# 970 Silver Meteor Boxcar with Walking Brakeman



## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Just acquired a Walking Brakeman 970; haven't tested it yet, but the brakeman mechanism is probably not working. Has anyone ever worked on one of these? It's riveted to the chassis, so I can't see how it's supposed to work. I'll post a pic when I can and if I'm lucky, I'll try to get into it this weekend!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hey Reck,

Nice find. Nothing technical to add on my end, but I did find this old catalog ad, in case you haven't seen it already ...

http://www.myflyertrains.org/AF_Catalogs/1956aCatalog/AF_1956a_catalog_page46.htm

Enjoy!

TJ

Edit ...

Also found this:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Trains/message/43043

Doesn't Jim Stillakid have an AF service manual with parts descriptions, diagrams, etc.?


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Teej, that's the one and to be honest with you, I have the same repair manual Jim does (thanks for the recommendation, Jim!). I just thought I'd see if anyone had worked on one before, since I'm having trouble finding time this summer to do much of anything. *L* My guess is that I'll spend part of Saturday grinding the heads off of the rivets that secure the shell to the chassis and go from there. Maybe I'll even open the manual and read he directions!


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

When all else fails, look on the internet. God bless the guys who saved and photocopied all these manuals!

http://myflyertrains.org/gallery/album212/970_1


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Len, the pins are just pressed in. I slit them with a cutting wheel for a screwdriver bit. That was enough to heat them and spin. Iwill try to replace them with small scews. I have blunt headed pliers that may work too. Most of the cars I recently got have the serrated pins.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Thank you, Bob! The walking man and the shaft upon which he's mounted appear to be riding too high to be connected inside; my guess is that something has become dismounted internally. If I'm fortunate, I'll only need to replace a brokend coupler and reconnect the things innards. I'll let you know what I find out.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Pin Removal*

What I found:

The best way is to get a pecision flat screwdriver under one and pry a little.Using a good pair of needle nose pliers just pull. Once you get one side done carefully use leverage to pop off the other without breaking the shell. 

There is no room for the other tools to work.


The cut. Tools tried.









The corner with no room and a pin.










The one I pull the pin with pliers.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Thank you, Bob---once I get home, I can see the pics! Drives me nuts that the firewall here at work blocks them. Thanks for taking the time to post them for me.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Bob, I didn't even need to slot the pins: I have some very tiny screwdrivers and they levered right out to where the pliers could reach them. Thanks for the good advice! A little tweaking inside and Handsome Jimmy was walking the catwalk again! I still need to clean the wheels and copper strips (wheels are ugly!) and add a new coupler; after that, a bit of graphite and it's literally back on track! Thanks for all your help.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Reck -- Glad to hear the good news on your end.

Reck, T-Man -- so those are just friction-fit pins that were originally used? I guess T said earlier they were "pressed in"...

TJ


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Teej,

Friction-fit would be an accurate description. The pins (mine, anyway) have ridges that run along the shafts of the pins, as opposed to the (almost) perpendicular-to-shaft ridges of a conventional screw. Since this car was only made in 1956-1957, it was a pretty effective system: over 50 years old and still working perfectly. The mechanism inside is interesting: it's similar to that of the moving cattle in the stockyard or the old Electric Football games with the vibrating football field. The brakeman is mounted on a vertical metal rod; the rod passes through a long, horizontal slot in the roof of the car. On the other end of the rod is a horizontal shoe, rounded on one end and squared off on the (back) other end. A pad is glued to the bottom of the shoe that has the plastic "feelers", for lack of a better term, that allow it to move easily under vibration. These are stiff plastic fibers, similar to the hook portion of velcro, that hold the shoe up and have very little resistance to movement.
Beneath that is a low-friction mat and a horizontal metal guide plate with the equivalent of guard-rails on either side; below it rests a vibrating mechanism. When power is applied to the rails, the vibrating mechanism begins vibrating the metal guide plate. On top of it, the vibration causes the shoe to begin moving: the angle of the fibers on the bottom of the shoe makes it follow the path of least resistance and move forward, taking the little man overhead along for the ride. When the shoe reaches the end of the guide plate, the man has also reached the end of the horizontal slot in the roof of the car. Because the toe of the shoe is rounded, it's steered by the guard-rails into a 180-degree horizontal rotation. Now, the return-path is exposed and the shoe follows it to the opposite end of the guide plate to pirouette and begin another trip. 

On one end of the car is a protruding metal rod with a 90-degree bend, angling down toward the coupler. This is an adjusting mechanism: it's rigidly attached to the metal frame inside that holds the entire vibrator/guide plate assembly. By rotating it left or right, one can bend the frame to coarsely align it all to mate with the slot overhead. The car's operation is independant of the train or locomotive: if there's power to the rails, Handsome Jimmy dances.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

The mechanism sounds just like the Lionel freight station, the little freight trucks run on the same sort of track with the rubber pads with the tilted drive "feet".


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Great technical description, Len!

TJ


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

Thank you, Teej. I thought it might be useful to sort of have it on file, here, in case someone down the line ponders buying one to repair. There's really not much to it.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hey Reck,

If you have the car still open, might you be able to snap and post a pic or two of the innards? Would go great with your description.

Cheers,

TJ


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> Hey Reck,
> 
> If you have the car still open, might you be able to snap and post a pic or two of the innards? Would go great with your description.
> 
> ...


It probably looks a lot like this.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

That would be the manual I used! Teej, those drawings are a lot clearer than any photo would be, but here's Handsome Jimmy, taking a stroll:










A closer shot, showing the adjustment rod. You'll note Handsome Jimmy has one finger extended.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I reported this car picture of yours as obscene.

Giving us the finger!:thumbsdown:

Gives S a bad name.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

He's simply reminding you that S scale comes first, Ed.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

That's a neat car. I haven't seen one around.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

That's the ol' "table for one" salute! 

Car looks great, Reck ... glad to see Jimmy is still strutting his stuff!

(Good diagram, John!)

TJ


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I guess the man doesn't duck like a giraffe operating car, right?

How do you clear a American Flyer bridge with him?

What is the height off the rail to the top of his head?

You got to build your tunnels with him in mind too.

Serve him right to get his head knocked off for giving us the finger!:laugh:


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