Side Shot Saturday - starting 2 December
Dec 2, 2023 8:46:15 GMT
Country Joe, dennym57, and 3 more like this
Post by harborbelt70 on Dec 2, 2023 8:46:15 GMT
The starting image for this side show is intended to be a little puzzling although I don’t expect anyone to try to figure it out; in due course I’ll start a separate thread on what it’s really about. However, these are operating crane cars and my interest at the moment is in cars and motorized units that have operating features:
The command control SP crane and boom car set at the bottom reflects one of Lionel’s best innovations, IMHO – maybe even better (when it works) than StationSounds dining cars, which I like a lot. The other crane I’ll explain another time and the only thing I’ll say at this point is that it is an AC 3rail model.
Going back even further, however, Lionel has a tradition of producing motorized units with novelty features and a favorite of mine is the missile launching US Army unit. I have the command control version produced in 2006 which is numbered 99 and can be used with a sound-equipped Army boxcar that coordinates all kinds of sounds with the unit’s operation:
I also have the satellite launching flatcar although that is manual/conventional operation only. The pre-history of Lionel military cars is explained in this book (and the restoration of pre-TMCC versions of some of these cars is a hobby in itself):
Somewhere I have a video of the missile launcher in operation but in my CAB2 it is entered under the name “Misfire” as the launcher only functions correctly under command control when it is sitting on top of a terminal track hooked up right next to the transformer. The coil mechanism that can be triggered by a CAB1 or 2 needs a lot of track voltage to function. The unit also has a Pullmor AC motor mounted on the front truck and bolts around the track like a jackrabbit – which probably reflects the urgency of its mission.
The command control SP crane and boom car set at the bottom reflects one of Lionel’s best innovations, IMHO – maybe even better (when it works) than StationSounds dining cars, which I like a lot. The other crane I’ll explain another time and the only thing I’ll say at this point is that it is an AC 3rail model.
Going back even further, however, Lionel has a tradition of producing motorized units with novelty features and a favorite of mine is the missile launching US Army unit. I have the command control version produced in 2006 which is numbered 99 and can be used with a sound-equipped Army boxcar that coordinates all kinds of sounds with the unit’s operation:
I also have the satellite launching flatcar although that is manual/conventional operation only. The pre-history of Lionel military cars is explained in this book (and the restoration of pre-TMCC versions of some of these cars is a hobby in itself):
Somewhere I have a video of the missile launcher in operation but in my CAB2 it is entered under the name “Misfire” as the launcher only functions correctly under command control when it is sitting on top of a terminal track hooked up right next to the transformer. The coil mechanism that can be triggered by a CAB1 or 2 needs a lot of track voltage to function. The unit also has a Pullmor AC motor mounted on the front truck and bolts around the track like a jackrabbit – which probably reflects the urgency of its mission.
