Welcome to the MTF!
Not a problem I have experienced. My accessories that rely on a vibrating mat have the original mat in place. It is possible to get too much vibration causing the cows to bounce up and down rather than smoothly glide up the ramp. Sounds like you have tried several different angles of the replacement feet. Usually a 35 to 45 degree angle works well. Perhaps someone else here has more experience with this problem than I do.

 

Welcome to the MTF!
Not a problem I have experienced. My accessories that rely on a vibrating mat have the original mat in place. It is possible to get too much vibration causing the cows to bounce up and down rather than smoothly glide up the ramp. Sounds like you have tried several different angles of the replacement feet. Usually a 35 to 45 degree angle works well. Perhaps someone else here has more experience with this problem than I do.

 

Did American Flyer ever make a cattle prod….? 🤣

 

Nope

 

I too have used the Shur-line paint pad material to replace the 'feet' for cows. One trick I've done was to warm up the wife's clothes iron (while she was not home) and gently wipe the applied pad in the direction of the nap to persuade the nap to lay down just a bit further, improving the pad's grip to the vibrating pat. Don't get the iron too hot, melting the pad to the iron - don't ask me how I know, or where I hid the wife's iron afterwords.

 

Thanks for your response saw the same tip on line and have already tried it. Sorry to say it did not work for me.

 

Hi Tom, Thanks for your quick response. I’m a former Lionel postwar collector and been collecting model trains for the past 35 years. I had almost every postwar accessory Lionel ever made. So I’m used to fiddling around with them and did all my own repairs. I just recently got into American Flyers which have a lot of the same principles as Lionel. I have already tried what you have suggested. This one has got me stumped, but I promise I won’t give up until the cows come home LOL.

 

I am certainly curious why the cows on your accessory are so reluctant to walk up the ramp and into the stock car.

 

So Am I ...If and when I solve this mystery I will definitely post it here to let you know, and maybe help others who might have a similar problem.

 

Well, if this is an original 771, produced by the master craftsmen of the A.C. Gilbert Co. of New Haven, Connecticut, those cows are now what, at least 65 years old and you know, they’re done moving around. Arthritis has set in and they just don’t move like they used to—sort of like most of us— so cut them some slack.

If your 771 might be the “Flyonel” version, produced by children In The People’s Republic of China, then what did you really expect? That it would actually work?

Just all in jest, of course.

When we were children, with our noses pressed against the glass surrounding the department store train layouts, watching those accessories work was absolutely amazing. Fast forward over a half century, when we are all accustomed to the tick-tock perfection of iPhones, electronic fuel injected vehicles and 80” flatscreen TV’s, watching a 771 or any number of other period toy train accessories “operate,” leaves quite a bit to be desired. We all remember those cows moving perfectly up the ramp & into & out of the car, but the fact of the matter is that it almost took an alignment of the stars for it to actually work “as advertised.”

Just my musings on a lazy Saturday morning. Hope you are all doing well,

Allen Drucker

 

Well, if this is an original 771, produced by the master craftsmen of the A.C. Gilbert Co. of New Haven, Connecticut, those cows are now what, at least 65 years old and you know, they’re done moving around. Arthritis has set in and they just don’t move like they used to—sort of like most of us— so cut them some slack.

If your 771 might be the “Flyonel” version, produced by children In The People’s Republic of China, then what did you really expect? That it would actually work?

Just all in jest, of course.

When we were children, with our noses pressed against the glass surrounding the department store train layouts, watching those accessories work was absolutely amazing. Fast forward over a half century, when we are all accustomed to the tick-tock perfection of iPhones, electronic fuel injected vehicles and 80” flatscreen TV’s, watching a 771 or any number of other period toy train accessories “operate,” leaves quite a bit to be desired. We all remember those cows moving perfectly up the ramp & into & out of the car, but the fact of the matter is that it almost took an alignment of the stars for it to actually work “as advertised.”

Just my musings on a lazy Saturday morning. Hope you are all doing well,

Allen Drucker

Thanks for your response, One of my problems is I'm having a hard time getting the stars too align.

 

Try you tube, there have videos on repair ad operation.
Here is a working one.

The cows need to travel in a circle. If they can do that the ramp should be doable.

 

Thanks for your response I have watched every video on YouTube at least 3 times, including the one that you included. I have tried everything that they have suggested. As previously stated the cattle have no problem going around the pen, but they will not go up the ramp they go about 1 inch up and slide down as if they are going up a steep wall.

 

Try a variable speed source, maybe a little more throttle, may give the jump to make it.

 

Not mentioned so far is the connection of the ramp to the base. If there is any looseness, the vibrations from the base motor will not transmit correctly across the joint. Pushing on the end of the ramp at the car would determine if this is the cause of the uncooperative cows.

 

Thanks again, for your response. The mat is in excellent condition, there is no play in the joint at the bottom of the ramp, it’s solid. I can feel the piece that goes up the ramp vibrate the same way as the rest of the mat.

 

I figured you would have already checked that. I am out of ideas, the lazy cattle may prevail!

 

Thanks again I really appreciate all of your efforts to help. I will keep at it until I get them to work. Although the pads on the cows look OK they are old and I will be ordering new ones soon. I think I will use the process of elimination by replacing things one at a time.

 

Can you give us a photo of the bottom of a cow….?

 

Here are 2 original ones that came with the stockyard and one that I replaced usung Shur-Line pads.

 

Not sure if it is the way the picture shows the Shur-Line replacement, but it looks a bit thin on knap? Could less material on the new pad stop it traversing up the ramp?

 

Not sure about the Shur-line pads but I still have 7 other cows with the original pads that won't go up the ramp.

 

That’s udder nonsense….