Twas' an Impulse Buy... Dorfan Crane

Congratulations

I have no idea but congrats!

It looks gorgeous - enjoy it!

Flow the American Pickers TV Show advice "buy" or you will never find another.  Yes it is a good deal.

True.They did not make many of them!

Just need to watch the legs on these cranes. They are diecast and easily broken, especially during shipment.

Brian,

   Congrats on the Repro D Crane, payed a little to much but it is a beautiful Crane.

PCRR/Dave

Very nice, do not know about the going price, wish I could afford one, may be when I win the lottery

Ron H,

   If you think the Repro is expensive, purchasing an original in pristine condition is re-finance the house time, if you really want one.

PCRR/Dave

I'm excited to get it, I found a spare leg on ebay to replace the damaged one.

I want to see it lift the 400e

At 20" tall it will tower over all my other accessories.

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Ron H,

   If you think the Repro is expensive, purchasing an original in pristine condition is re-finance the house time, if you really want one.

PCRR/Dave

 

Dave
I could just imagine on the originals and I wonder if the legs from the original suffered from Zinc Pest.
I have that Italian disease "FUNDSALOW" and only buy junk that needs to be made whole again. This is what I enjoy.

As stated before maybe the lottery as it sure looks great!!!1

How tall is that thing?Will it lift a loco without toppling over?

philo426 posted:

How tall is that thing?Will it lift a loco without toppling over?

It's 20" tall, and supposedly it can lift any Standard Gage loco.

@RonH

I figure the sooner I buy what I want, the longer I get to enjoy it. I'm definitely not rolling in dough, but I just buy what I want and don't get any duplicates, my Dad always told me to buy what I wanted the first time, and not spend a bunch of money on stuff I didn't really want. If I had bought other cheaper Standard Gage sets before my state set I probably would have spent double or triple what I did than on the set I really wanted.

I love restoring stuff as well, that's my main source of income (I'm sure you've seen some of my other threads), but sometimes It's nice to get something and just have it work out of the box (or with a new leg in this case).

VERY NICE, but as mentioned above, those diecast legs are easily broken. Unfortunately, mine arrived with a broken leg and the seller gave me a refund. Another missed opportunity! ::SIGH::

Phil,

   My Grandfathers that came over from Germany was 22.5" tall and there was not any Zinc Pest problems with the one we owned.  Long gone now in a house fire unfortunately, along with some very fine guns and other O Gauge Dorfan and Lionel originals.

The Dorfan Crane was never intended to lift a 400E, remember these are little boys toys. Got to admit the Repro's look might fine.  I can remember putting the original in my Red Rider Wagon to move it around the layout on the low platform when I was a kid.  Would love to have the original back, Brian was very fortunate to pick up the Repro.  One fantastic piece of Tin!

Brian,

   Pick up the smaller engines and rolling stock with it, remember you want the legs to last many life times.  I did pick up the 810 Crane Car with the one we had, it is a way cool little boys toy.  Congrats again on a very cool piece of real time Tin Plate.

PCRR/Dave

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Phil,

   My Grandfathers that came over from Germany was 22.5" tall and there was not any Zinc Pest problems with the one we owned.  Long gone now in a house fire unfortunately, along with some very fine guns and other O Gauge Dorfan and Lionel originals.

The Dorfan Crane was never intended to lift a 400E, remember these are little boys toys. Got to admit the Repro's look might fine.  I can remember putting the original in my Red Rider Wagon to move it around the layout on the low platform when I was a kid.  Would love to have the original back, Brian was very fortunate to pick up the Repro.  One fantastic piece of Tin!

Brian,

   Pick up the smaller engines and rolling stock with it, remember you want the legs to last many life times.  I did pick up the 810 Crane Car with the one we had, it is a way cool little boys toy.  Congrats again on a very cool piece of real time Tin Plate.

PCRR/Dave

Brian, I always see your post and you definitively deserve this.

Enjoy and have fun

Once you get it mounted on your layout could you send some pictures?
Thanks again for all your post as I learn from them

Dont't feel bad about impulse buying as I spent $60.00 for a 10E with swollen wheels and in need of a little tin knocking and TLC. I know I will never get the money out of what I put in, but the enjoyment is there for me and you can not put a price on that.

Yes it is  cool restoring something that us old and in need if some tlc.I restored these Marx light towers.Not the same as a tin loco but it is cool!

