I am adding a upper level to my layout to run post war lionel. The upper level will use Lionel Fastrack. How do i get a Lionel 3424 Brakemen car to work with fast track? I have heard you have to splice in regular tubular Lionel 1/2 straights in order to get the car to operate? Thanks for your help.
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Depending now how involved you want to get.... There's a Yahoo Fastrack group. Over there someone posted an idea once about using a fastrack straight track, drilling two holes in the ballast along the outer rails, and then feeding a piece of heavy bare copper wire through the two holes to act as the contact that's required to activate the Brakeman. That wire would have to then be wired to the outside rails to power the Brakeman car circuit. I've tried it with limited success. I did the same thing to operate the Lionel barrel car (similar pick up shoe for power) with much better luck. I think the Brakeman car needs a thinner strip of the wire because of the shape of the bottom groove in the shoe, or maybe it's because the Brakeman car is moving when the shoe needs to make the contact, where the barrel car isn't. I'll try to get a picture when I get home and post it so you can see what I'm saying.
Sam
There was something in the last issue of OGR, I believe, but I didn't follow a word of it. lol
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