...ed six, when I first watched the Thomas the Tank Engine episode where James crashes and gets rescued with rail cranes. Ever since then, I've had the strongest addiction to model railway stuff that does something.

It's not just cranes of course, I want to try all of them. I had some post office coaches once, they were great. Watching the bag disappear off the pole as the coach went past was an amazing feeling, and watching it reappear elsewhere on the layout was great. This one time at a club, I got a hit of wagon hump shunting. It's not really my vibe but it was still a really great feeling. But then this one time there was an archimedes screw lift loading sand into wagons for delivery elsewhere on the layout and honestly I thought I was gonna die. It was amazing.

These cranes though, they're the best. The first was that green one, you know just like a small one to get me started. I need to find some thread to recable it, but I just keep getting tempted by bigger and better things. First I got that Hornby one but it's so annoying to have to do it all by hand on an electric train set and then I got that Hornby Railroad one so I could mock how bad OO vs H0 cranes were but then it turns out it's actually a H0 crane anyway which was even stupider but it looks cool so and then there were the Marklin START-UP cranes that are just peak, they have the slip clutches on the boom drives, they're easy to convert to DCC 2-rail and like they *move* they're just so great but then I used up all my money buying them so I had to switch to a cheaper supplier who keeps cutting the product with like "UNTESTED SOLD AS SEEN" but it's so cheap and I just can't stop and now I have two Roco DCC cranes that work perfectly except one is missing a wheel so I've got a Roco hand-operated crane coming to steal parts off.

I just heard about this really great new one with a waiter who moves around a panoramic car serving drinks and I keep pestering my dealers to try and get me some. They say it's "dangerous", "not their business model" and "basically impossible to modify to run on DCC 2-rail" but I'm gonna keep asking I don't know how they expect me to NOT want to try that.

Anyway, y'all if you know any online therapy that's good for addiction services that'd be really great.



Edit: Yes, the writing is meant to be "reddit style unreadable" as a comedic touch, but joking aside help I can't stop buying rail cranes.

I have found out some useful stuff about the Roco cranes, so I should turn this into useful information for people wanting budget cranes rather than just a cry for help - because there seems to be a lot of conflicting data around.

Summary; there are three decoders. 96507, which is hard-wired. This is mainly used by the 41290 portal crane; but I think it's in some rail cranes. This decoder is dual-mode Motorola+DCC but doesn't have DIP switches for address selection in Motorola mode. I'm unclear of it's features in either mode. 96519 is the "AC" decoder, which is replaceable and is used in 46900 and 40111 I've seen versions with DIP-switches and versions with solder pads for address selection. There is also 96518, used in 46800, 40109 and 40110. This is DCC. I believe there were also other variants (46801, 46902, etc) in different liveries. The decoders should be similar to the "round number".

The DCC crane seems to cause some confusion for people because of it's programming limitations. To sum up: It is a pre-railcom decoder. CORRECTION - it does support long addresses. It turns out there's a bug in the z21 app, where if you change the decoder address on a loco/wagon/etc, it resets the regulation speed steps to 128. And then the crane does nothing. Having now noticed this, and tested it - both my RKRAN_v3 based decoders now have long addresses. Unfortunately my RKRAN_V2 is dead so I can't actually test if that had the short-address limitation, but I assume it doesn't. These are 1998-2006 decoders after all, which I guess is later than long addresses were introduced. I honestly thought they were earlier! Most confusion comes from the speed step limitations.

The "recommended" method of operation of the cranes is with 10780 (DCC) and 10781 (Motorola), which are interfaces from a 15-pin PC joystick and act as standalone DCC/MM controllers. In the case of DCC, it is this controller that is limited to 14 speed steps, and decoder addresses 6/7/8. This is why from the factory, the decoders are configured at address 8 and 14 speed steps. However, setting CV29 to say, 18, the decoder functions in 28 (but not 128) speed step mode. If you set 28 steps or change the address outside this range you will not be able to use the joystick controller; but you'll have an easier time on modern DCC. Because the cranes have motors, they program normally on a programming track.

