Well to beat the horse even more, To add even more mystery to the question. Apparently John you are correct, there is a 'third' hybrid clutch shaft assembly listed in the 1960 update to the 282 version. The number is 282-131. Now if you look on the list, the mating worm gear is the metal 282-10 with the beveled interlocks. So the clutch must also be beveled. Now an interesting note is I called Dennis Waldron this morning to ask what he thought. He said in his collection of factory addendum from Lionel back in the day, specifically noted to substitute 282-131 clutch shaft assembly with 282-123 assembly. ?.
I guess we can figure it out if you want to take you crane a bit further apart. Remove the clutch shaft out of the solenoid coil. If the end of the shaft is larger than the rest, like it has plunger on it, this is the later shaft as the solenoid core is larger in the R version.
