All Wheel PickupAmerican Flyer
- All Wheel Pickup:
I have made many modifications to Flyer equipment, but never
felt the need to try this as I run DC and don't have to put up with those
pesky reverse units. The conversion itself should not be a big problem
as I envision it, at least on an Atlantic. Get a pair of S Helper bronze
pickup wipers as used on their locomotives, and using them as a guide to
locate the holes, drill and tap 2-56 holes in the bottom of the chassis
on each side, midway between the drivers, spacing them inward so that they
will touch the rims with a little tension.
To the left is a sketch showing one possible
scheme for adding all wheel pickups.
To the right is a picture of standard S-Helper
trucks, showing how they use the bronze pickups on their production locomotives.
Cut a thin piece of insulation such as .020 Evergreen plastic
sheet or maybe even an expired credit card to fit the bottom of the chassis
to keep the wipers from touching it. Drill clearance holes in it for the
mounting screws. Solder thin insulated wires to the pickups near the center
but not so close to the hole to interfere with the mounting screws. Use
nylon screws, flathead if you can find them, to mount the pickups. Route
the wires toward the front of the locomotive, and then upward into the
boiler. Use an epoxy cement to bond the wires to the plastic, and the plastic
to the bottom of the chassis, so that they will not hang down. From here, the wiring will depend on the individual loco,
but the new wires should end up connected to the same places that the tender
trucks are. The disadvantages of this method are that the exposed
parts are somewhat fragile, and you must be sure that everything
will clear a switch. Don't even think about running the loco over a raised
uncoupler! A larger locomotive still has only two tires per side, and should
work the same way, but the wiper setup would have to be different.
Hope this helps some, and contact me directly for more details
if needed.