Debuting in the 1980 catalog is Operating Crane Loader (No.900).
Another of the '80s non-electrical hand-powered Action Accessories, the Operating Crane Loader featured a plastic base with
a red crane that could pick up pipe sections from a loading ramp and transfer them over to either a freight or tractor-trailer.
The Crane Loader was hand-powered via a round black cricle crank located on the base. The item included a 40' Union
Pacific Gondola and a Truck Cab with an open Trailer that was the same one used for the Cattle Car and Horse Car sets.
In the '80 catalog, TYCO pictures its older Truck Cab model with this item; while later catalogs show the more modern
Truck Cab included with the set.
This accessory is featured in TYCO's Golden Eagle train set (No.7328) in
its introductory year of 1980.
The Operating Crane Loader is one of the TYCO items adapted for service
both in the model train line and the short-lived US-1 Trucking line. For its US-1 Trucking offering, the Operating Crane
Pipe Loader (No.3410) includes a section of US-1 Trucking track rather than a railroad siding as its work area. The
US-1 Trucking example does not include the Truck Cab and Trailer and naturally also omits the Gondola.
For its US-1 Trucking life, this item survives to 1985 in TYCO catalogs.
Its life in the model train line is shorter only being cataloged from 1980 through 1982.
