|
Operating Pipe Loader
-No.951
(1981)
TYCO catalogs the Operating Pipe Loader
(No.951) only in the 1981 catalog. Though similar to the later Operating Pipe Loader (No.958 and
958B), this 1981 example is not shown with the "Mid-Atlantic Pipe Co." lettering and is not orange and brown, but blue and
gray. The original Pipe Loader also includes a push-botton plunger control with black tube that, though use of air burst,
allows a pipe section to roll forward off the loader. The Operating Pipe Loader carrying the 951 stock
number is only found in the 1981 catalog and that example is a drawing and not an actual production run item. Above
is a picture of the actual Operating Pipe Loader in box.
Operating Pipe Loader with Pipe
-No.958 and 958B
(1982-1992)
Beginning with the 1982 catalog, TYCO again features an Operating
Pipe Loader with Pipe, but now the item carries the stock number 958 and differs in appearance from the '81 example.
From 1982 through 1986, the Pipe Loader remains the same orange frame with brown loader on a gray plastic base. The
Pipe Loader included stickers to label the item for "Mid-Atlantic Pipe Co." and included four Pipe Sections. The
Pipe Sections are a familiar and well used staple in the TYCO line, having originated with the 40' Flat Car and Freight Unloading
Station in the 1960s.
Though there is some crossover and sharing between product
lines, the Culvert Pipe Loader with Pipe (No.3436) from TYCO's US-1 Trucking line is not the same piece sold
in the train line as item 958.
The "B" addition to the stock number refers to a free Lighted
Bumper Track (No.454) included with this item during the final years of its inclusion in the TYCO line.
Though this item is last found as a separate Action Accessory in 1986, it does continue to find itself in the contents of
train sets through 1993.
|
