Ingeniero No1 posted:Al,
Would you believe: My original layout plans for the Hidden Pass Junction RR included the Rotary Coal Tipple that had been announced by Lionel on the 2011 Volume II catalog, page 79. As we found out shortly afterwards, they decided not to offer the Tipple.
Alex
I have one of the Lionel rotary coal dump (I'm not sure about the term "tipple"), so Lionel did indeed make one. There was a later version with command, I guess? Announced but not made? (Didn't care; had mine.) At any rate, they can be had.
Downside - I built part of my layout extension around this coal dump. Got a nice hole in the layout for it (didn't want the uphill/downhill thing). tested it (I had used it a bit years ago). All fit, all worked. Painted and weathered it to give it a 1950-ish look and lose all the 21st century safety yellow.
It then decided to self-destruct in both the hopper "grabber" mechanicals and the actual drive train (bad gearbox - goes an inch or two then stops except for the "click-click-click...." of the slipping/stripping gears). So, it will be eye-candy only. Or, it may be target practice one day. Repairable? Not really - and I am a believer in fixing things. Even if I got the parts, I wouldn't trust them for long. I know a way to simplify it to make it work manually (as in I control a motor and its speed, and the hopper "clamp" movement seems unneeded, as only one kind of car is to be used - a snug fit should do), but I'll never live long enough to get to it.
