sorted out.  I think in the end it will be minor.  

And one more tip of the hat to the folks who engineered this thing.  It's a marvel.  It'll be THE thing on my dream layout whenever I get that built.  

 

 

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Bummer that it had problems, But .... they'll fix it up for you.

I never had to re-thread mine. But, folks do say its a bear to do.

Yes, and others here will agree .... its the most *fun* train thing made. I get a real kick out of it. Everyone that has seen mine has, too.

Did you get the boom car? It actually adds quite a bit to the fun, I think.

Have fun with your boy!

EBT Jim posted:

 

Did you get the boom car? It actually adds quite a bit to the fun, I think.

I got the boom car back in January.   I can't figure out why they didn't sell them packaged as a set.  It's sort of like separating a steam engine and it's tender into two separate items.   If you spend the sort of money that the crane requires it seems like a no brainer to get the boom car for the sounds as well.  

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I got my TMCC one tangled and had to restring it.  It took about an hour between reading the instructions and getting everything back in place. 

So, once I get past this initial glitch, how have these held up to frequent use?  Or at least the TMCC ones that folks like GRJ have had for awhile?  It doesn't look like the Legacy versions are different mechanically so I'd imagine their durability would be similar.  

Like if you should avoid taking the boom all the way up or all the way down.  Or don't rotate the cab more than x degrees at a time or things of that nature.  It'd be nice if I only really need to worry about keeping tension on the boom if I turn it over but otherwise can work it hard and not have to worry about additional trips to Concord - particularly after the warranty is up.    I've done a lot of taking my trains apart, but this is one item I can't ever imagine wanting to open up.

mopac01 posted:
 

So, once I get past this initial glitch, how have these held up to frequent use?  Or at least the TMCC ones that folks like GRJ have had for awhile? ....  

Like if you should avoid taking the boom all the way up or all the way down.  Or don't rotate the cab more than x degrees at a time or things of that nature.  It'd be nice if I only really need to worry about keeping tension on the boom if I turn it over but otherwise can work it hard and not have to worry about additional trips to Concord ...

I never had a problem with mine. Though, I never use the outriggers.

I have the green BN version ..... I bought it new, don't remember what year that was .... and it gets used often by people.

I never baby/limit it in any way.

Have fun!

My  first  impression of the crane car is it was heavy and looked well made......instructions were a bit vague to me and I had to reread them a few times but they do make sense......probably me. It synced up well with my boom car......but then dissappointment reared its ugly head.

Like the OP, the problem lied with the auxiliary hook......the main hook worked well but the auxilliary hook failed to retract.....it lowered but would not retract. Through the cab doorway you can see the gear that operates it. That is where I could see it turn to lower but fail to reverse.

Also, the outriggers were a pain to set and did not eject as they should. They only worked intermittently and would pop out when going around my track......which could be an issue if they pop out and catch onto scenery or other items along the track.

I immediately called my dealer after spending some time troubleshooting and concluding it had to be a board or loose wire problem with the hook. He advised, which I did this morning to ship it back, where he will replace it or repair it.
Here's hoping I get a direct replacement.

Side Note: Take a few pics of the strings going from the boom to the hooks for future reference......alot going on there.

Addendum:

Kudo's to my vendor, for sending me a direct replacement for my defective crane car.  But once again, that faded into disappointment. After giving it a trial run, I noted all features worked as they should until I tried to turn the boom left or right on its platform......it would not work with my 990 controller. Frustrated I called Lionel to check if I had done something wrong but the service rep, who was excellent by the way, said I was doing everything right and that I should send it in for repair or recontact the vendor. At this point, I did not want to lose another week due to repair. So, since they are only 6 screws to take out to release the cab, I decided to investigate. I immediately found the problem to be one of the gears utilized by the crane loose inside the cab. Upon close examination that gear had a set screw used to tighten the gear down on a shaft. I looked around and found a shaft that looked like it needed the gear, reattached it, and tightened the set screw.......this appeared to be the fix and everything now works great. Hopefully this will help anyone out there who has a similar issue.

The only other thing of note I noticed about this crane is that there is a bit of lag time when operating the hooks and turning the boom left or right. Anyone else have that issue.....its not excessive lag time but noticeable. In addition i noted a handwritten note on the styrofoam insert stating you should always keep the hooks 1 inch from the top of the boom.

-Pete

-Pete

Other than the outriggers being a bit balky, mine has worked well.  Since the outriggers also require you to manually set up the stands to support them, they're only a gadget anyway, so I just don't use them.  As Pete says, with the TMCC version there is a bit of lag as well, but not too bad.  I'm guessing the crane didn't change much from the TMCC to the Legacy version, the Legacy boom car got better sounds.

I've had mine since they first came out. Mid-2000's? Sometimes some of my outriggers don't stay latched in, but I think that's the only issue I've had durability wise. My son as a toddler grabbed the boom, lifted up, and I spent some time re-running the string through the pulleys. My biggest complaint is that Lionel ONLY makes the boom car. Many railroads gave MOW equipment special paint. How about MOW gondolas, flat cars, and a crew car like an old passenger car. This isn't some lowly Burro crane sent to replace one worn rail section. This monster is sent on derailments and wrecks where dunnage, shop trucks, wheel sets, extra cables and wire rope are needed. I really wish Lionel would come out with MOW support cars.

Sam Jumper posted:

 Many railroads gave MOW equipment special paint. How about MOW gondolas, flat cars, and a crew car like an old passenger car. This isn't some lowly Burro crane sent to replace one worn rail section. This monster is sent on derailments and wrecks where dunnage, shop trucks, wheel sets, extra cables and wire rope are needed. I really wish Lionel would come out with MOW support cars.

Just a guess but the reason Lionel and others continue to offer that crane tender sporting a bobber caboose structure and storage bins is that it is generic.  As you said most railroads recycled old passenger and freight cars for wreck train service and there are probably no two alike.  Why not recycle some old rolling stock of your own and create something unique to your railroad?  K-Line used to make a 40' O scale bunk car with lighting, interior, opening doors and a smoke unit.  Lionel continued with that product but it wasn't the same.  That would be a good start.  Just sayin.....

K-LINE BUNK CAR

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  • K-LINE BUNK CAR

I've changed my mind on the crane.  It just returned from Lionel service and my experience was a mirror of the original unboxing.  Everything worked out of the box but after 10 minutes of putting it through it's paces the large hook stopped retracting.  It will lower further but not go up.  The motor makes no sound at all when commanded to retract.  I suspect an intermittent electrical issue and rotating the cab or raising/lowering the boom probably contribute.  There are limit switches to shut off the motor if you've raised the hook all the way.  I'm wondering if something is shorting that is making the motor think the hook is all the way up when it isn't?  

My son has lost interest in it as it's proved defective both times we've tried to use it.  I regret my purchase.  I bought the matching boom car at the beginning of the year so I can't return that.  I can't return the crane either after it's been worked on.  For the money involved I wish I would have bought the ZW-L transformer.

Last edited by mopac01

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