402 Container Terminal Set
This item was released in 1974 along with two companion sets, 406 & 408. Set 402 is a fully functional Gantry-style Container Terminal capable of lifting and lowering the plastic container, as well as providing hoist movement across the gantry, and moving the entire gantry forward and backward along the track. The set includes the Container Terminal (in kitset-form), a non-motorised (dummy) Container Truck, and a Container Railway Wagon with two containers.
It is quite a clever design powered by three 'block' motors similar to those used in the early AMS autos. When operating correctly, the Container Terminal functions very well, but sadly it is quite fragile, partly because of its height and size, but also because of some known weaknesses.
Six copper springs are used and have two functions. Firstly they provide the tension to return the Gantry Hoist and the Gantry itself back to the 'home' position when the motors are reversed. Secondly, they are part of the electrical circuit to provide power to the motors. Because of the length these springs must fully extend to, it is common to find these springs badly strectched or deformed and when this happens they cannot return to their minimum relaxed length and will not work correctly.
There are four springs for the Gantry base, (2 each side) and two for the Hoist.
The other common problem is with the plastic gears within the gearbox of the three drive mechanisms. Frequently these gears will split around the axle and it is very obvious when they do because the mechanism will 'catch' during operation giving a noticeable clunk and a jerky movement each revolution of the axle. Once the gear split has widened, it will actually jam each time at the same spot making reliable operation impossible.
 |
 |
Fortunately, repair is possible. Replacement springs have been made from time to time (see this thread - German only).
For the cracked gear problem, I have looked at ways to repair the crack, possibly enlarging the hoel for the axle slightly so there is no pressure for the crack to open, and secure the gear to the axle shaft. This may work but I have not yet tried it myself. There are also two nearly-identical gears used in the Block Motor Chassis, the white one (4801/04a) has 10 teeth, the Red one (4801/04b) has 12 teeth. However, the white ones used in the Terminal motor has 13 teeth!!! Would they be a suitable substitute?
Replacement gears are also available from SB Modellbau, see image, price is reasonable, about 15 Euro's for a set of three gears (as of Jan 2013).
Although it is now long out of production, the Container Terminal lives on as current item 131244. This is a non-functional model, but my suspicion is that some components may be the same and could be a potential source for some kit-bashing to restore an original 402 kit. Image below is from the 2012 catalogue (page 200)
... Assembly Instructions etc pending.
