Another recent acquisition. Missing a door and a door guard rail it begged to be bought. I had a bent axle and a side truck out of alignment. Some cleaning and testing. Plus a little knowlwdge on how to work it. A fun car, a relative of the giraffe car too.
The mechanism only has two connections. One is from a center roller , providing power to the coil. it is only a momentary action to move up and the brakeman locks in the kiss the ground position. The next time the brakeman stands up for a stretch. The second connection is a sliding shoe that grounds out the coil to work.
The accuator, how to get it to work. The telltales give the brakeman the exercise he needs. It has to be a metal base on 027 track. It will not work on O scale. The shoe won't reach. I happen to have one but you need two to make the brakeman jig his dance. Unless you go around twice.
The new ones for the giraffe or reindeer are plastic.
I used O track in the picture.
The spring adds tension from the sides to hold it to the rail. The shoe slides on one of these rails grounding the coil and making the brakeman kiss the deck. So the brakeman ducks under a telltale and when it reaches a second telltale the brakeman stands up. The two rails are a u shaped channel. I placed electical tape inside . Just in case since it surrounds the hot center rail. I have seen this car around but could never find one afforable until now. You guys never seen one? I have a reindeer that came with plastic telltales but no metal rails.
I've only seen these brakeman / giraffe operating cars from afar ... never had the opportunity to fiddle with one in my hands, so it's fun to peek over your shoulders and see a bit more about how everything works.
Next time you see one in a junk box you will know what it is. Ebay has around a 10 buck price on parts for these. There is a market for them. I don't see them often, something to lok for. The box set I have came with a junk set I bought years ago.
Thanks, T-man for showing and explaining the #3424. It will help, as I've got a Wabash brakeman car coming from an auction site, and have ordered poles and trips from another site. Here's my question, if anyone familiar with this car knows: Can the brakeman be tripped by anything other than those klunky sheet metal trips? I'm running over FasTrack, and hope for a better solution than buying a bunch of FasTrack to 027 converters at well over twenty bucks? Thanks for any advice!
The old 6019 uncoupler has a wide rail that will not activate the shoe. You do need a narrow piece to ground the car that fits the contact shoe. That's my theory so far.
To my knowledge, the 3424 Wabash Brakeman car came with two sets of poles with the telltale hanging curtains? I'm guessing the trips, not the nice-looking orange poles and white telltales are the important operating parts. If so, how tough might it be to fashion and put into place a trip that would ground out and make the car do its thing? I know you've got lots of expertise at gerry-rigging fixes, so in your opinion, is it something an earnest, if not highly skilled guy should try taking on? If this is not an insane idea, that is. I really like FasTrack, especially when weathered a little, but working with some postwar goodies really puts you through it...
Take a scrap rail and cut the bottom off. Insert your actuator into a piece of rail, a piece of metal. The slot will give a little adjustment. Using this rail upside down as a holder hammer the ends flat and attach them to the metal ties. All done.:thumbsup:
Two screws, a rail, and a metal piece.
Fasttrak, maybe cut a slot in the plastic with a cutting wheel. Epoxy the metal piece into place and ground it out.
Always wanted one of these, but they aways were so pricy. I had just about forgoten about this car. Now I will be looking for one at the train show tommorow! Thanks for giving my trip a purpose. T-man that car looks to be in tip top shape. Thanks for sharing.
T-Man, thank you for re-posting this thread. I have your twin (also missing one door and door guides). I tried to get it working last week using both sets of 0 and 027 actuators and ran into grounding problems until re-reading your comment about using electrical tape across the hot rail to avoid shorting, which is what happened to me. At the time, I just put it away, but now I'll get it going, thanks to you. It's a fun car, for sure.
If you have the trip ( the metal part ) you could cut your fast track and add in some o track with it inserted? Or try what t man said, dremal a slot in the fasttrack so the blade can pop up through it? I thing adding a?peice of o track would be easier if you have the blades.
Here is another answer using an 027 track clip 3424-86 part number
This car requires a very slim rail to make contact.
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