Hi, I purchased the lionel north pole central a few weeks ago as a starter set. My wife got me a lionel candy cane dump car for christmas and the fastrack operating track for it. I placed the fastrack in line but the dump car doesn’t dump. The car does uncouple. The car is running off of the track power which is using a power max plus source. I have removed all cars and applied full power and it still won’t dump. It does attempt to dump an empty load. All the car parts move freely. Any help determining the problem would be much appreciated.
I’m not that familiar with that car but the log dump cars have a round button on the bottom for manual dumping ( you just lightly pull down and it activates the dump cycle )does your car and will it dump if you manually try to dump it. If not its probably something with the car like the spring isn’t in there correctly or is missing.
Sorry but if you read the directions that came with the car you will find it will NOT dump on the FasTrack unloader section, you need to get a lionel o gauge remote control track the type that were used for the past fifty years. Lionel is well aware of this problem and yet they have never done anything to upgrade the car to work on fasTrack.
I can’t give you an answer about the other operating cars because I use GarGrave track but the dump car is the only one I have heard complaints about. The problem is the contact rivet in the slide shoe does not touch the unload rails.
If the fastrack operating track won’t dump the car then a lot of the web pages that are selling this model of track should not advertise it as a required component.
“Sorry but if you read the directions that came with the car you will find it will NOT dump on the FasTrack unloader section, you need to get a lionel o gauge remote control track the type that were used for the past fifty years. Lionel is well aware of this problem and yet they have never done anything to upgrade the car to work on fasTrack.”
This is INCORRECT. Lionel makes a FasTrack Operating Track Section designed to work with Milk Cars and the original-style Post War die-cast log and coal dump cars like the one mentioned. The post about the contact not making it to the control rails however is completely valid. Some have tried extending the contact by adding a drop of solder to the flying shoe contact. Others have tried gently filing away the extra plastic around the contact on the shoe. I’m having the same problems on my log dump car, so don’t feel bad.
I added a UCS to operate the Dump cars, and it works every time. you need to add Fastrack to tubular transition pieces in addition to the tubular UCS track.
The dumping action is triggered by a Remote-Control Track section (available separately, 6-12746 for O-27 gauge or 6-65530 for O gauge).
FasTrack users, we recommend that you use O Gauge Transition Pieces (available separately, 6-12040) to transition to an O gauge Remote-Control Track section
Just to be clear here, have there been problems with the Lionel FasTrack #6-12054 Operating Track section and Operating Log, Coal, and Milk Cars using flying shoes?
2008 Book 2 Catalog description:
Operating Track
Central magnet and control rails are activated by remote control (included)
Length: 10"
(6-12054) $36.89
I’ve studied this piece. It has te same small magnet that the half-straight uncoupling track has, plus the control rails needed for Flying Shoe car operation. It has removable roadbed sides for fitting into the milk car platform. You can snap off one side of the roadbed, both sides, or neither.
The controller is the same two button uncouple/unload controller included with the O-27 6-12746 Remote-Control Track with UCS Controller and the O Gauge 6-65530 Remote-Control Track.
Just bought 2 FasTrack #6-12054 Operating Track sections this week to run my milk car and log dump car (Both Post War variety) after a DOA coil on one track section was identified and replaced by my LHS, both sections work with both flying shoe fired coil couplers, magnetically operated couplers and both shoe and magnetically operated dump/milk cars. Maybe I got lucky. I use a ZW with 180PH for power so not enough juice wouldn’t be a reason for mine not to work. If its a ratcheting type dump car it’ll take several repeated depressions of the button to get it to dump all the way…if it’s the type that dumps all the way first press, make sure you crank up the track volts for a full/heavily loaded car before you try to dump.
Consider this possibility. Could the instructions for the dump car have been written before Lionel produced the 6-12054 FasTrack Operating Track section?
If so, using the old “tubular” UCS section was about all that the early buyers of FasTrack could do to operate certain “shoe-based” operating cars until the 6-12054 became available. I think the instructions may have been written for them, and not updated.
According to sources on the Yahoo FasTrack forum, the 6-12054 section is identical in electrical wiring and dimensions to the older UCS track. It differs only visually, having the FasTrack plastic ballast. I believe this is the case.
There is an excellent thread on the FasTrack forum on the very subject of the “dump car” problem. I strongly recommend checking that forum out fby everyone who uses FasTrack. You have to register, but it’s free. The diagnostic process outlined there is an intellectual tour de force.
Once you get registered, use the Search function and look up 6-12054. As of today (12/26/08) a very useful thread about the dumping issue can be found as the second item that pops up. Page up and down as necessary to follow the thread from the beginning.
There is also a wealth of information on that forum regarding solving “FasTrack problems” with other post-war Lionel operating accessories such as the horse car, cattle car, cutting FasTrack, etc.There are several very creative guys over there, including one who calls himself “superotrackdon” who seems to be to FasTrack what lionelsoni is to electrons.
Because Lionel has produced so many variations of it’s items, it would be very helpful if questioners would post as much specific info as possible about the items they are asking about – such as product number, set number, etc…
I just spent some “quality time” in the train room comparing the PWC die-cast log dump and coal dump cars with late 1940’s versions in my collection.
Other than some more modern wiring in the new version, and the absnce of a large hole in the bottom deck of the new log car, they appear to be the same…
EXCEPT:
The contact rivet on the flying shoe is so small on the newer version that it rarely if ever touches the control rails.
Solution: buy some after-market flying shoe assemblies and swap them out.
Is it an ideal solution? Nope. The car worked well when I got it, but the rivet head has worn down quickly. Much quicker than the 1949 car I’m comparing it against.
One other thing: I also disassembled one of my Operating Track controllers and used some emery cloth to polish up the contacts. Watch for the tiny plastic separator nub. It’ll fall out as soon as you remove the stud screw.
But once the contacts were polished I got much better operation out of my dump cars and milk cars.
You could also just get some repo rivets and shoes and “backdate” the new trucks. Might be cheaper and saves a pair of trucks, but either way would work for sure. I have a few new ones and an army of older ones but we haven’t dumped anything in a few years[:-^] got get more stuff up and running…so I wouldn’t know how good or bad the new ones work.
At least they aren’t rusty yet and don’t have crumbly wiring[swg]
