Production: 1946 - 1950

History
The 2460 Bucyrus Erie operating crane car was the first newly designed crane car of the postwar era. Lionel's version is an accurate representation of a crane car that can be found on the real railroads. The 2460 was included in several work train sets as well as being available for separate sale. Because of its realism, quality and high play value, it remains in demand by collectors and operators.

Features
Standard features of the 2460 include: rotating cab, fully functional boom and hook, painted cab, die-cast frame, white lettering, six-wheel trucks plus two coil couplers.

The hook on the 2460 was always an offset hook. The words 'Lionel Lines' appeared on a single arched line. The 2460 cab never contained a smokestack and the die-cast hand cracks were always the open crank version. A common problem of these crane cars resulted from the method of attaching the cab to the rotating frame: the screws are frequently missing with the plastic screw receptacles shattered.

Additional Detail, Photos & Box Information
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.

Gray Cab - Produced for a portion of the 1946 production run. The gray cab variation is extremely difficult to locate.

Black Cab - Shown at the top of this page - Produced in the later part of 1946 and continued through 1950. This is the more common version of this freight car.