Phil,

   It's Tin it is the same, just a different piece from a different company.  It's all great and I think those Marx Light Towers are just fantastic!

PCRR/Dave

RonH posted:

Once you get it mounted on your layout could you send some pictures?
Thanks again for all your post as I learn from them

No layout, just carpet

Alright Dave, I'll be more careful with it.

Brian Liesberg posted:

RonH posted:

Once you get it mounted on your layout could you send some pictures?
Thanks again for all your post as I learn from them

No layout, just carpet

Alright Dave, I'll be more careful with it.

That is more than what I have at this time, just enjoy.

Please send photos.
I m in the process of getting a small 4' X 8' layout on some plywood, just getting accessories together with track at this time no table yet. It will be for 2 layers of 0-27 and 1 layer of a standard gauge loop.

philo426 posted:

Yes it is  cool restoring something that us old and in need if some tlc.I restored these Marx light towers.Not the same as a tin loco but it is cool!

Looks great and would be nice on a layout!!!!!!!!!!!

Brian,

   Abusing great Tin Plate is a Federal Felony, box the beautiful Dorfan Crane up and send it to me, before I have to report ya to the Feds.

I have great memories with one of those Dorfan Cranes.

All the best and congrats again on a very fine purchase.  Love the picture of picking up the big engine.  Brian I wanted to tell ya, make some more of those Impulse buys, you are seriously good at it.

PCRR/Dave

Thanks guys!it is fun restoring old stuff!

Brian..Brian.Brian......

He gets some interesting things. .

Yeah he has the guts and vision to step up with the big bucks to get a iconic train accessory!Epic purchase!

Very cool!!    I wouldn’t have any problem owning a reproduction! 

Chris,

   Where are you planning to take out your loan from!  Wells Fargo has always been big on Trains!

Man I would love to have a Repro also!  With the new Train Room I now have the room for one.

PCRR/Dave

Just save money and don't buy a ton of little stuff, chances are you don't need 1000 scouts in your collection

I love cranes. Back in the day I was a union laborer and worked for a heavy construction outfit and with crane operators all day long.  Best job I ever had.  Nothing better than a nice crane. And that looks like a beauty.  Boom down baby, and hold the load steady...

It's here!

I set up a little diorama on the kitchen table with the crane being the centerpiece, I'll probably add a video later.

The style and colors fit in perfectly with my Lionel accessories. An the crane operates smooth as butter and isn't even that loud (especially compared to my 165). The paint is in fantastic shape apart from 2 almost un-noticeable dings on the base. The whole thing towers above everything else, I can't wait to take it to one of our displays.

This was one of the main reasons I wanted one of these, the mechanical controls are a very cool leap above the little plastic button controllers Lionel and American Flyer had. The little miniature metal handles with their mesh gears give it a cool industrial feel, and the exposed gears are cool to watch. I'm sure a little boy in 1929 would have been absolutely enamored with this toy.

Another thing I liked about this machine over the 165 (apart from obvious size and detail) is the fact that it does not raise & lower the hook when the crane is rotated.

The gear to rotate the cab came loose so I'll have to add a drop of superglue, then I'll probably make a quick video of it operating.

I really like the gears and control. Looks great and I see why this is a centerpiece.

beautiful Brian!!

Brian,

   Absolutely fantastic a great center piece for your layout!  Brian can you imagine one of these nice D cranes being controlled form a Legacy Cab2 HHRC.   Oh ya a fantastic mix of old and new technology!  As a boy I wanted this to become reality, the trains have made it and become RC, however the big Yard Crane never has.

Congrats again on a fantastic D Crane purchase.

PCRR/Dave

Brian Liesberg posted:

Just save money and don't buy a ton of little stuff, chances are you don't need 1000 scouts in your collection

That has always been my problem.  When I can resist I can get some good stuff. Often I get a quantity of lesser stuff indtead. Sometimes I am searching specifically for junk.... recently I put both together and bought expensive junk (the Marklin HR 12920 steamer).  Another day another dollar. 😳

I like to restore stuff, but I don't want to overload myself with boxes of stuff I will never get to. That's actually was what was preventing me from buying that 5318 from my other thread; it wasn't running and I didn't want to have it just sitting around.

I figure there's certain things I want multiples of, but for the most part I'll just be happy with 1 of most things I want.

...pass it on to somone who will!

After a bit more tweaking, gluing, and other fidgeting... here it is working!

Video is great, job well bone!

Brian,

Wonderful video!

Bob