Chris Vernell
45.29 N, 75.75 W
Lionel's 0-6-0 chassis, as used in Thomas and James, has unreliable track power pickups; at least one of the four invariably fails to make contact with its wheel, with the inevitable results on plastic frogs and dirt spots ("Mummy, why is Thomas stopped?" 
).
A year or so ago, I installed LGB ball-bearing pickup wheels under James's tender, connected to the loco by plug and socket. The improvement was remarkable: no more jerking on dead frogs; the loco is much more responsive to subtle changes on the regulator; slow running is possible. (I put a voltmeter on Thomas before I changed the wiring today, and found a notable voltage loss between controller and motor.)
So now I have got around to Thomas, using the BB wheels under Annie. Thomas works nicely on the test rollers, so I have high hopes for running on the line.
Lionel put a strange grey box in Thomas's cab. I was never sure what it covered.
It turns out the box covers nothing, so I sawed the top off to allow easy access to the wiring.
Cut a slot in the rear of the bunker for the extension wires.
Lionel allowed plenty of slack in the wires connecting the pickups to the motor, so it's easy to solder on an extension.
Drilled holes in Annie's swivel truck plate and ran the other extension through them.
Wiring underneath Annie. The loops are there so the trucks can swivel freely on our R1 curves.
Connected, with Thomas on the test rollers and running nicely.
And so two engines with well over 20 years' service at train shows have become even more useful. The Fat Controller approves.
).A year or so ago, I installed LGB ball-bearing pickup wheels under James's tender, connected to the loco by plug and socket. The improvement was remarkable: no more jerking on dead frogs; the loco is much more responsive to subtle changes on the regulator; slow running is possible. (I put a voltmeter on Thomas before I changed the wiring today, and found a notable voltage loss between controller and motor.)
So now I have got around to Thomas, using the BB wheels under Annie. Thomas works nicely on the test rollers, so I have high hopes for running on the line.
Lionel put a strange grey box in Thomas's cab. I was never sure what it covered.
It turns out the box covers nothing, so I sawed the top off to allow easy access to the wiring.
Cut a slot in the rear of the bunker for the extension wires.
Lionel allowed plenty of slack in the wires connecting the pickups to the motor, so it's easy to solder on an extension.
Drilled holes in Annie's swivel truck plate and ran the other extension through them.
Wiring underneath Annie. The loops are there so the trucks can swivel freely on our R1 curves.
Connected, with Thomas on the test rollers and running nicely.
And so two engines with well over 20 years' service at train shows have become even more useful. The Fat Controller approves.
