In addition to the Berk being discussed on the other thread, I've also acquired a nice set of PW rolling stock. Therein lies a problem. Virtually all of these cars have "shoes" on the bottom of trucks - sort of narrow, rectangular dohickeys that I assume are intended to reduce or prevent derailing. The problem is - and it's odd, because I ran these cars as a kid and never had a problem - that these "shoes" get stuck going through fastrack switches, causing either derailing, track jumping, or coupler failure. One on or two of the cars it basically stops the car dead on switches and uncoupling tracks, on which it also hangs up.
I am certain that the experienced folks on this forum have encountered this dastardly device in the past, so I was wondering what to do about it. I was going to lubricate the shoes to see if they'd move up and down more easily, but that's the only thing I can think of. Any advice would be, naturally, much appreciated. Thank you.
They're not to prevent derailing. They are the pickups for operating electromagnetic couplers or whatever gadgets an "operating" car has or both. They work with the extra two rails of a 5-rail track section. They were of course designed before Fasttrack was known, and Fastrack was probably designed without much consideration of compatibility with these old pickups.
If you can't work with with them, you can retract them by wrapping an insulated solid wire around the plastic shoe at the top, using wire thick enough to hold the shoe in the up position and to stay in place from the friction. This way, you can restore them to their original function whenever you want.
Bob Nelson
Thank you! My original thought was that it was some kind of electronic pickup gizmo, but the cars having the problems aren't operating - the two worst are the metal Pennsylvania automobile boxcar and a Sunoco tanker. Some kind of standard truck setup, I assume then.
Again, thanks for the tip.
I don't know anything about fastrack. I do know that when I ran older Lionel cars on Super "O" track, I had problems with the the shoes on operating cars, or cars with electromagnetic couplers, catching in the switches and on uncoupling tracks.
There are modifications that can be done to minimize the snagging. Just as is the case with your Berkshire, I think you should find out whether any of your cars are valuable as collector items before you decide whether to do any modifications to your cars.
I beleive the modification involves filing an angle onto the ends of the shoes. These days, I only run my trains occasionally, on good old fashioned "O" gauge track, so I have never needed to do it.
If you do modify the shoes, they can be replaced, but you would need to find original replacement shoes (they are currently fairly easy to find), and there might always be signs of the repair.
But perhaps the enjoyment you would get out of using these trains might outweigh any "collector considerations".
Tough decison.
Like lionelsoni mentions these pieces were normally put on operating cars from the post war era, 1946 thru present(2000). Also these pieces were used on pre war cars to uncouple electrically on a five rail track better known as an uncoupling track.
Sometimes people use these shoes when there is no need for them to be in place, very rare but it may happen. The availibility of post war parts is a bit limited today or somebody may have bought a post war car for the parts and left the shoes on.
Lee F.
Filing the ends of the shoes down to a slighter angle will greatly reduce or even more likely, completely end your derailments. The original angle is something close to 45 degrees. By filing it down to approx. 30 degrees or so should do the trick. Olsen's and other part suppliers sell replacement shoes.
Jim
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
I guess from the fact that you didn't know what these were for, that you don't have the special track for using them. If this is true, then I think simply retracting them as I suggested would be easier and less destructive than trying to reshape them.
^ If you are talking about the five-rail track for operating cars, I have several. I have to, as I have IIRC 7 operating cars.
These shoes are very strange though, as I said, because they are on cars that don't have operating features - tank cars and box cars. I can only assume they are there for automatic uncoupling purposes (even though, reading, none are pre-war). And the shoes hang up on the five rail tracks in both the FT and tubular versions, almost as badly as on the switches. There's no way they were "added on" as these cars have been in my parents's home in one location or another since the early 60s, my father is not a hobbyist in his own right, and I would never have dared to mess with the cars.
I like the idea of retracting them rather than filing them, so that is what I will try to do.
Look at the couplers. If they have fine wires wound around the coupler shank, they are electro-magnetic couplers abnd the shoes are used for electrical contact to fire the couplers.
Earl
lionelsoni wrote:If the cars aren't "operating", then the shoes are indeed for the couplers. Electromagnetic couplers were used both before and after the war.
You make perfect sense as usual. It's a funny thing about this set of cars. All of them (barring the ubiquitous 2452 Pennslyvania gondola and the two tank cars) are good solid metal. They seemed very large and solid when I was younger compared to my 0-27 MPC rolling stock of the time. Now, compared to my modern-era boxcars, etc., these oldies look really small.
Of the operating cars, my favorite, incidentally, is the Automatic Mechandise car, with its original set of Baby Ruth candy crates. They absolutely fly out the door of that boxcar. The two dump cars (including the quaint, bakelite 3559 and a 3469) work every bit as well, right out of storage, as my modern Lionel operating cars (in fact, the latter is basically identical, as far as I can tell, to the C&O Lionel dump car I bought last fall).
Earl: I believe you are quite correct re the wire. I appreciate everyone's input on these issues, as basic as they may appear to most of you. Part of the great fun of this hobby is LEARNING, and this forum makes the process much easier.
RaleighTrainFan wrote: Part of the great fun of this hobby is LEARNING, and this forum makes the process much easier.
None of us were born with a knowlege of this hobby. We all started somewhere. Enjoy your trains and you will soon be solving other people's train problems.
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