Lionel's Intermodal crane, any good? And will E_Z Street work as yard trackage?

I have one on my layout.  I think it looks great!  I had to fix the pinion gear on the unit.  This gera makes the unit go up and down to pick up the trailers.  Have seen other postings that this gear goe bad most of the time..If I remember it had something to do with the gear lube Lionel used.  it caused the gears to strip and come loose from the metal rod.  If i can figure out how to post pictures I will. 

On straight sections (only) there should be no problem.  I'm assuming you are only planning to use straight sections.

Yes Allan, only the straights. I think the yard would look much more realistic with this as trackage, as the whole yard will just look like one  deck.

I have some K-line sections that match to Fastrack. Another nice thing, I can have a couple of Bachmann E-Z street trucks running through the yard, they could be painted yellow with some Evan Design flashing lights fitted, and a police truck with flashing lights running through would look great too.

Follow this thread which talks about some of the issues with the crane. Good info and insights. Also search for the crane and more threads will come up

https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/5934960456927789

ralph

Thanks Ralph, will do.

Well, my intermodal crane arrived last week, I unpacked it and set it up, and read the instructions. The very first time I used the lift function, the pinion gear failed and spun on the shaft. All the plastic gearing used is really crappy. I think the crane itself looks quite good and a bit of detailing and weathering and addition of some working lighting using LED's will improve it greatly. BUT, the plastic gearing is rubbish. I think I will replace the lift mechanism with a motor/gearbox used in hobby robotics. Another project! I wonder if I can add TMCC? Let's see.

The container lift trucks in these pics, anyone know where I can get them?

Go for it Dave, I can't wait to see it.

Mario, what I have in mind is this.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

12V DC Reversible Gearhead Motors - 36RPM Only slightly larger than the YG-2732, but with a massive increase in torque at 36RPM. Ideal for driving wheels or other traction devices. Specifications: • Torque: 12.0kg/cm • Rated Voltage: 12.0V • Operating: 4.5 - 18V max • Current - No load: 70mA • Current - Full load: 1380mA • Gear Ratio:  244:1 • Shaft Speed: 36RPM

I think if this fits it would be fine.

I have repaired these by pinning the gear with some music wire. The shaft is mild steel and can be drilled with a high speed steel bit. I think I used a .020" drill and the same size wire.

Also you might be able to find a similar metal gear at a hobby shop that specializes in RC cars.

Pete

I used super-glue on the shaft before it spun, and it's worked fine so far.  I found that in order to get the clamp to properly grip, I had to make some modifications, there's a thread discussing these here, if you do a search you should find it.

Basically, I shortened the jaw ends, and also took some material off the vertical sections.  Then I changed some resistor values in the control to better match the speeds to what I thought it should do.  The traverse was too slow, and the drive wheels were too fast as delivered.

John, I read your post on changing resistor values and other mods, all great tips.

I will however try the gearbox and motor option for the lift mechanism. I think it such a crappy unit as is, removing the original gearbox will be a better long term solution.

Let's see.

I'm waiting to see your modifications, if they're not too hard, I may consider it.  Truthfully, I found the side to side movement to be the biggest issue with mine.  I had to run at 16 volts to get that to work properly.  I actually reduced that resistor a bit and then increased the others to balance everything out.

I don't think this thing will pick up anything wider than the trailers that come on the Lionel TTUX traditional size units, I don't know if they're considered "full" O-scale size.  The issue is the jaws won't latch on anything wider, and I had to modify them to latch on the Lionel trailers.  Interestingly enough, the MTH trailers were narrower than the Lionel ones and they worked fine.  With my mods, I can pick up any of the trailers I have.

Hi Dave

Those container lift cars are made by JOAL. Generally 1:43 scale, but I've found that Joal is a bit larger than most that say that scale. Usually comes with two containers.  They are on ebay frequently and Diecast Direct or 3000Toys.

Ralph

Thanks Ralph, yes I've seen them on eBay from time to time but never took any notice of them. But, like most things, when you go to look for it , can't find it. Bit like my workshop!

BANGS, Lionel U-boats, SD-70, and DD-35, and Williams Trainmaster will all run on the EZ street straight sections.  For that matter, a Vision Hudson will run on it, too.

I tried them all just now and none seem to mind the straights.  Among "full size" locos however, only BEEPS and BEEFS and Dockside switchers will run on EZ street curves.  They will tolerate well set up 16" curves but are happiest on 21".   

Thanks for letting me know Lee, that's interesting, I didn't think they would work on curves, I have some Beeps, they will make ideal yard shunters, I'll upgrade them with ERR TMCC.

I knew the straights are OK, that's why I'm going to do all the yard with them, with MDF of equal thickness to give me a flat surface, so it will look more realistic, and the intermodal crane and RC forklift can run around where they like. I will do my switching on the next module, I have Fastrack to Superstreets straights which in turn will be connected to Fastrack switches. However, the fact that Beeps will get around, gives me food for thought in returning the shunter to the switching part of the yard.