Lionel Little Mermaid Aquarium Car

[3 rail fan]

Santa brought the Little Mermaid Aquarium Car this morning.  My daughter opened it up and put it on the tracks.  As the car moves on the track, the "film strip" does not seem to move all the time.  It will start out moving and you can see Ariel "swim" through the car, but then will stop moving for a trip or 2 around the layout.  It just doesn't seem to have continuous movement.  Any idea what might be wrong with it?  It's a brand new item. 

[msacco]

Last year I bought the Nemo car and was extremely disappointed. The belt is no longer driven by a vibrotor as on the postwar and MPC aquarium cars. It's driven by gears on the axle. This is also true of the new animated gondola cars.

     Check the the mating of these gears on the bottom of the truck. Even if they are mated well, you'll find you'll still get less than stellar performance from these "new" cars. They will stop moving on curves especially.

   My nemo is so horribly lit that you can't see the characters well. I was just running my MPC 9308 Postwar reissue and it runs head and shoulders above the new ones. A future project of mine is to add additional lights to my Nemo car.

Mike S.

[3 rail fan]

I checked the gears and they seem tight.  I can turn the wheels and see the worm gear turn the larger gear.  It does appear to stop turning on the curves, just like you mentioned.  It's disappointing this car doesn't work like it should. 

[MartyE]

Not really a fix but mine is more reliable with the drive wheels toward the front.

[Anonymous]

How old is that car? My daughter would love it. I didnt even known Lionel made any.

[msacco]

Marty is correct. I forgot about that one. Leading with the geared end is better. Not perfect but better.

 

Mike S>

[MartyE]

I actual think they went back to a motor drive.  These cars are about 4 years old I believe.  I have the Aladan one too.

[msacco]

Marty,

You've just given me an idea. I'll look for a postwar chassis and drive on ebay or at a show, and use my nemo shell and artwork I think it will work!

  the other thing they did and I hope they fixed, is to NOT use the wavy plastic on the shell. Without the fish wagging illusion, the car is just not the same.

 

Mike s.

[3 rail fan]

The Little Mermaid Aquarium Car is from the 2003 Lionel product line.  It's item #6-36744.   I have seen them on e-bay.  Try Trainworld.  You might pick one up for around $48.