75T Breakdown Crane | Hornby | Another Railroad Imposter

Another railroad imposter in the form of the 75T Breakdown Crane

[StormmyStormmy]

Hi, you are very correct that we modellers owe Hornby because they got us into this unique hobby, I’ve been in this hobby on and off for 46 years, their breakdown crane moulding is around 54 years old and can be traced back to 1971, I’m sure there have been slight upgrades to the mouldings over the years, I had the red livery 75T crane for years then when I saw the new yellow livery model I had to have one, I sold my red one and eventually got the yellow one with the crew coach and the track cleaning coach, the main thing is that this steam crane is posable and it works unlike the EFE Rail 12T crane recently released, there have been plenty of videos of how to upgrade this crane over the years, I’ve even seen a short video of a modeller on YouTube who motorised his model and it looked amazing, the Bachmann 45T crane is the best manually operated breakdown crane I’ve ever seen on the British model railway market but it was £250 back in 2019/20, I paid £10 for my first Hornby breakdown crane and around £14 for my yellow livery model of which I still have. The plastic Hornby use looks cheap where as my original one looks better, the plastic they use these days magnifies light bleed, this is very evident in my Hornby class 67 and my Network Rail yellow DVT coach, I had painted the inside of the mouldings because they looked terrible with the lights on, you can cut the plastic connecting lug from the base of the crane body then add a washer and a screw to stop the body tipping when you use it, there was a set of metal wheels you could use instead of the plastic Triang steam loco tender wheels they fit in the factory, I believe you can fit outer wheel bearings to make up the difference, the huge D style tension locks can be replaced as well, this is a British crane where as the Railroad crane is a ex Lima tooled European model they’ve been using for decades, overall it’s a good crane but expensive for such a very old model which is down to Hornby being cheapskates and not fully upgrading it, thanks for sharing.

[IainDavies-zl]

Hornby Railroad was introduced so they could still sell their original models once replaced by higher spec. ones, but the 75t breakdown crane is the only one they do so is in the main range likewise with the class 66 as there is no higher spec. one. So If you don't like the breakdown crane the go and buy the Bachmann one at 7 times the cost.

[GarthDavies-cdoh]

Hi buddy . The point you raised about playability when it comes to lifting is a question I asked in the modelling shop over 50 years ago. I guess I am showing my age Lol. I was told then its a model and not a toy. That was me told! .The chimney back then on the red model often went missing as it was a separate piece . The match truck was designed to carry those 4 jacks.I would say the paint finish on your model has been upgraded. and I would have placed it in the Railroad Plus range . A breakdown coach went with this set way back then .We currentl have 3 of these breakdown cranes in our club shop. Buying 2 one could make a decent diorama in errecting a stricken loco on say a club exhibition layout. Sorry for the long post.

[GregPalmer]

I bought one in the earky 80s in BR yellow, replaced all wheels with metal wheels on the small match trucks & couplings to screw on Bachmann minis, replaced the crane wheels with 14mm Bachman metal wheels & brass bearings....junked the crane jib match truck with a different one with metal wheels & small couplings but still needs some sort of detail kit for the crane cab

[jeffreysmith]

For years the Railroad crane has been the old Lima crane. This 75T crane is much better than that. It is a shame the crane itself does not have metal wheels. Bachmann's crane is much better but at a much much higher cost. For the record, Hornby Dublo's old crane was pure metal and was too heavy for most engines to pull. The winding handles on the side also had clearance issues.

[RobA]

I think you make a fair comment about this model. It was first tooled back in 1971 so is 54 years old now. Hornby have improved on the livery application over the years but little else I can see of other than metal wheels fitted to the support trucks, why not the crane itself I'm sure it wouldn't take much to do so. I do have the Bachmann model and it is indeed a very fine model but the only reason I bought it is because it was on sale at half price, that is still expensive but far more palatable than RRP. It is operational but I don't think it would fare much better than the Hornby for actually picking things up and is probably more fragile.

[peterwoodley]

I think this tooling is about 60 years old but it works and with time and weathering it can look good ihave 2 of them now .

[jonathanmillar]

I had the red version in the 1980's and was ok but tended to derail as it was not very heavy. The pony trucks mainly. Did not use it that much and tended to be sat in a siding most of the time. Sold mine when I had a clear out of my old Hornby models years ago in the 1990's.

[jetmec]

The earlier has a weight in the cab area, also when lifting something slings would be used, I managed to lift a loco with mine no problem

[thelittlewestern]

Brilliant dude! You couldn't resist fishing. Could you 😅 😂 I think I'll hold out for the Bachmann Ransom and Rapier version myself👍 Cheers - James

[danielread]

I have the orignal Tri-ang version the modern Hornby version and Hornby diesel version the Hornby Dublo version as well . The Hornby version is basicly the same as the Tri-ang version expect for subtle details yes it could benfit from updateing but its still a nice crane . The Bachmen crane is in its own league for detail and realsim . The lima diesel crane is the same as the Hornby version . As for the crane derailing they whre always right behind the locco with the counterweight to the back of the loccco run at slow speeds mine never derail like that .

[raymondleggs]

60 plus year old tooling, in fact it was also sold in te US under ATT brand I think!

[digitalcareline]

At that price and branded as Railroad it may have sold better as it is more functional for a younger age group - maybe thay just had that size carton printed up for other products and didn't want to do a special print run - The Bachmann crane is beautiful but very much a 14+ item with all that detail - the plastic wheels need to go though

[ClintonvilleModelRailroad]

never had a good Hornby in my life ... and now that Rivarossi is owned by them they went down hill

[PNMotorsportTrains]

The crane is probably older then hornby doing the split between Railroad and Railways.

Think its the same tooling as the old tri-ang crane.

[alexdrennan]

this product isn't railroad its from the main range

[StormmyStormmy]

Hi, check out Stephengthompson - (Hornby 75 Ton breakdown cranes at work on the model railway) I’m sure you will see the best Hornby crane to date i n my opinion.

[Steve-Cross]

It looks cheap and tacky. Definitely not a scale quality item. Perfectly fine as a small child’s toy. Scale enthusiasts wouldn’t go near it.

[lenthompson]

Would have been better buying an old Hornby Dublo set painting and detailing to your own specification, they can go on e bay for less than £15 for the full set. As for Bachmann £175 - £260 is way beyond must peoples budget.