Lionel Operating Merchandise Car

[Anonymous]

Hey Ya'll,


Does anybody own one of these. Reliabilty info needed.


steel rails

[phillyreading]

Hello steel rails,
If you want help I need to know the number on the car as Lionel made several of these cars in either post-war or modern day. Most operating cars need an uncoupling track with five rails to operate the motor inside, they operate on electric supplied by the uncoupler pick-up shoe on the under side of the car and must be parked on the unloading track section to work.
Is it a 3854 or is it newer?
Lee in West Palm Beach FL.

[SPFan]

I think the 3854 and 3454 use the same mechanism. After tweaking my 3454 it works fairly reliably, like 95% of the time. By tweaking I mean making sure the spring has good tension and rubbing parts are lubricated and move freely.

Pete

[phillyreading]

Pete,
Have you cleaned the wheels to remove the track dirt? If you have a smoking locomotive you have extra dirt on both the track and the wheels of your cars, the whees provide a return path for the electric needs of your operating car. Does the solinoid or motor inside make noise? If so you need to give it attention too as most electrical stuff needs to be maintaned every so often.
Lee in WPB FL

[SPFan]

Lee, When I said it works 95% of the time I was referring to the boxes not jamming. The solenoid works with every push of the button though. Kind of like the Milk car.

Pete

[Anonymous]

Hey Ya'll

I am at school right now, so I can't look it up in the book. I know the one I am speaking of is the Postwar Silver Common One.

I didn't know that they made a modern version of it. When was it made?

Also, I just wanted general info, before I decide to hunt one down and buy it. I just wanted to know if all of them are touchy like the one in the TM DVD Lionel the Movie 1. In the bloopers clip, the owner whose layout was being filmed told Tom Mchomas that the operating merchandise car Mr. Mchomas had pointed out was very touchy.

The blooper almost drove me away from my quest, so I decided to ask and see if it was a normally reliable piece.

steel rails

[fwright]

By touchy, he probably meant sensitive to voltage. My PW milk car is that way - too much voltage and the cans are flung to the far ends of the layout; too little voltage and the cans get jammed.

yours in accessorizing
Fred Wright