6460 Bucyrus Erie Crane

Production:  1952 - 1954

History
The 6460 Bucyrus Erie operating crane car was a continuation of the 2460 crane car with some manufacturing changes. The primary difference between these two cranes is the 6460 has four-wheel trucks while the 2460 has six-wheel trucks. Otherwise, thees two freight cars are very similar in appearance and operation.

The crane was equipped with two functional crank handles. The rear crank operated the position of the boom while the side crank was used to raise and lower the hook

Features
Standard features of the 6460 include: rotating cab, manually crank handles to operated the boom and hook, black painted cab and die-cast frame with white lettering. It was always produced with bar-end trucks.

Other standard features on the 6460 include:

• Hook was always turned 90 degrees from the the pulley.
• 'Lionel' is always printed with an arched while the word 'Lines' appeared on a horizontal line below 'Lionel'.
• The cab never contained a smokestack.
• The die-cast hand cracks were always of the open crank variation.

Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information
A common problem of the 6460 crane car is the way in which the cab was secured to the rotating frame. The screwholes are frequently found stripped or shattered. A cab with intact screwholes will command a premium.

The length of the base of a crane car is approximately 8" long (coupler to coupler), while the length of the car including the boom in the lowered position is approximately 12 1/2 inches.

Black Cab - Shown in first photo above - The most common version.

Red Cab (Second photo above) - Assumed to be a limited run during 1954. This crane car is usually referred to as the 6460-25 crane car and is rare.

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