Athearn 200 ton Crane questions

Glen Haasdyk

Active Member
I just picked up an old (yellow box) athrean 200 ton crane unbuilt kit. I have a few questions. First is it a model of a deisel or steam crane? if it's a steam crane, would it have a tender (like a locomotive)?
Also I'm planning on painting and lettering it for Canadian National, does anyone know what they were painted and letters in the late fifties?
Thanks for any help.
 

babydot94513

Member in training
Is there a CN historical site that anyone knows of? That would likely be your best resource of information.
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
We had a really interesting presentation on non-revenue equipment last month at the local club (www.ovar.ca). Virtually all CN's cranes of this type were built in the early 1900s as steam powered cranes. We did not see any original pictures, but it is not hard to imagine them with a tender... although some are big enough to have onboard storage of fuel and water.

By the 1950s it seems about 1/2 were converted, and 1/2 were not, so you cantake your pick. They also had a wide variety of paint jobs that were continuously changing, due to company look vs safety debates.

This is a diesel crane that was built as such:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/cn/cn50372agh.jpg

Nowadays they mostly use hyrail-type cranes, although the lifting power is not quite the same:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=84708

If this is the crane you are taking about, it was built as a steam powered machine, but has a 50% chance of being converted to diesel by the late 50s:
http://www.townshiptoytrains.com/HO scale/ho rolling stock/140-7525.gif

Chances are that if it is enclosed like that, iand has a very short, or flush "stack" it has been converted. In the steam version, they tended to be more open at the front around all the winding gear, and have a slightly taller stack, but that is only a generalization.

Andrew
 

mhdishere

Member
I've read that steam-powered cranes usually had tenders, often old loco tenders. I bought an old slope-back switcher tender at a train show to use with my Tichy crane when I finally get around to building it.
 
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