Operating merchandise car video

Love it !  Just like the original. Thanks for the update.

I am glad I ordered this separate car as well. Might consider a Berkshire freight set if my LHS has any extra ones available. 

Thanks again for posting the video of the merchandise car in action. The car looks great.

Brewman 73,

 

Thanks for sending me the link. I guess I will have to track one of these cars down. As I mentioned in the Berkshire post I had one of the originals, but traded it off years ago because I could never open it up in order to make repairs.

 

Merry Christmas,

 

Richard

Lionel did a nice job remaking this (at last!). I see that they replaced the solenoid mechanism and I believe replaced it with a matinence free motor. Reminds me when they redesigned the 352 icing station.

Is that the way it is supposed to work; six boxes in and four out?

 

Earl

Just noticed on mine that the ends looked to be bowed a bit at the screws. I would recommend backing out the screws before you end up with cracked shells.

Regarding the original postwar #3854 merchandise car made in '46 & '47: TM Books, in their postwar Lionel book, says this is the rarest cataloged postwar car, since & it's essentially a prewar #714 / 2954 scale length car modified with postwar trucks & operating mechanism.

How about what Earl posted...??

 

"Is that the way it is supposed to work; six boxes in and four out?

 

Earl"

I believe that that feature has been added to be prototypically correct for the percentage of parcels lost or damaged in transit by that shipper. 

 

(I suspect that the truth is that Dave simply got fed-up holding the button down. )

Wonderful.........brings back all sorts of great memories! Thank you.

 

Peter

I just ordered one. At last, it'll have trucks with magnetic couplers that won't open when going over switches. I have a like new original that's a shelf queen. Hopefully the new reissue won't kick boxes out, either, when running over switches. Note the build dates - New 3-27 left of door, then BLT 3-35 to the right of door.

Hi Everyone,  The instructions state that you load six boxes in the car and then later in Step 3 "Press and hold the UNLOAD button on the remote control track controller. The car door will open, four packages will unload, and then the car door will unload. Release the UNLOAD button when the car door closes"..

 

I took down my test track since it was on the dining room table and we needed to eat Christmas dinner, so I have to go by memory, I think that if you want all six boxes out, you can re press the unload button but the door won't close since it needs a box (or two), to close the door.  I don't think I will be taking it apart to see how it works.

Also, as I said in my post, it was tricky to get the car positioned on the RC Track in order for it to operate, so just remember that.  I think I will just position mine on a siding. 

Cheers, dave

Thanks for sharing.  I am ordering one.

<<Also, as I said in my post, it was tricky to get the car positioned on the RC Track in order for it to operate, so just remember that.  I think I will just position mine on a siding. >>

 

Remember, the original car from 1946 has two sliding shoes per truck.  The scale boxcar is quite long and positioning on the control track can be problematic.

Are the inner pieces metal like on the original

The government kept two boxes.

Next Tuesday they will keep four.

TJ

This car looks very nice. I just have one question though on the color of the opening doors. The ones I have seen of the original 3854 were black and the doors on this remake are brown. Did the originals have a version with brown body color doors also? I like the brown doors better, but I was wondering if this copy is accurate as to the door color.

Yes, Lionel did make a 3854 with brown doors. These ones were made in even smaller numbers than the versions with black ones.

Thanks for that info Mikado. That is great, I can't wait to get my car.

I've got a Postwar 3454 Pennsy Merchandise Car, and that's the way this car works too. The door slides open, and that door slide part of the mechanism is connected to a cam. You get four (or five?) kicks from the box ejector part, and then the door closes. Of course you just press the button again and the door opens back up and kicks out the remaining Baby Ruth boxes, but you need to also hit the button a few more times once its then empty to get the cam to work back to where it should shut the door again. If Lionel does have some kind of new can motor mechanism inside this car, it sounds pretty cool that they went with copying this original way the car worked. I suppose doing it this way would give a kid an unload and a half, or pulling the car to a stop twice before it was empty, instead of having to reload each time.

 

Sam

 

Sam

Brewman73,

   Way cool PRR auto box car, would like to have one myself!

PCRR/Dave

My separate sale car arrived today from Charles Ro. Pretty nice car but you will want to check the truck mounting when you get it. My car was very wobbly. This car uses T nuts, rather than studs and horseshoe clips, in the truck. I found the T nuts were epoxied into the truck and some epoxy had oozed out onto the top of the truck preventing the mating surfaces from laying flat against each other. I had to scrape the tough epoxy off the top of the truck to get it to lay flat. All is good now and my 2129WS set is complete.

 

 

Pete

Just got one at the Greenberg's show . Very nice looking car . But you guys are right , can not get it to work. I have a realtrax operating section any tips ?  Tom

I wonder if this car might work with an ERR mini comander to activate the car? I have heard the ERR mini comander being used on the MTH signalman car and other similar cars without needing an activation track. Anyone have any ideas on using the ERR unit in this car?

I was thinking about that too! I guess these cars haven't made it to the Chicago area yet. I just spent a long torturous day driving from hobby shop to hobby shop looking for this car and a 726 set. I couldn't find either one, and oh the agony. Now I'll have to do it all over again next weekend.

 

Sam

I'd imagine it would work great with the OTC Contactor.  I'll try it when I get mine.

 

Jon 

I bought mine at this place: 

 

  http://www.modeltrainstuff.com...RR-p/lio-6-27941.htm

This scale car is so nice the only thing it needs is to operate all the time . The err mini comander would be worth it if it would do the trick .  Tom

I may go to the show tomorrow.  Do you recall the vendor this'd selling this?

 

Was the show worth it?

 

Thanks,

Rick

Rick I had not been to a Greenberg show in a few year was not expecting much it was a lot better than than I remember . Got the car from Grzyboski,s for 60 bucks and an operating track for 24.    Tom

The scale boxcar is quite long and positioning on the control track can be problematic.

 

This scale car is so nice the only thing it needs is to operate all the time

 

 

Are you guys sure this car is "scale?"  It looks to me like a stretched 6464 boxcar.

The original used the scale pre war 714 scale x29 boxcar. It's scale size if not with full detail. 

 

Pete

Thanks, Hafner.  I did pick one up at the show today for $60.  A vendor told me this will operate with Fastrack's uncoupling track.  Can anyone confirm this?

 

Rick

You will need the Fastrack #12054  five rail track.

Hey Rick that's great. Let me know if you get it to work. I may have to get a adapter track for fastrack if so.   Tom

Very cool!

Here is a video I made of an origional postwar 3454.  6 boxes are loaded and all six will eject before the door closes.  Each time the button is pressed one box will eject.

 

 

 

Well, the Fastrack uncoupling track does not operate the package unloading.  As Gramps pointed out, I will need the 6-12054 Fastrack remote-control track section.  Too bad, I had this in my hand at the Greenberg show yesterday but the vendor told me the uncoupling track would also operate this car.  No biggie.   I'll find one online.

 

Rick