Remote-Control Track 6-12746 Replacing 6019

I sent a reply that was intercepted by the moderators. here is a short version until that's posted.

You only get voltage on 1 control rail, the other is common to complete the circuit for the operating solenoid.

See page 1, right side first column of UCS all service doc.

Are you running fixed or track power?

Your cars may need tuning. What are the numbers? I'll post the service docs.

Hi Icy,

It is my understanding that the controller completes the connection between the sliding\control rails. Voltage should be measured between those two when the button is depressed. It should equal track voltage. Completing the circuit energizes the coil to operate the milk car mechanism. Power only on one control rail.

From another service doc.

So, with power off, one slider rail should have continuity with an outside rail and the other with the center rail. The two will have continuity with one another when the button is pushed

I have attached the UCS all doc, Note on page 1, 1st paragraph, right column,

"

Which No. milk car do you have?

here are the service docs for 6019. If anyone has the springs and insulators to rebuild the old controller, it would be Chuck Sartor at 'O'nly 3 Rail in Denver.

Hi Carl,

Thanks for your reply & attached info. You save me the postage & time lost from my grandsons using the Milk Car. So I will not be returning the new 6-12746. I have the No. 3472 Milk Car and I am using track power.

My CW-80 Transformer delivers 14.8 VAC to the track & now that I am checking control rail to control rail I see together they deliver 13.8 VAC to the Milk Car. Suppose I need to go a little deeper into refurbishing the Milk Car, than the wire replacement and cleaning.

I am familiar with the services docs for the 6019, and replaced my dry rotted wire, with Lionel 4-flat wire from our local Lionel hobby shop. This was prior to ordering the new 6-12746, after I determined the connections were fatigued. Of course I did not read everything;o) 

I don't have any service docs on the Milk Car; I refurbished it following a good You Tube video.

I appreciate your help. Looks like I am in the right placed to do a better job on the 6019 (then I'll have two functioning) & for me to improve my 3472 Milk Car.

Thanks

Gene

Just wondering? Can the old (O27) control tracks even be configured to use fixed voltage rather than track power? With the newer UCS tracks (O31) you can easily rewire them for fixed voltage operation. Which is what I always do. Gives you "snappier" and more consistent action operating milk cars, etc.

There are 2 milk car versions...here's what I could find on both for service docs.

You should be able to adjust the accessory posts to a higher voltage than that. That's the factory setting. Check the manual for the button press sequence to adjust the accessory voltage.

The milk, horse and cattle car need a tuning to work. Then they'll be fine.

The 6019 replaced early version. See pdf above for fixed voltage.

Thanks, Carl. Right there in front of me!

Thanks John for bringing this up. Your question was in my mix for me. Once I get my platform close to a permanent layout, then I will be rewiring the remote unloader/uncoupler controls and power from a sole source transformer, instead of the track power.

    Gene

Good deal, Gene.

On my layout I have the milk car and cattle car on an isolated spur that gets separate variable voltage. Really lets you fine tune things for best performance. Especially with the persnickety cattle car.

Gene,

The main rr of my Arctic RR is the Alaska RR. They run a special on Christmas Eve, replacing the Aurora with the Polar Express. I bet you didn't know that Sodor was an island located off of the coast of Anchorage, where Thomas and Friends of the Sodor RR run. 

Any red dirt where you are or all gray?

Hi Carl,

Given the times I spent in the wetlands and tundra of Alaska, I would say it is more likely to be gray dirt, even peaty black soil. Though I have not ridden much on the Alaska Railroad, seeing what I've seen from the road and air I can safely say much of the original alignment & still is through the non-oxidized dark soil of the lowlands.

You'll have to set a video camera on your Arctic RR and give me a ride.  Hopefully I don't have to wait until next Christmas season to see the Aurora and the Polar Express. As for the Alaska RR I wish I could authenticate your route. It has been 34 years now for me here in Alaska and I only have traveled 3 times on it. Less than 50 miles on any trip, beautiful miles though, there is a lot more to see between Seward and North Pole, the 470 miles of the Alaska Railroad. I am not planning to move back to the Lower 48, so there is still time to see a major portion of the route.

It would be good to pick a theme to model my personal RR at in the garage. Given the  mix of cars & unloaders I have, it would likely be easier to chose a theme closer to my hometown in Pennsylvania. But you have be thinking. This past Christmas my one grandson received the Alaska starter set up of 2007 or 2008. Even my other grandson's 2012 NYC starter set with a helicopter is closer to modern Alaskan equipment, though pulled by a stream locomotive. 

Is there an off-topic forum within OGR? Maybe the better place for this expanding conversation. We are getting off track.

I believe it's appropriate for the topic poster to de-rail their own thread. I just try to get a feel for the geography. The old volcanic area would be west, between you and the ocean then, correct?

Our January weather(NJ) was the same as Fairbanks. It was warmer where you are. I wasn't happy about that.

I would want to see the Usabelli Mines coal tipple or the quarry area. Sure, Denali is cool, but, train stuff...

Check the bottom of your CW-80. Is there a G in the model #?

You are right the main part of the Gulf of Alaska/North Pacific Ocean is south of the Anchorage. You have  good grasp of the geography here. So yes, the volcanos can be consider to be between. However, there is an extension of the ocean called Cook Inlet (may look like an estuary, similar to Delaware & Chespeake Bays, but it is very much marine waters), it is along the east of the following volcanos. 

The volcanos are unpredictable and intermittently active: my "personal" Augustine volcano is just across Cook Inlet from Homer; it hasn't done much since the mid to late 80's. Mt Spurr is the one that really dumped ash on Anchorage and much further north in the 90s. Redoubt has been active in the past 10 years. While Iliamna Volcano has been mostly dormant. These 4 volcano are all within about 70 to 100 miles south of Anchorage. Check them out on Google Earth. You ought to plan on trip to Alaska to get your ideas solidified for your Alaska RR scenery. But keep in mind the RR is not close to them.

However, the Usibelli coal mine are on the way to Denali, unless you are traveling in a period of bad weather in that area, on a train or the road, you'll likely see them both during the same day.

Sorry to say Sodor Island is not in Alaska, but the best place to find Thomas and friends is in my 3 yr old grandson's toy box.

As for the weather we really got the short end of the stick this winter. I've been telling friends and family back east forget about Climate Change, Alaska had Climate Exchange with the northern-eastern states.

Is Steeplechase pier still in AC? I worked there one summer, right out of High School.

Have you been enjoying the light show? A couple of massive CMEs have provided plenty of atmospheric excitement.

Thanks for reminder, the Northern Lights Aurora Borealis should be good tonight. I missed a great show last night.