This chestnut remained in the catalog for decades, and is one of the most ubiquitous models at train shows.
I've picked up a number of these over the years. Both the older Mantua models and the later Tyco models have typically drawn power from the track.
However, I've seen variations that appear to use a battery in the section beneath the housing. If I had to guess, this appears to be late Mantua or early Tyco. I believe it takes a AA, but I am not sure. I had one as a kid and I cannot remember precisely.
My questions are these:
1. What type of battery does it take?
2. Does it draw any power from the track, i.e., are metal wheels necessary, with the gold/brass-colored wheels?
Thanks in advance!
It looks like a "C" cell battery. I do not think this car requires track power.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I don't know that model, but I do have an old metal flatcar from that era with a big floodlight and a generator. It's powered from the track.
I would imagine that such a floodlight would only be used with the car on a siding at night, not running in a train. So, I would hope that DCC track power would suffice, and short power drops like frogs wouldn't be an issue. Ideally, a lights-only decoder could control it. But, for a car that spends 99% of its time in a box on a shelf under the layout, that seems like a bit too much effort.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Those of us that grew up in the 50's remember that WW2 surplus searchlights were everywhere. If a new shopping center opened, there would be 4-5 searchlights swinging wild arcs in the sky.
A local band playing would require at least one.
Maybe there were actually searchlights on railroad cars, but I can't imagine why.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I have one that runs off track power.
Russell
Thanks all. I will try the C battery. As I mentioned, the one I had as a kid used a battery. This was from a 1959 Tyco set. I have only come across one other that used a battery. All the others, both earlier Mantuas and later Tycos, ran off of track power.
The Mantua ad in the March 1959 issue of Model Railroader advertised the floodlight car (and advertised their "gandy dancer bunk car," "clearance check car," and diamond chemical tank car) says "floodlight works independent of track power" (available in UP and PRR, $3.98) so this is not some modification by a prior owner.
Lionel. Gilbert/American Flyer, Marx, and Model Power and Bachmann (HO) also had floodlight cars. One source suggests that there were rail-mounted floodlight cars during WWII as part of anti aircraft defenses. Otherwise, I know that many wreck cranes had (much smaller) floodlights to light up night time operations.
I cannot seem to find any prototype photos of a floodlight this big (we called them Hollywood lights when I was a kid) mounted on a flatcar like the Mantua/Tyco model. But that is not to say there weren't any.
Dave Nelson
dknelsonThe Mantua ad in the March 1959 issue of Model Railroader advertised the floodlight car (and advertised their "gandy dancer bunk car," "clearance check car," and diamond chemical tank car) says "floodlight works independent of track power" (available in UP and PRR, $3.98) so this is not some modification by a prior owner.
Yes, and this would be consistent with the 1959 Tyco train set we had, which included the battery-operated version.
dknelsonI cannot seem to find any prototype photos of a floodlight this big (we called them Hollywood lights when I was a kid) mounted on a flatcar like the Mantua/Tyco model. But that is not to say there weren't any.
I guess there were so many custom-made maintenance cars over the decades that anything could have been possible, and I doubt the railroads thought about documenting all of these for posterity.
Given how common and useful floodlights and a generator mounted on a trailer are, it would be surprising if there never was a real maintenance of way floodlight car.
But... I have never seen a picture of one.
SeeYou190 It looks like a "C" cell battery. I do not think this car requires track power. -Kevin
SeeYou190 Given how common and useful floodlights and a generator mounted on a trailer are, it would be surprising if there never was a real maintenance of way floodlight car. But... I have never seen a picture of one. -Kevin
Kevin,
I don't recall where and when, so it's been some time, but I have seen at least one pic (or maybe in person) of a MOW equipment flat that had several lighting units similar to the one in your pic among the items loaded aboard. These could be very handy for night ops in an emergency. A front-end loader or boom-tractor could pluck it off the flat and set out towards the edges of the ROW to provide light.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL