Crane boom retainer

[hotrainlover]

I have several work trains with cranes and their tenders.  It seems that after several passes on the layout..  The booms move with curves of the track and not with the train!!!  This has caused several mishaps.  How has others corrected this issue?  IT have the boom move with the curves and back again as the track straightens out, or curves in the other direction.  If I leave the booms on the "deck" then it causes the cars to NOT run smoothly, and derail?!!!

Any ideas??

Lee

[Mouse]

When working on a short line rr, we had an American crane with a flat car. We rigged a cradle to the flat for the boom to rest in. It allowed the crane to follow the train and not swing out and hit anything(as a contractor did we then borrowed it, destroying the boom. It was rebuilt) You could build it out of plastic shapes and glue it to the deck of the idler car. Hope that helps. Try this site:

http:www.rr.fallenflags.org/misc-b/brw-w11bgs.jpg

[ebtbob]

Lee,

       The problem as I have experienced it,   is the cab of the crane does not pivot freely,  thus the boom swings in an arch wider than the tender car,  on tight curves.    I have never really tried to fix the problem,  but I would think that you would try to find a way for the cab to swing freely so that you can rest the boom in the attachment on the tender car and the movement of the cars will swing the cab and boom properly.

Bob