Control of the DCC crane (rail or portal) is as follows:

F0: rotate using speed control
F1: raise/lower boom using speed control
F0+F1: raise/lower hook using speed control.

If you have the 46807 excavator shovel or 46807 electromagnet, this is operated with no functions on by sending a "burst" with the speed control. Forwards: on, Backwards: off.

There are two replacement decoder carrier boards for the Roco cranes, both of which are carriers for the LokPilot or Loksound. The first was made by DCCDecoderService, and is discontinued. This decoder did not support the plug-in accessories, but was officially rated for the rail cranes and an LED could be hardwired. The second is a very similar design by andrea-karina on eBay (only shipping to Germany), which is officially only supported on the pluggable portal cranes but does support the magnet and excavator. For the DDS adapter, the controls are:

F0: Light on/off
F1: rotate using speed control
F2: raise/lower boom using speed control
F3: raise/lower hook using speed control.

All versions of the Roco crane do not use full slip-clutches, which means if you grab them and try to rotate them by hand without applying the disengaging lever, you will break the gearing. The rotation gear is also notorious for age-related degradation. Replacement gears are available from DCCDecoderService.

The Roco DCC rail cranes have NEM-compatible coupler pockets on the crane, but not all of the included match wagons are NEM.

The Marklin 46719 and new 46720 set do have clutches (so tolerate some rotational hand-abuse if necessary), but do not rotate infinitely the way the Roco cranes do. The reason is that this means they can be rotated by the track curves - and therefore do not need to be "switched" from one mode to the other when the locomotive stops and you want to pick something up. They don't have Railcom either, but do support long DCC addresses, 128 speed-steps and MFX. These have newer quieter motors, do not require the match truck for pickup, and are the first dual-protocol models.

Review time
========

Honestly, I don't really recommend the Roco rail cranes. They're a slight pain in the butt because of the programming limitations, and the decoder replacements are great but expensive for what is a minor increase in functionality in practice (and a removal in some cases). Worse though - because the cranes won't rotate by hand with the gears engaged, that means unless your layout is an exact straight line; then the Hand of God has to enter the layout to switch rotation from "travelling" to "operational" which somewhat defeats the point of having a non-mechanical rail crane in the first place. The portal crane is a better buy than the rail cranes. It's much easier to accept the joystick interface if it doesn't require complex track isolation; which means the decoder limitations aren't really important any more. Also, as it's fixed in place - once installed it can be left permanently in "operational mode" unless you're doing maintenance nearby and might knock it. This should also mean less wear on the fragile gear (though honestly anyone with the old Roco cranes should keep a spare gear in stock ready for the day).

The lifting capability of these is broadly similar. Without adding extra stabilisation, the rail cranes *will* fall over with any significant load. You're not going to be lifting a brass-body locomotive with any of these. However they can lift (very) light rolling stock, printed cable drums and crates, etc. Delivering skips is a favourite use of mine. The Roco will manage something like a magnetic 1/87 toy car or a bucket of sand though, which is cool - and obviously the portal cranes are similar but can take advantage of better anchoring. A good use of the portal crane would be in a scrap yard scene, picking up crushed cars etc for dropping in a wagon going to a smelter. It was once actually sold in a set with "scrap cars" and wagons to drop them in - I think this was 41290.

For a mobile crane, the Marklin START-UP is a better choice. It's quieter, more reliable, requires no divine intervention in use, supports modern speeds and addresses, and unless you find cheap "sold as seen" deals like the ones I did - is much cheaper than the Roco. It also doesn't take much to convert to 2-rail + NEM (a few wheelsets, a TRIX pickup plate, four coupler pockets and some conductive acrylic - and only the paint is not a current MARKLIN spare part) so it's superior even for DC use. For a fixed crane - the Roco is obviously worlds above a 7051 crane; not least because you can run trains under it; but also being digital out of the box means it can be carefully integrated into a modern layout. It's no-where near up to the standards of the 76501 travelling gantry crane (66105 for DCC users), but it's also 1/5 of the price. I'd soft recommend it.

