Help moving cattle thru the car

Walt, I don't know if you saw this video or not.  But if you didn't, you may want to.  I'm assuming your cattle car is the similar as this horse car.

I’ll second Zeke13’s video suggestion. Our dear, departed friend Jim Barrett covers a lot of ground in this video.

Zeke, I edited your post to embed the video.

That video is relative to the horse car - they learned their lesson by then. The lesson was, to keep the horses from falling over in the car, they needed sides - which they put for the horses.

Here is a pict of a car I modified with clear plastic...they don't usually fall over.  (I posted a video someplace) The corral is the next thing I need to tackle. AND an separate power supply to vary the voltage to the car is accomplished by using a UCS track. Are you using that, or using the same power supply for car AND corral?? The cattle should whiz along with enough voltage

The feet matter some, but the direction of the cattle and stability is what needs addressing.

Greg

I worked on this accessory a couple of years ago so I can't remember the details to get in running pretty good.  (80% success?).

It depends where the cattle are getting caught to fix it.   Inside the car you have to make sure there is nothing to snag the cattle on and the door mechanisms are properly aligned.  But one item I recall was to make sure the metal ramps that pop down are in contact with the corral   This helps transfer the vibrations to the ramp.

It looks me a few days of on and off fiddling to get it working decent.  Also make sure it's within hand reach on your layout.  It's much too finicky to operate without some help occasionally.

Good Luck

Walt  The thread was this:

Well, after a little work, and installing clear plastic "sides" to the track in the car, the cattle are now willingly and ably marching to the slaughter house. One of the tricks to getting this thing to work correctly is to NOT use the original setup. The metal inserts to activate the car with O track should be skipped, and a UCS track used instead. That way you can vary the voltage for each unit....one transformer input for the car, another for the corral.

With the added sides, the cattle do not fall over. Next, trying to add sides to the corral so they dutifully march into the car - I think getting out will be no problem.. I have a feeling that will be impossible. If that can't be fixed, then next Christmas, the cattle will just exit the car, not get in. No round trip for them.

Video of the action.    Greg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4suRHobtTU

Walt:

Three things I have done to improve operation of my 3656 are:

- Remove shell and clean the metal track.

- Add a drop of light oil onto a Q-tip then apply the oil around the leading edge of the cow’s bases

- Maneuver the metal corral plate to achieve maximum vibration. Now, this being a 3656, I do not expect flawless operation and have resigned myself to adjusting the corral plate just about every time I operate the accessory.

These three steps have enabled me to get the cows to make as many as six round trips without any getting hung up or falling over. My two year old grandson’s attention span shifts after about four passes so getting this many round trips works in my world.

Curt

I really appreciate all of these replies.   I will try them all as time permits. 

The car, bought off of eBay, looks like it's never been used and is in great condition. 

@cngw - can you explain how a UCS track would be wired and used and why you prefer it?  Thanks

thanks all of you - I will be playing around to see where it goes.

- walt

@walt rapp posted:

I really appreciate all of these replies.   I will try them all as time permits.

The car, bought off of eBay, looks like it's never been used and is in great condition.

@cngw - can you explain how a UCS track would be wired and used and why you prefer it?  Thanks

thanks all of you - I will be playing around to see where it goes.

- walt

Walt, it is a thought, here is why. In standard set up, the car and the corral get voltage from the track. High track voltage (especially the DCS track) means that one or the other could bet too much - which can be controlled by the transformer throttle, ONLY on conventional track.

For "perfect" performance, in reality the car might need more voltage than the corral, and vice versa. Thus, I think I see the need for a variable voltage for each. (along with those "guidance" sides, especially in the car.)

For regular O 3 rail track, no problem. The corral base fits perfectly, take out the contact tabs. So, the track voltage could still be used with the tabs, BUT an UCS track works to activate the car also - on my track. My other UCS tracks, I vary the voltage for the milk platform, and the coal loader and the log loader. So....I tried the car, and the voltage for the UCS can be set so they move fine. I put up a video of them "galloping along" to the slaughter house.

The problem will be (and after I take down the Christmas layout) trying to fit a UCS track onto the platform instead of the O track it is made for. I am thinking the Realtrax UCS I use will NOT fit into that position. (I cut up a UCS years ago, just to fit a milk platform years ago, and I also flattened a platform tab to an uncut UCS track will work there - I have two platforms on my set up.)

Seems all the PW cars, milk, coal, log and cattle, like to have a voltage that is set for each one. More wiring, but they work much better.

Back to the cattle, later I will try to see if the cut realtrax UCS fits the corral, OR if I have to cut/modify the corral base. Either way, I and use the corral terminals, to set a "perfect" voltage for that and the cows. That is the plan, anyway.

I think you use regular O track. Your issue should be easy. Wire up a UCS (if it fits the corral) to a power supply - you could be lucky it fits the base, and track voltage will work for you. And wire up the corral to another supply and experiment with the perfect voltage that works for each. I have found, that there is not a great deal of difference in the cows, but some do move a little slower than others, so I select the "twin" cows when possible.

And, I am sure there is a way to keep the corral base intact, and wire separate power to the regular track instead of those blade connectors, but I have given no thought to that. Good luck.

Greg (let me know how/if that UCS fits the corral base, I am thinking you will have to alter it)

Thanks @cngw - I am using a separate power source for both already.

I may have discovered a breakthru: I mentioned that I bought the car and stockyard and and they were still new in the box.  I felt the pad in the car and it seemed OK.  BUT....Don't know what led me to do this but I took the car apart and found that the felt tab in the back of the car is corroded!  It's still there but it's corroded and kinda fell off very easily when I tried it with a screwdriver.  I ordered a couple from the internet - only $5 for 6 of them.

Also, I used the suggestion that I read: put my fingernail inside the car thru the back door and pressed down a bit and the cattle moved nicely.  Not sure what to do with that yet.  Maybe the new pads will take care of that.

I feel I'm at least making some progress!  So, again, THANK all of YOU for your suggestions.

- walt

Walt

thanks for the feedback.  
I should probably check the pads in my car.
are they like heavy felt maybe 1/8 thick??