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Operating Pipe Loader
-No.951
(1981)
TYCO catalogs the Operating Pipe Loader (No.951) only in the 1981
catalog. Though similar to the later Operating Pipe Loader (No.958 and 958B), this 1981 example is not shown with the
"Mid-Atlantic Pipe Co." lettering and is not orange and brown, but blue and gray. The original Pipe Loader also includes
a push-botton plunger control with black tube that, though use of air burst, allows a pipe section to roll forward off the
loader. The Operating Pipe Loader carrying the 951 stock number is only found in the 1981 catalog and that example is
a drawing and not an actual production run item. Above is a picture of the actual Operating Pipe Loader in box.
Operating Pipe Loader with Pipe
-No.958 and 958B
(1982-1992)
Beginning with the 1982 catalog, TYCO again features an Operating Pipe
Loader with Pipe, but now the item carries the stock number 958 and differs in appearance from the '81 example. From
1982 through 1986, the Pipe Loader remains the same orange frame with brown loader on a gray plastic base. The Pipe
Loader included stickers to label the item for "Mid-Atlantic Pipe Co." and included four Pipe Sections. The Pipe
Sections are a familiar and well used staple in the TYCO line, having originated with the 40' Flat Car and Freight Unloading
Station in the 1960s.
Though there is some crossover and sharing between product lines,
the Culvert Pipe Loader with Pipe (No.3436) from TYCO's US-1 Trucking line is not the same piece sold in the train line as
item 958.
The "B" addition to the stock number refers to a free Lighted Bumper Track
(No.454) included with this item during the final years of its inclusion in the TYCO line. Though this item is
last found as a separate Action Accessory in 1986, it does continue to find itself in the contents of train sets through 1993.
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