My kids (age 5 and 2) and I have been getting hungry for some new buttons to press on the layout. After some thought and shopping around, the 5 year old and I decided on a postwar 3462 milk car. We found one in decent shape/good price at the LHS yesterday.
What a great little car. I can’t remember the last time we spent so much time playing with the layout. What was even cooler, this new accessory reminded the kids of how much fun some of the old stuff was too. Before I knew it, we were loading barrels onto the 362, logs onto the log loader, etc… But we always came back to the milk car. No wonder Lionel sold so many of these in the 40’s and 50’s. Thanks again, Lionel!
Also one of my favorite accessories. It seems the milk car is the most popular accessory with kids. According to postwarlionel.com, lionel sold over 10 million of the 3462, 3472, and 3482s from 1947 to 1955.
BTW… from what youve told us the 3462 get a lot of work on your layout. Do the couplers get really hot on yours? I find myself going to the 3472 after a while because of this.
My 3472 milk car is the most used assessory on my layout too. I love the thing. I think it is the reliability of it. The train pulls up, push the button, the milk can unloads, the train leaves. Nothing slips, jams, or spills all over the place.
I got my milk car in a box of cars at a garage sale a few years ago. I cleaned and lubed it, replaced the missing doors, bought milk cans at a train show. I used it for a little while with out the platform, I had a little sheet metal box that worked fine then for my birthday my wife gave me a new platform, I believe it is a MTH.
p.s. why can’t I make this picture bigger? I copyed it at 550 x 300 pixels and it posts at less.
It might be possible to reduce the coupler heating by rewiring to apply half the necessary voltage to each shoe, but out of phase, as with a center-tapped transformer secondary. This would heat both couplers instead of just one; but the power turned into heat by each one would be lower by a factor of four.
j.t. , I belive the image code your trying to use is a thumbnail, so it wont get any bigger than that. Try using a different codes such a “For forums and websites” Or “For email”. I’m dont use shutterfly so I dont know exactly how it works but with photobucket and imageshack you just choose the code that is listed as for forums or email.
Shutterfly is fine…That’s what I use…Make the photo as large as you can. View photo in Shutterfly. Right click, select properties, and copy the URL from the large size picture, and paste into the URL section of the image button above.
I also have a 3472 and I love it! But I am lucky if I can unload all 7 cans without one or more of them falling over or being flipped out of the way by the opening door. I have tried varying the voltage to achieve even operation and have cleaned the platform, cans and loading chute. I don’t have any problems getting the car to eject the cans correctly, it’s just that they sometimes fall over after being ejected. How do you get it to operate so well? Am I the only one having this problem?
I assume the metal deck of the platforn is at the right height in the frame for your type of track. The higher setting is for O gauge and the lower for O27.
I have O guage tubular track with cork roadbed under it and a peice of roadbed under the platform to keep it level with the track. I also have the track screwed down next to both sides of the platform. this keep the platform from moving around and I can adjust the hight of the track by tightening or lossening the screws.
And by the way 1 can in 20 will fall over, it won’t leave the platform, but I think that is fine work by that hard working man in the car.
