I've always liked the saw mill, good action and doesn't look out of place on a hirail layout.
I've also always liked the 264 Operating Forklift for the same reason.
The culvert loader & unloader is also pretty cool, if not as realistic looking as the two mentioned above.
The main reason I went with O gauge instead of N or HO was the operating accessories. I wanted a layout my kids could play with and which did more then just have trains running around in circles. My operating accessories are:
AEC Nuclear Reactor: For pure "what the **** is that?!?" reactions this is hard to beat. It's also been fairly trouble free though with FasTrack you need to remove the side of the roadbed in order for it to fit. I also make a V shaped trough for my gondola that makes it easier for the crane to pick up the magnetic pellets.
AF Oil Drum loader: The only accessory that actually worked right straight out of the box. I have mine hooked up to an accessory transformer which helps. I'm probably going to make up some toxic waste signs to tie it in thematically with my AEC Reactor.
Circus Horse Corral: this took a LOT of fidgeting to make it work right. You really need an adjustable voltage power source with this one. Too little juice and the horses won't ascend the ramp and board the car. A hair too much juice and they fall over coming down the ramp when they exit car. Just the right voltage and it's a crowd favorite.
Weyerhaueser Sawmill: Mine was balky right out of the box. Once I got it running it's been working great. The one thing about this accessory that's always bugged me is I feel like Lionel stopped designing it halfway through. Why oh why couldn't they have added a tip bed or ramp to load the fresh milled planks onto a waiting car??? Seems like a no-brainer yet Lionel opted not to do this. Too bad. I have seen someone who added a conveyor belt to load the planks off to the side of the car but that requires a spur and quite a long straight away. I've toyed with the idea of using a tipping bed log car mechanism to dump the planks onto a waiting flat car or gondola. Maybe Lionel will redesign this at some point? They really only need to redesign the left side so it wouldn't as intensive an effort as a whole new design.
Radar Tower: Not really an operating accessory but pretty neat. The stock vibramotor is annoyingly loud. I replaced the motor with a conventional can motor I ordered from Walthers. Now the radar dish spins in dead silence. Look on he forum and you'll find a couple of how-to threads on this.
K-Line operating milk depot: This literally arrived on my doorstep 30 minutes ago. Very excited to set this up even though I don't have the matching operating car.
Want List:
Gantry Crane: I actually have a sliver of room on my layout for this and sometimes regret getting my AEC Nuclear Reactor instead of this. Seems like it has the most play value of any accessory.
Rocket Launcher: I have a soft spot for the whole atomic/rocket 50's era thing. I don't have any room on the layout for this but will once I move to the garage and can add another 4x8 sheet.
MTH car wash and Lionel rocket launcher. However, anything that has action is great! Terry
Lionel Operating Gantry Crane. The precise operation of this accessory gives you lots to do. It loads and unloads.
Lionel Operating Milk Car. Here are 2 of them in operation.
Here is a video of my latest favorite operating accessory for my Marx/Hafner/Wyandotte windup layout, it's a Wolverine Automatic Coal(marble) Loader.
Lionel Operating Gantry Crane. The precise operation of this accessory gives you lots to do. It loads and unloads.
Lionel Operating Milk Car. Here are 2 of them in operation.
I never met an accessory I didn't like. Here is a link to a video showing most of my accessories in action. I added a few sound effects to make it more interesting but the postwar buzzing is all you really need!
TJ
I've had probably 6 or 7 that I have since sold all except my all-time favorite and the one with the least bit of hassle...American Flyer's "Gabe the Lamplighter". The grandchildren love walking Gabe up the ladder and watch him slide down. The others that I owned, Coal loader, Sawmill, Oil Drum Loader, Watchman's Shanty, Ice House, Milk Car/Platform and Dispatch Tower had their fun value but they were too persnickety. There was always something that went wrong with each one especially when I wanted to show the grandchildren. "Gabe" still has a prominent spot on my layout and the grandkids are still drawn to it like moths to lights.
The 460 piggyback platform. It was my favorite when I was a kid and still is, and I still have the one my parents gave me when I was nine or ten years old. It is totally interactive and totally manual. You have to line up the train perfectly by manipulating the transformer and then you load and unload it with a wheel and a lever. That's play value. Curiously, that's about the only postwar accessory Lionel hasn't remade, although they have done the piggyback car and the loading platform with a little ginpole crane and "radioactive waste" containers, which is basically the same thing.
Accessories I always wanted when I was a kid but never got, and are now on my layout, include the icing station, the coal ramp/diesel coal loader combo, and the barrel car and loader. I'd love to get the culvert loader/unloader too, but I don't have room.
I had (and still have) the milk car, but it wasn't a big deal for me. Being a true son of Milwaukee, I thought it should be a beer car. I cut Blatz logos out of my father's beer labels and stuck them to the side of the Lionel milk car.
I never met an accessory I didn't like. Here is a link to a video showing most of my accessories in action. I added a few sound effects to make it more interesting but the postwar buzzing is all you really need!
