Any way to shorten MTH PS2 Tether?

Sometimes the angled part of the plug is a rubber add-on that can be carefully removed. Then you are left with the plastic straight plug.

You can probe the rubber part with a small screwdriver or a hobby knife to see if it is a separate cap that can be cut off.

If that does not work, maybe the diesels have straight plugs and one could be transplanted.

The tether can be shortened very easily  Take the tender shell off  You will notice a cable tie on the tether   That is the only thing that determines what part of the tether sticks out  Just add a cable tie closer to the end of the tether and it will shorten it.   Just remember that the tighter your radius curve the longer the tether should be.  I would also have a spare tether laying around because shortening it may cause the wires to flex more and cause a breakage.  Very common part to go on steamers

Having a loop or S-curve in the tether is important to allow the tender to twist without pulling the plug out.

Hi Jdevleerjr,

As RJR said, you have to be careful that there is still enough slack for the engine to navigate the sharpest curve it will encounter.  If your layout is O-72 and larger then you can get away with more.

MTH does make a straight tether that is otherwise identical to the 90˚ tethers.  The straight tether was used on the Premier #4449 daylight and a few other engines.  I don't have the part number for the straight tether, but it's not difficult for MTH to find the part number if you have the item number for an engine with the tether.

Sorry but you can't get the straight tether anymore  All of them are subbed to the universal tether now

http://www.toytrainsontracks.c...placeTetherPage.html

Whether parts are available or not, I have no idea. The link echos the warning posted about curves less than O72.

It's a shame they did that to really nice steam engines, especially since the one on their diesel A-B-A is hidden so nicely. 

I had to do the same thing when upgrading a Premier SP Daylight to PS-2 as there wasn't clearance for the angled plug under the closed cab.

Thanks guys

I will try to cut the 90 degree boot, and stuff some of the tether into the tender shell.  I don't need it to be 100% straight and will leave enough slack in it to ensure going around curves it doesn't have too much stress.

Here is one other possible solution. Does the other end of your tether have a staight end on it at the electronics? If so, do a pin to pin check to make sure all of connections are in the same locations. If that checks out (you don't want to fry any electronics), see if there is 'side play' in the tender opening. If so, you should be able to 'swap ends' (180 degrees).

I mention this because I have a SGL Reading G-3 that was highly up graded by JDS Limited Productions with PS-2 System. I checked everything as above stated and was able to 'swap ends' without any issues. Might be worth a look.

Henry J

OK, the straight plug tether is no longer available to this may be moot.

I got 2 of the straight plug ones, they actually plug into the existing tether like an extension!

So, I extended to straight plug and then shortened up to just a bit more than tender to engine gap on my Imperial Railking Big Boy. Shortening was accomplished by coiling excess in the top of the tender.

Then to allow curves I got out the Dremel tool and cut a slot in the front of the tender for the tether to slide side to side in. Be sure to make the slot at the height of the plug on the engine. My first one was a bit low, but it works.

The tether now looks like a Stoker tube. Most model engines are missing those.

I also shortened the drawbar 1/4" to make them sit closer together.

Note, My engine is now limited to O-54 and larger curves but it looks excellent.

lso, this will not look good on all tenders, my tender has an inset area in the front that hides the dremel work completely.

Good Luck