Fastrack 6-12054 operating piece

Anybody?  My dump car looks like pic attached.  How does this dump mechanism work?   Does just the magnet set these to tip?  If so, mine doesnt

Hi,

I think you have one of the "newer" dump cars which uses the center "uncouple" magnet to tip the car body.  The body must be righted manually. If the magnet does not tip the car body, try increasing the voltage.  The additional rails on your Fastrack piece are energized by the "unload" button.  The self-returning type coal and log dump cars, among others, use the sliding shoes on the bottom of the car to contact these control rails.  I hope that clarifies the situation.

X2000

Thanks for the reply.  I thought I had my 40 watt transformer cranked up.  I guess I'll have to give it another shot.  Does something "compress" when you manually tip it back?

Here is a nice Lionel video on uncoupling and unloading Fastrack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUen9ktP92M

When using Fastrack uncoupling track, read the manual.  As applying too much voltage or applying it too long can damage the track.  Making it one of the most expensive pieces of straight track you'll own.

Here's a link to a Lionel instruction video

https://www.lionelsupport.com/....cfm?documentID=6481

The car relies on a spring to pop it open/up when the magnet pulls the plunger down to activate.  If the car spring is weak or you have too heavy a load, its not going to work.  

So basically you cock it 

Lionel's dump cars dump and snap back. The MTH dump cars have a motor and raise up by holding the dump button. They then require a pause and a second dump button press and hold to lower.

The track needs a constant voltage. One has to be running in command or lionchief mode with constant voltage to use track voltage. The track is set up for track voltage out of the package.

Follow the instructions to connect with a separate ac power source if you are running in conventional mode. (move handle on transformer)

 For testing, you can just jumper power to the rails and turn up the throttle.

Train Nut posted:

The car relies on a spring to pop it open/up when the magnet pulls the plunger down to activate.  If the car spring is weak or you have too heavy a load, its not going to work.  

A spring and catch makes sense.  I never tried to push the car down to get a "click".  I'm guessing I should be able to push it down, pull the plunger by hand, and get it to dump.  Tonight i'll try to push it down to see what happens.  I'm starting to think there are a lot of "varieties" made over the years to dump loads.