Recently purchased this car, not sure how it is activated and how the plastic linkage under car works. The latch holding the giraffe down does not release, Am I missing parts or is part broken? Hope some one can hellp. Thanks, John K.
Thanks for the reply, I take it the giraffe is normally up and ducks the overhead. I did not get the telltale with the car. John K.
John, if you are handy with tools and creatively inclined, I can give you the dimensions to make your own actuator, or cam plate assembly as Lionel calls it. It is not the tell-tale itself that prompts the car to operator, but this cam piece that attaches to the bottom of the tell-tale. The one that normally comes with the giraffe car, elephant car, etc. is not very long at all. By making your own, you can make it as long as you like. You can use some brass tubing or even a coat hanger to make one. You can also cut one out of basswood.
I have one of those snap together truss bridges that Lionel still makes. I thought that would be a good place for the giraffe car to operate so I made a long cam actuator out of basswood, painted black and mounted into the bridge.
brianel, Agent 027
"Praise the Lord. I may not have everything I desire, but the Lord has come through for what I need."
Hello, I appreciate your response. I am interested in your gadget for activation this car. I am using both tubular and fastrack. Please send me the details at your convienence. Thank you. John K.
kovo123 Hello, I appreciate your response. I am interested in your gadget for activation this car. I am using both tubular and fastrack. Please send me the details at your convienence. Thank you. John K.
The link below should show you what you need. All of the parts are available, either as originals or reproductions, For FasTrack, check the FasTrack forum on Yahoo for advice. The easiest thing would be place the tell-tale on a section of tubular track, but there are solutions for FasTrack. You may need a new spring if the giraffe has been locked down for any period of time.
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/cd/opcar/oc3376p1.pdf
A bit of history, In case you think your 3376 is entirely a fantasy:
In August,1929, two giraffes arrived from Africa, named Neck and Neck. They had to be transported from New Hampshire to Detroit in specially constructed giraffe railroad cars. According to a News article of July 1929, the floors of two flat cars were lowered 2-1/2 feet and a small deck house was mounted on each car to afford a neck rest.
"While the train track is clear,", the story said, "the giraffes will be permitted to stretch their necks at will and look over the scenery. As they approach a low bridge or tunnel, the (keeper) will reel in the giraffe's neck and attach it to the padded rest until the passage has been made safely. When they get to Detroit, they will have two taxis awaiting them which are actually underslung trailers ordinarily used to transport steam shovels." -- Archives of the Detroit News
.
John, above is a scan of the giraffe car page from the repair guide. If you look down at the lower right, you'll see what is called the "cam plate assembly." Click on the image bar, and then set your computer zoom level - usually down at the bottom right of your screen (+100%) - and increase to see the illustration better. The dimensions of this piece are as follows:
Total length from bottom: 8-1/2 inches
Height at tallest point: 7/8 inch
The slope is the same on each side and starts with a low height of 3/8 inch going to full height of 7/8 inch at a travel distance of 1-1/4 inch into the overall length of the piece.
The overall height will have to be a tad more to compensate for the thickness of the shown "base plate" in which the cam plate attaches to.
If you are considering making your own, I'd suggest starting off with a stick piece of cardstock and make a test master. You can make the piece as long as you wish. The length of the Lionel one makes for a rather quick operation of the giraffe car which is why I made mine longer. I've one made from steel rod about the thickness of a wire coat hanger. This one is at the front of the layout and almost "disappears" into the scenery.
One at the back of my layout is mounted into one of the snap together truss bridges and is made from a strip of 1 inch wide basswood, 1/8 inch thickness. If you do not have a train or hobby shop near you, Walmart sells a bag of 10 piece hardwood square dowels, all 12 inches long, for under $2.00. This is a handy thing to have. Michaels, JoAnn Fabrics and other such places sometimes sell basswood, balsa wood and cardstock. My locallly owned hardware store also sells hobby woods, so find things there too.
The advantage of making an activator out of coat hanger type wire, is once you have a piece with bends (mimicing the top line shape of the Lionel cam piece) you can drill two holes on your layout surface to mount the piece into and then custom tinker with the height coming out of the mounting holes, to get optimal operation. You do not want the cam piece so tall that is actually causes the car to rise and possibly come derailed, or drags down the speed of the train. On the other hand, it needs to be high enough to actually operate the car.
This is actually not too tough of a scratch building operation and is easier than it sounds. I prefer my longer actuation cams as I like the longer operation of the giraffe car - especially nice with the truss bridge, where the giraffe stays down for a little more than the entire distance of the bridge.
Brianel's point about extending the actuation cam for a longer "duck-under" is well taken. You don't want the giraffe to pop back up under a bridge or within a tunnel. But for simple out-in-the-open" operation, the stock part works well, and it "completes" the accessory/car in case you want to sell it later. It goes and stays together well also; and it can be used as a very accurate template.
BF makes an excellent point here! Once you have the cam assembly plate and tell tale, it is very easy to mimic this and make yourself one or two more that are customized to your needs.
Some more visual. I did toy with the idea of making an actuator but purchased one at train sale. .
I like the idea of having an extended one for tunnels.
There's a video of the giraffe car in action here:
Giraffe video
Robert
Thank all of you for your help and efforts to enlighten me. I have a much better understanding of the operation and possible modifications needed. I picked up new parts needed to actuate the car (which should have been included with my purchase, an E-Bay lesson learned) at the Brick, NJ show last Sunday. Thanks again, John K.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month