Edited by user 17 February 2026 00:14:14(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Oh definitely this one!

Hit that like button and subscribe?

I have a longer-form instructional video planned on converting the Marklin crane to 2-rail - the stuff is literally sat set-up on my filming rig waiting for me to get more than 4-hours sleep in a night.

For the other cranes; the repairs to the first 46800 are going to be difficult and awkward enough with full concentration, so I don't plan to film that. The repairs to this...



Might get filmed as they're probably going to be much easier. I'd also like to do something of a review/demo across all these cranes (including the 7051) that explores how to actually make them into something of interest on a layout.

But there will probably be some silly short-form demos like the "Dead or Alive AMV" coming up too. Someone did a silly video with a portal crane a while back but for some reason missed the obvious punchline so that must be rectified. A parody of the original Thomas the Tank engine scene that started this would also be fun. And I'm sure I can find something of actual use to make these do. How much Ag solder could I wind onto a laser cut cable drum, before the START-UP cranes couldn't lift it? Maybe some loading capacity tests would be a good idea!

Ah, yes i know the feeling, thanks for sharing.

I used to have an analogue yellow Roco crane, but I sold it off when märklin anounced a digital crane.

And when Märklin launched the 46719 i got one of those, and sold off my old 46715. And as you write, the new one seems to be better in several ways. (I also have an old yellow 4671)

Came across a few photos of the Krupp-Ardelt 6t 103 prototype.



And this image shows a slightly stronger 10? or 15t? version working together with an Ardelt 57t crane
https://eisenbahnstiftung.de/images/bildergalerie/67215.jpg

So I now have the 46719 together with my 49570 Ardelt 57t crane

I made a short video of my digital cranes back in 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxj9gzeu51Y

Edited by user 13 February 2026 13:50:27(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

How about a "Hoist of Cranes"?

Brilliant! Wish I had thought of that



How about a name for our group here?

Crane Lovers Anonymous (CLA)

Edit: or

Hooked on Cranes

Edited by user 13 February 2026 20:14:38(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

The King decided not to bother delivering the portalkran this morning, and doesn't do saturday deliveries so that's Monday now. He did bring the 46331 though; so I can give you an after-action report on that.

The starting point is £31, which is the cost of the 46331.

Immediate value, I got a close-coupled flat wagon. Cost of one of those is £25 new, £17 used. So I have £6-£14 of value left to recover. This is of course, where things started to go downhill. The bogies, are way more different than they looked on the low res eBay photos. The only way to use them to repair the DCC crane's bad pinpoint bearing would be to take both bogies out, cut the sideframes off and then weld them back together. Not impossible, but way more problematic than it first looked - and by the time you do that you're possibly better off filling it with epoxy putty, drilling it out and fitting brass axleboxes. Next up, on the mechanical crane, the buffers are moulded. So those are still missing.

The livery is also slightly different with a much brighter silver on the roof. But; it does fit - so the mechanical problem is solved on that side. The wheels are identical, so some from the 46800 with the tyres falling off were swapped out, and I reinstalled one to replace the missing one in the bad bogie so that at least 11 wheels are on the track - it's now working much better, and is at the right height. I'm pretty confident I can salvage the rollers as I originally planned (when the portalkran finally turns up) and the hook and cord also look like useful replacements.

The real bonus though; this crane had Fleischmann couplers on the bogies; and the previous owner wanted to fit it with Roco couplings, so replaced them with NEM363 pockets. Those are about £7-£10 per pair to buy, and I have several bits of Fleischmann stock awaiting NEM conversion so that's a win right there.

So:

• Axles x3
  
• Roof
  
• Fleischmann NEM pockets x2
  
• Box
  
• Rollers
  
• Spare hook & cable, and boom cables
  

The body itself should also fit without too much trouble. The only obvious difference is that it doesn't have a hole for the LED so modification of either the bodyshell or the decoder would be needed. The livery on the "toy" cranes is also quite simplified. I wouldn't do it for an aesthetic redesign, but if you have a DCC crane that got broken; it's nice to have the option available. Other possibly-salvageable parts include the boom itself , and the roller hangers. These are subtly different but should work either unmodified or with slight trimming.

