Chris Vernell
45.29 N, 75.75 W

I finally got around to upgrading my first Lionel Thomas's pickup wiring -- Lionel's loco pickup is notoriously unreliable. My second Thomas, which bore the brunt of our show running for some years, has died, so the original No.1 must step up.
Ol' No. 1 waiting for the snip.
Inside. Lionel put plenty of slack in the motor's wiring. The rewiring consists of attaching a connector tail so Thomas can get lectrickery from LGB ball-bearing pickup wheels on Annie.
The "firebox". I sawed off the top to allow access to the wires.
Wires snipped.
Connector wire soldered on. The joints were coated with brush-on insulation, then the wires led through the topless "firebox".
Thomas's body replaced, and connection to Annie checked.
Much to Annie's surprise, the connection works.
Thomas (and James, who had tender pickups installed) works much better with the extra pickups.
Now I have to see if I can get a new motor for the other Thomas, whose motor seems to have burned itself out at the last show.

Ol' No. 1 waiting for the snip.

Inside. Lionel put plenty of slack in the motor's wiring. The rewiring consists of attaching a connector tail so Thomas can get lectrickery from LGB ball-bearing pickup wheels on Annie.


The "firebox". I sawed off the top to allow access to the wires.



Connector wire soldered on. The joints were coated with brush-on insulation, then the wires led through the topless "firebox".

Thomas's body replaced, and connection to Annie checked.

Much to Annie's surprise, the connection works.
Thomas (and James, who had tender pickups installed) works much better with the extra pickups.
Now I have to see if I can get a new motor for the other Thomas, whose motor seems to have burned itself out at the last show.