Lionel 3376 Ducking Giraffe Cars -Videos

Another Video showing Giraffes ducking up closer

Lets see  your ducking giraffes.

Charlie

@M. Mitchell Marmel

Paging Mr. Marmel, paging Mr. Marmel.....please call the front desk from a white courtesy phone........

Oh, all right. 

The Master of Giraffster has weighed in!

@M. Mitchell Marmel,

How do you trigger them with fastrack?  I imagine they’re like the old tie-ejector car, are they not?

tex

You activate the duck with a rail installed along side the track.  I make my own out a wooden slat from an old shutter.  It ducks as long as the trigger is riding the rail.  Lionel makes/sells one but it is not as long as my bridge and the giraffes would un-duck while still on the bridge !

I had to slide the black metal section further out on the yellow plastic trigger, to allow more space between the rail and the trigger so the valve gear of my Lionel 2025 and 2035 engines miss the trigger.  You can see the wear on the trigger from the valve gear.

See below.

Charlie

Do any of you remember the TV add back in the late 50 that featured the giraffe car?  It must of impressed me because I still have one loop of giraffe cars.

@Choo Choo Charlie,

Thanks.  I can see how you did that.  The video from Mr. Marmel shows the giraffe cars on fastrack, which has a large plastic piece on the side.  Have you tried your update on fastrack?

Tex

My layout is all 027 tubular rail.  You will have to figure out how to install a rail on fastrack or maybe someone will jump in and tell us.

You can see my rail after the train passes it.  Most all my videos show the left side of the track and the rails are on the right side.  I only have rails on the right side as for some reason I mostly run my trains counter clock wise and therefore only install the rail on the right side.  The cars have triggers on both sides.

Charlie

@texgeekboy posted:

@M. Mitchell Marmel,

How do you trigger them with fastrack?  I imagine they’re like the old tie-ejector car, are they not?

https://ogrforum.com/...fe-brakeman-actuator 

Mitch

It may interest you to know that there was a precedent, if not exactly a prototype, for this car.  The Boston & Maine once moved two giraffes from Benson's Animal Farm in Hudson, NH to a game farm in upstate New York (through the Hoosac Tunnel)! Instead of a boxcar, each giraffe was in a large crate on a flatcar, with a little cabin for a handler on the back.

Bruce

Very interesting that they actually transported giraffes on a flat car.  The Lionel car is not all fantasy.

Charlie