Hi all! I'm about ready to reassemble my '49 Armour cattle car & have a question concerning the adhesive washers for the cattle ramp. I believe the original washers were made of cork and were adhesive on both sides, thus attaching the ramp to the car frame. The Greenberg book sort of stresses the importance/difficulty of proper alignment of the ramp.
Now for the question. The replacement washers are foam and only have adhesive on one side, which I presume is to attach the washers to the frame. If the ramp is just placed on the washers (alignment is provided somewhat by the coil plunger and the car shell) will it still vibrate properly or does there need to be a more solid attachment?
Having gone to this much trouble I sure would like to have it work correctly.
Rich,
I have rebuilt eight 3656 cattle car and corrals. I tried all of the different adhesive washers on the market, but I was not satisfied with any of them. I began to make my own. Go to a store like Office Depot and buy a computer mouse pad that is roughly 1/4" thick. Use a paper hole punch to punch out the washers, then remove the cloth backing from them. Apply Elmer's white glue to one side and set the washers into the seats in the car floor. Apply a dot of the glue to the top of each washer and set the runway in place. Let it dry for a few hours. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks Jim! I'll stop by Office Max or Staples tomorrow & see what they have.
jimtrumpie wrote: Rich, I have rebuilt eight 3656 cattle car and corrals. I tried all of the different adhesive washers on the market, but I was not satisfied with any of them. I began to make my own. Go to a store like Office Depot and buy a computer mouse pad that is roughly 1/4" thick. Use a paper hole punch to punch out the washers, then remove the cloth backing from them. Apply Elmer's white glue to one side and set the washers into the seats in the car floor. Apply a dot of the glue to the top of each washer and set the runway in place. Let it dry for a few hours. Let me know if you have any questions.
I have two platforms and one works. The other one has the center rod that is attached to the vibrating platform missing. Any ideas on where/how I could fashion one to get the second corral working?
Thanks.
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Jim, since I had already attached the replacement foam washers to the car frame, I decided to take your advice & used Elmer's white glue to fix the ramp to the washers. Let it set up for a couple of hours while I fashioned a "plug" for the early style hollow coil plunger (wanted to simulate the later style which incorporates a spring).
I hooked the coil wires to my test transformer & "Voila!"...for the first time in 45 years a cow "walked" on the ramp! Don't want to get too giddy just yet as I'm planning to start reassembly of the corral tonite. I'll post an update later.
I finished the corral reassembly yesterday. It works pretty good although I think I still need to do some more tweaking to get the vibrating action just right. I even cleaned up a few straight sections of vintage O27 track (black ties) to complete the period "look".
Thanks again Jim for your helpful tips!
I am glad I was able to help. Do the cattle move a bit slower through the corner nearest the loading ramp on your corral? Two of the 1949 models that I have have this issue. I am not sure what causes it.
Jim,
Actually my cows seem to move the slowest on the other side of the corral, as they come out of the car. I worked on it a bit this evening. The counterweight part seemed to be binding as the ramps would not raise back up with the power shut off. I was able to cure this by adjusting (centering) the center stud. I think this improved the overall vibrating action, too. I also adjusted the loading ramp so that it's closer to level with the car ramp. Now the cows don't tend to fall over when they transition into the car.
Is your base fastened down on your layout? I read that they work better if screwed to the board.
P.S. I just reread your question. If you meant the long, painted ramp then yes, my cows are slower there.
Thanks for the reply. How exactly did you adjust the center stud? I only screw the track down, not the corral.
jimtrumpie wrote: Rich, Thanks for the reply. How exactly did you adjust the center stud? I only screw the track down, not the corral.
Well, since the platform was completely reassembled I was fearful of breaking any more of the fence tabs (broke two when disassembling!). I reached in from the sides with a small pair of needle nose pliers & gently twisted both ends of the flat "rail" on the under side of the platform that the stud is attached to. I just needed to make the stud a little more centered (front to back) in the hole that it passes through. I think it made a difference. At least the little ramps swing back up now.
I also wonder if new rubber grommets, the ones that suspend the platform from the fence on the '49 model, would help. Mine are kind of hardened from age I suspect.
The grommets (3656-71) that hold the platform within the fence are not available as a reproduction. I needed one for a corral that I bought in 2003, and I couldn't find one until two weeks before this past Christmas.
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