TJ
Roger Wasson,
For elevation, where did you acquire those simulated Stone Pillars ?
I like their realistic looks.
Thanks,
Bill B
I believe all the stone pillars are K-Line. I know two of them are with the operating fisherman accessory.
Its hard to choose just one. I guess I'd pick the 182 crane.
MTH firehouse is one of my favorite modern accessories. As for postwar accessories some of my favorites are the 128 newsstand and gateman.
I love operating accessories, too. The two minute video in the link below shows three accessories you can't buy because I designed and built them myself.
The Lionel nuclear reactor. Maybe that's why I got 5 of them. 
The most technologically based accessory is the triple action gantry crane; could have been better if it moved on rails. the most robust (timely) action goes to either the rocket launcher or the no. 264 operating fork lift platform and the oft times working culvert loader/unloader.
The postwar milk car and about any other postwar accessory .
Did anyone ever see an American Flyer accessorie that had a man appearing to wash the Windows on a passenger car? I saw one at a train meet in Maryland years ago, but never saw one since.
There are so many great accessories. It's hard to choose. The favorite from this year's layout were the re-issues of the American Flyer saw mill and the oil barrel loader. In the past the gantry crane, culvert loader and un-loader were the favorites. For animal lovers the horse car and corral get the highest votes!
Great thread!
Rick
Gantry Crane is an accessory you can continue to play with and never have to manually reload. When I started to rebuild my layout it was the first accessory I had operating. It holds the interest of my grand nieces and nephews longer then anything else.
The most technologically based accessory is the triple action gantry crane; could have been better if it moved on rails.
I adapted my Lionel Gantry Crane to move on rails using a small hobby motor and threaded rod and controlled by two push buttons to move it back and forth. It works great and adds a lot of versatility. An article on how I did this appeared in the November 2009 issue of Classic Toy Trains Magazine. Here is a video of my crane in operation.
Postwar Culvert Set
164 Log Loader
This is a tough one!
1. Lionel sawmill is a great one. Visitors always want to see inside and understand how the logs turn into boards.
2. MTH fire station. My four year old can't get enough of this one and I can't either. Watching the fireman slide down the pole, the flashing lights, the clanging bell, the garage door opening and the fire engine driving out to answer the call. So cool!
3. Lionel gantry crane. I don't have this one, but it is on the short list if they re-release a TMCC version. The video posted above has me hooked!
4. Lionel lift bridge. This is just fun from the shear size of the beast. Visitors are amazed to see it rise up all on its own.
5. Lionel TMCC crane car and boom car. Not sure if this fits in with your definition, but it sure is fun to play with.
Since the question was favorite I guess I have to choose one.
Lionel sawmill. Still a classic, clever accessory that interacts well with the operating log car.
This is also a really tough one for me since the main reason I stayed with O gauge was because of the operating accessories. I feel that can't really rate a operating accessory that I have never operated or seen operated.
Back in the 70's I had every Lionel operating accessory and I had most of them in a layout. So here goes for my favorites of which most are pre 80's.
1. Lionel #38 operating water tower which used real water.
2. Lionel Culvert Unloader & Loader.
3. Lionel Operating #264 Fork Lift Platform.
4. Lionel #313 Bascule Bridge.
5. Lionel #497 Coaling Station.
I'm hoping in a few years to a new layout and a chance to use some of the many new Lionel, K-Line & MTH operating accessories that I have never used. And I'm sure some of those new ones will climb on that list after I can watch them in action.
The most technologically based accessory is the triple action gantry crane; could have been better if it moved on rails.
I adapted my Lionel Gantry Crane to move on rails using a small hobby motor and threaded rod and controlled by two push buttons to move it back and forth. It works great and adds a lot of versatility. An article on how I did this appeared in the November 2009 issue of Classic Toy Trains Magazine. Here is a video of my crane in operation.
This is something I very much want to do on my layout. Not sure where I would find the room but it has been a dream for years. Very nice conversion to rails. I love it!
The Lionel Aquarium!
My favorite one that I have is my 75th anniversary gatemen, but the absolutely best one I have ever seen is Lee's hobby shop by far!
Lionel Bethlehem Gantry crane with clam bucket and the 397 coal loader.
I have all of Lionels Postwar Operating Accessories, and some Flyer ones too....
But my all time favorite is the
264 Operating Forklift Platform!
I like all of them as well. When I got the nuclear reactor I didn't like the car they made for it so I made my own.
It has a spiral ramp for the pellets and a receiver bin for the "hot" output pellets. Had alot of fun designing it. It has two chairs and control panels for operators which I never mounted on the car.
Choosing one favorite? Nearly impossible! The order could change on any given day.
But today...
6. lighted aquarium car
5. Lighted/pumping oil derrick 455 for the glowing bubbles in a dark room.
4. #3370 Sheriff and outlaw car (the "out the top" geared one)
3. #6650 IRBM rocket launching car.
2. #175 gantry & rocket launching platform
And todays #1?.... ANY operating whistle tender!
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