Debuting in the 1980 catalog is Operating Crane Loader
(No.900). Another of the '80s non-electrical hand-powered Action Accessories, the Operating Crane Loader
featured a plastic base with a red crane that could pick up pipe sections from a loading ramp and transfer them over to either
a freight or tractor-trailer. The Crane Loader was hand-powered via a round black cricle crank located on the base.
The item included a 40' Union Pacific Gondola and a Truck Cab with an open Trailer that was the same one used for the Cattle
Car and Horse Car sets. In the '80 catalog, TYCO pictures its older Truck Cab model with this item; while later catalogs
show the more modern Truck Cab included with the set.
This accessory is featured in TYCO's Golden Eagle
train set (No.7328) in its introductory year of 1980.
The Operating Crane Loader is one of the
TYCO items adapted for service both in the model train line and the short-lived US-1 Trucking line. For its US-1 Trucking
offering, the Operating Crane Pipe Loader (No.3410) includes a section of US-1 Trucking track rather than
a railroad siding as its work area. The US-1 Trucking example does not include the Truck Cab and Trailer and naturally
also omits the Gondola.
For its US-1 Trucking life, this item survives to 1985 in
TYCO catalogs. Its life in the model train line is shorter only being cataloged from 1980 through 1982.
