We look at the prototype and design of this fantastic new product from Roco.
Due Autumn 2020, this crane will be available in HO Scale in two different liveries; DB Yellow and OBB Red. It will be released in both DC and AC versions.
Crane cars of all sizes and designs were already being built for use on the railway since the early days of railway expansion. Today, the range extends from simple, manually operated gantry cranes mounted on a rotating plate on a flat car to powerful, diesel-electric powered railway cranes. In the past, steam cranes were mostly used for high performances and great loads. Today, diesel-electric or diesel-hydraulic driven cranes are most common - the use of steam cranes has largely died out.
The railway administrations have never issued any standardised construction types or model series for railway cranes. Nevertheless, each country, or rather each manufacturer, has its own characteristic design, so it is easy to recognise where a crane came from.
With proper support the EDK 750, a six-axle railway crane built by Maschinenbau Kirow in Leipzig, can lift loads of up to 125 tonnes. The total mass is 150 t and the load torque reaches up to 760 mpm. The air-cooled 12-cylinder diesel engine has an output of 204 HP. The drive is diesel-electric; the telescopic boom is moved electro-hydraulically.
It is mainly used for construction work on railway lines and recovering derailed vehicles. Its tasks even include the replacement of steel girder box bridges. However, it also makes light work of smaller tasks, such as removing and reinserting switches and track sections.
In most cases, it is unnecessary to extend or adjust the supports. The horizontally positioned boom is suitable for working below overhead power lines and in tunnels.
When transferred to its deployment site, the crane may be transported at a speed of up to 100 km/h. The crane can travel up to 100 m/min (6 km/h) under its own power. Switching between the ‘self-drive’ and ‘freewheel’ operating modes is carried out manually directly on the pivoted bogie (just like on the model), by connecting or disconnecting the drive pinion from the drive motor by means of a hand wheel.
The EDK 750 was, and still is to some extent to this day, used by certain railway administrations and railway construction companies in Eastern and Western Europe.
CAD image of the model being designed.
When the first sample models of the EDK 750 Crane made their rounds on the Roco exhibition diorama at the 2020 Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Roco’s customers were extremely enthusiastic.
At this point, however, it could not have been foreseen that the project would still face some challenges due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The original release of the digital railway crane was planned for the beginning of April.
The six 'test' models.
During this pre-series production, the assembly of up to twenty crane models was planned to be able to give the model its finishing touches for series production. There was a comprehensive package of features to be tested in the pre-series tests. These included even quieter drive motors, to further optimise operating noise; adapted control software for even more sensitive control and, for the first time, completely painted parts so that the overall visual appearance could be checked.
When extensive measures to contain Coronavirus came into force in mid-March, it was out of the question to create a pilot series in the usual manner. It quickly became clear that the health of Roco’s employees and the general public took priority.
Nevertheless, the Roco development department did not give up so easily and plans were drawn up for framework conditions under which the pre-series of the digital railway crane could still take place in good time. These plans came to fruition at the beginning of April and a large number of crates and cardboard boxes were moved into the largest available space at the headquarters in Bergheim. Due to the contact restrictions, this time the complete pre-series was carried out by just two employees separately at the Bergheim location – a truly unique occurrence!
The model being tested in isolation.
And so, the two employees went to work wearing face protection and observing the proper distancing measures. Instead of the planned twenty models, only six have been built – which are thus all the more relevant. They already show the model implementation of the railway crane of the German Federal Railroad (73035/79035) in yellow and the Austrian Federal Railways (73036/79036) in red.
The design-related differences in the fully functional boom lighting as well as the different handrails and steps can be appreciated on the models.
Although the original full-sized model has a lot of technical features to offer, the scaled-down version is in no way inferior! 2020 sees the release of an absolute highlight model with the EDK 750 railway crane. This top model at a 1:87 (HO) Scale is in a league of its own.
The crane car is fully functional; It can drive independently, but thanks to its gear coupling can also be pulled. The superstructure can be rotated 360 degrees without stopping. The telescopic boom can be raised, lowered, and extended.
The gearing, showing how the top can be rotated 360 degrees without a stop.
In addition, the crane hook can be raised and lowered using a multiple rope pulley. All these functions can be executed slowly, perfectly mirroring the real-life original, with soft-start and soft-stop movements. The spectacle is rounded off by true-to-original light and sound functions.
The model is packed with technology.
Features
DB EDK750 Diesel Railway Crane IV (DCC-Sound)
DB EDK750 Diesel Railway Crane IV (AC-Sound)
OBB EDK750 Diesel Railway Crane V (DCC-Sound)
OBB EDK750 Diesel Railway Crane V (AC-Sound)
Click Here to view the available models of the EDK750 Cranes.