After talking to some train guys on the phone today, I was told I have what’s needed to make the dump car work. I have the two additional rails that Atlas sells already installed. They are not wired however. Does anyone know how these things get wired? thanks much, Jake
Jake,
I read your post about the use of an uncoupling track and the one you need for that K-Line opreating car is an electromagnet version not the five rail version. However I will describe how most of the uncoupling tracks with rails work.
Most of the Lionel UCS uncoupling tracks in O gauge tubular got powered by sending a hot wire to the fourth or fifth rail controlled by a momentary on/off switch, need to have an on/off switch so that power is there only when you need to use the track. Won’t hurt the track to have power there at all times to the fourth & fifth rails, but some of your train cars will either dump or uncouple when going over the UCS track.
The 027 horse coral operating car is one of the exceptions to this rule, as it gets the common from one rail and the positive from the other rail to work the motor inside the car.
As others have said in another post is to use the brand of uncoupling track that the operating car is made for. GarGraves makes an uncoupling track that I think will work with the K-Line car you have. Another possibility is that you need a new K-Line remote control unit.
I don’t know if you can use the operating car with TMCC or not, as the operating car must have a TMCC receiver inside to receive the TMCC signal. If the unit says TMCC ready, it has the electrical harness peice for TMCC to mate to but is missing all other TMCC stuff. If it says TMCC equipped then you are able to use it with TMCC. It may sound confusing at first but you must read carefully and understand what the manufaturer is stating.
Lee F.
Quoted in part only.
The Lionel UCS and 6-12054 Operating Tracks both have five rails PLUS an electromagnet. (The old Lionel RCS track also had five rails but did not have an electromagnet.)
Evidently, some K-Line operating cars (including at least some that were primarily designed to be operated anywhere on the layout via a battery powered remote controller) can also be operated operated by the UCS track, FasTrack 6-12054, and similar special track sections that employ an electromagnet. The “5 rails” seem to be irrelevant in this application, because Jake’s car doesn’t have any sliding pickup-shoes.
Whether one of these would activate Jake’s particular dump car (K713-1891) is unclear as I have not been able to locate any instructions for it, either at Lionel or on the web generally.
Does your car have a central plunger? or shoe? Mine does not, only a little area that appears as if it could be a magnet. I’ve tried the car of the a piece of track that uncouples the car OK, but it will not dump the car. What am I doing wrong? It’s new in the box so a person would think it would work.
Where do the wires go that connect to the two extra rails on the Atlas track? It has provisions for wires coming off them, and it seems as if they worked at one time but I cannot remember where they go. Thanks, Jake
Jake, if your car has no “shoes” under the trucks for the purpose of picking up power from the 4th and 5th rails, how could such rails possibly work?
I’m so confused now it’s not funny. I had some private messages where folks said the 4th & 5th rails were needed even if you didn’t have the shoes. I have the rails present anyway, but cannot remember to where the wires go. One wire from each rail, can’t be that tough.
If the track with the electromagnet works the car, where is the activation piece for the car? Is it inside the body somewhere as there is no plunger present. Thanks to all trying to help, Jake
This forum is notorious for its use of “Private Messages.” If I’m not willing to say it out loud I don’t say it. Anything else deprives the forum of whatever wisdom may be the the private message.
If your car has no sliding shoes and no visible magnetic plunger, as you have stated, it seems to me that there are only two choices:
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There is something out of sight inside the body of the car that reacts to magnetic impluses, or;
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A magnet impulse isn’t going to do anything useful.
Someone has posted some instuctions, but I can’t read a word of them.
The instructions are for the remote and the car. I’ve tried everything I can do, the whole mess is going to Lionel tomorrow. They have agreed to fix it for me. Thanks to all, Jake
I guess I am the “Someone”. I posted in the other thread which starts “UCS 5-Rail…”. I am at a loss as to why you can’t read them. Did you click in the header that starts: " This image has been resized…"? I do have a lot of trouble posting images here. In this case I wound up posting the image twice. The second one may be useful to download and print out. The single sheet came in the car box. I never bought the remote controller, and the TMCC will not run it as far as I know, and I did try. (How do you add A B or C to the code on a TMCC?).
If the uncoupling track does actually activate its electromagnet, and the car is over it, with power to the track, and the car still doesn’t operate, then Mr. Bear has no other choice but to return it. Hope it works out eventually.
Certain things I know, and many I don’t. Computer graphics definitely fall into the latter group. I’m sure the fault is mine. Thank you for your efforts. I understaned that Jake is going to send it back. -fin-