Someone recently gave me a 456 Coal Ramp. It needed work!
The coupler would not latch. I had to take the coupler apart to find a broken compression spring. I made a replacement spring out of a spare tension spring, so now that works.
Others have noted that the light only goes on when you press the Release button. I revised that so it is on whenever the siding has power. I used a short piece of #10 AWG wire to go inside the center rail of the last track in the siding, then ran a wire to the socket. Works fine.
I have some questions which should be easy for someone who owns one.
I found some extra springs rattling around inside. They are conical, 3/4" long, and match the spring that returns the entire coupler mechanism. Did Lionel ship it with the extra springs?
The controller has only about 1 foot of wire. I have more wire on order. Was it shipped with ony one foot?
When you run an engine or car with a roller contact underneath, it catches on the center rail of the track which abuts the Coal Ramp. Was there a “Frog” or some other tapered device supplied with it? When I installed the 10 gage wire for the lamp, that problem was solved.
I had to tighten the “cable” that runs on each side of the ramp. When I did this, the Nail that secures the cable fell out. Is this original equipment? A Nail?
For years, I had a maroon colored coal bin, and never knew what it is for. Apparently it is used between the 456 ramp and the 397 Loader. I can’t see how to attach it to the ramp. It has 2 holes underneath which probably would fit the loader. Did the coal bin/chute come with the ramp or the loader?
Any answers to these questions will be appreciated.
I believe you’ll find that 1 and 4 are related-the cables normally end with a metal pin, which is bent and has a fiberboard washer on it. The springs push up against the washer to keep the tension on the cables, while still allowing some “flex” in them.
As for 2, I think that the controller would have originally had three or four feet of wire. In any case, the wire is mindlessly simple to replace-if you open the controller, you’ll find that the original wire is installed in spring clips like those on a lockon. There’s no soldering involved-just strip the new wire, and put it in the clips.
I don’t think that any such thing exists. I believe that the instructions even caution against doing this. It probably wouldn’t be too difficult, though, to cobble something together out of some sheet brass. Sorry that I couldn’t offer any more help than this.
As far as I know, the bin came with 397. I bought my 456 and 397 from someone as a pair, so I don’t know this for sure, although I’ve seen MIB 397s that came with the bin.
The bin is attached to the 397 by means of two pins which are three or four inches long. They fit the holes in the bottom of the bin, and then sit in two rubber bumpers toward the rear of the coal loader. This, presumably, is so that the heavy vibration of the 397 won’t be transmitted to the 456(the mounting holes on the 397 have rubber bumpers to keep the vibration off the layout, also).
Thanx for the links, BF. Now I see how the conical springs and washer are used to tension the handrail. Presently, the cable is just tied in a knot at the upper end.The washer looks just like that used inside the lamp socket. And the diagram does show a “Handrail Anchor Tack” which looks like what is there. I had thought it was an addition by some previous owner.
FWIW, here is a link to a picture of the #10 AWG wire I used to prevent damage to rollers on any car or engine which crosses the start of the coal ramp.
Initially I was unable to properly insert the image. I followed the instructions, using the “Tree”, but with Firefox, I could not get the popup to insert anything. Switched over to Explorer. It inserted something, but just a red X. Other problem is: If I do a preview, and look at the picture, I can’t get back to the message I was composing.
OK, maybe I figured it out: The trick is to Ignore the instruction which says to strip off the “http://” from the URL. It seems to work OK if you leave it in place.
I don’t have the original #397 and #456, but I do have the modern reproductions. Both the bin and the pins came with the ramp.
I also have a book of Postwar instructions, including the 397/456 pair. These instructions definitely indicate the bin came with the ramp, but were not clear regarding the pins. Since the #397 preceded the #456 by two years, it would make sense the pins also came with the ramp.
If you don’t have access to the original instructions, you can access the modern-era versions by going to the Lionel Service page , clicking on owners manuals, and searching for “coal ramp” and “coal loader”
In answer to your question number 3, (even though you appear to have solved the problem), I’m sure that I have read over the years, that when a coal hopper is pushed up to the top of the ramp, you are supposed to use a couple of ordinary freight cars (i.e. flatcars, gons or hoppers) as a buffer between the engine and the coal hopper you are trying to spot. That way, the collector rollers on the engine don’t get caught at the end of the ramp. As you know, there is an uncoupler built into the ramp, so that only the car you are spotting is left at the top.
The lamp on top is only supposed to illuminate when you depress the uncouple button on the controller to alert you that the 3456 N&W Coal Hopper is coming down. From what I can tell, the bin and pins came with the 456 Ramp to use in conjuction with the 397 Coal Loader. And yes, those are ordinary carpet tacks that hold the wire in place at the bottom.