doctorwayne's Get off yer duff Challenge (Part I)

[doctorwayne]

Wayne, a couple of questions for you. Do use the main drivers as pick ups too? I would think so? Did you add wipers there also?...

Mark

As far as I'm aware, Mark, all Bachmann steamers come with all-wheel pick-up on their drivers. The wipers bear against the rear faces of the drivers' tires, with the current directed to a circuit board in the tender (where DCC users can add a decoder), and then on to the motor.
Since my layout is strictly DC, I remove the circuit board completely, as loco response is better on DC without that circuitry in place. The locomotive is then re-wired so that it will run whether or not the tender is connected. This makes testing, repairs, or trouble shooting easier, whether on the layout or on the workbench. With the mechanism upside down on the workbench and power leads connected to the motor, it's easy to lube the axle bearings, valve gear, and siderods while the loco is running. This feature is also useful in the paint booth, where turning drivers help to avoid unpainted areas where static siderods would normally shield portions of the drivers.
The all-wheel pick-up on the tender is simply another way to increase operational reliability.

I have added all-wheel pick-up to some of my other steamers, but most of those are older models with limited original pick-ups, as is the case with most brass locomotives.
Even on unpowered Atlas frogs, this little 0-6-0 never misses a beat (and it's a pretty-good puller, too)...



Wayne