Ironically, the £40 crane is in much better condition than the £90 crane. So that's getting the original 46800 box and the 46331's KKK match wagon. The jankier crane gets the 46331's box and it's original wagon that needs converting.

I got good value from this for £31; but I think that's not really a rule - spending the £60 for a brand new one is not going to be worth it unless you're really desperate. They don't normally come with the NEM couplings on the crane after all (without those, I'd probaby feel significantly less positive about my decision), and while the current flat wagons are still KKK+NEM they're also massively simplified, uglier models. Not being able to salvage the bogie is the biggest pain. Adding a close-coupled NEM match wagon to newer versions; but taking away the close-coupled NEM pockets from the crane itself is certainly one of the choices of all time.

I can kind of relate to that too. My prototypes are all over the place, but I do get a great satisfaction from a rake of consistent (preferably not actually identical) models. I have ...nine HBIS wagons for one of my rakes? I don't think more than any two are the same, but given the way cross-border shipping works they're all plausible to put together. My main coach rake is a mix of blue and grey Mk1 and Mk2 coaches, too - for a little subtle visual interest. :D

In the "quality of motion camp", Roco crane with Lokpilot fitted wins; right up until you want to move the thing so the Monty Python hand of god has to get involved again. Marklin 46719 isn't far behind - the motion is smooth and with 128 steps can be controlled quite finely. Plus, it doesn't have the slop that gives a long start-up time on the Roco cranes. Roco with the stock decoder is very loud, and because it's only 28 steps, very coarse. It works fine, but the decoder swap is not a subtle difference.

I should email the German seller to find out whether their board has some reason it's unique to the 40109 or if it's confirmed to work in the railway cranes. Handy to have another supply, and even handier if they can drive the add-on modules. Would be fun to design a motorised add-on of my own like a drum tipper or pallet lifter; though that project is well on the "maybe in another life" zone of my to-do list.

Of course, you could always buy the Trix version, when available ...

Portal crane turned up!





There is really not much left of my mechanical parts crane. The pin that holds the spare hook, and I ended up taking both rollers for visual uniformity.

The decoder had clearly had some rough treatment. It's a v2 decoder (the stock one from the first rail crane was a v3), and both the LED and accessory socket had been knocked loose - luckily without pad damage.



Not my best work.



Somewhat better. Honestly, SMD work terrifies me so I'm happy to have done this well with my little pinecil. Anyway, now repaired this is going into stock as "untested spare crane decoder".

The "track" feed wires were also shot and hilariously badly bodged, so I replaced them with two of the unused function wires from my Class 22's MLD3 kit.

And it almost entirely works! The rotation motor isn't looking too healthy, it's slow but fine forward, but back it stops after a couple seconds. Not sure if it's a simple failing brush problem or something more serious, but I'm not investigating right now. It may be Derek Zoolander in that it can only turn left, but it works.

Oh, and the railings are completely shot; maybe one can be salvaged if I can solder the mounting pin back on - but there's too many missing to do both. So that's a challenge for another day.



Not too shabby for 20 minutes work (including the time to recondition the now-spare decoder) and some parts from a hand-crank crane. Apart from investigating the motor, the only thing needs doing on this is that the cable guide is missing. Should be an "easily printable" kind of thing so next time I have one of the other cranes apart I'll get photographs and measurements so I can clone it. It's not actually critical to operation so it'll do without as long as I'm careful to watch for any snagging.

The motor is listed as "discontinued, but available". So that's good to know for now, unfortunately it's also 82eur. They also have an "accessory bag", what might actually be the missing cable guide, and amusingly - a green housing. Maybe I should get that for one of my rail cranes, and have yellow, green, and red! Then I just need a blue one and I have Smarties!

Anyway - it should be safe for me to do diagnostics, and in the meantime I might pick up the accessories and cable guide - it would olve my missing part and might also replace my missing steps and railings!