Moving atlas 4-4-2 electronics to the tender?

First off, if the electronics fits, you can probably move it to the tender.  The Seuthe smoke unit won't take full track voltage, so you'll have to have a regulator of some kind for that one, I believe they typically run on 6 volts.

You need two leads for the motor, and two for common and center rail pickups going from the tender to the locomotive.  If you want to do anything else, you'll need more than four leads.

The electronics looks like a pretty standard electronic reverse unit, but from the view, it's hard to tell what it is.  It doesn't look like any that I've regularly dealt with.  Is there audio as well?

You can run the headlight from track power, as for a steamer, they're normally always on.  You can run an LED backup light off the motor drive with a diode, it'll be direction sensitive and you can light it when you're moving backwards. It looks a bit tight for the electronics and the speaker in the tender, but that's something you'll have to work out to see if it all fits.

Yeah, its got whistle and bell sounds...no chuff.

I know I can fit the boards in the tender along with the speaker...it's just how many leads I have to run from the tnder to the engine is the question- I'd like to keep it down to a dull roar with only 4...need to go check my old stash of micro connectors to see what I have to work with.  

It sounds like four may do it, power, frame, and two motor leads.  Like I said, lights and smoke can be run directly from track power in the locomotive, and the backup light can be powered from the motor leads.  You'll have to include the regulator for the smoke unit, but that's just a couple of parts.  There may also be a directional light capability on that reverse unit, but I can't really say.

So is that a seuthe smoke unit that I have here?...I don't know anything about smoke units/types...

Oh a plus side note the tender and engine were painted black a few minutes ago...when dry that'll leave the roof top getting a shot of mineral red and the ash pan getting painted gunmetal to match the smoke box- now to hunt down a few steamer decals and some quad line micro connectors- all mine are 2 pin/wire, darn it. 

Note to anyone listening- the Atlas lettering comes off easily with lacquer thinner and a Q-tip.

Actually, not that I look closer at the bottom, I'm not sure what it is.  However, if you move the electronics, maybe you can fit a fan driven smoke unit in there, that would be a nice upgrade!

Actually, the lil atlas has a puffer/piston set up.

Cool, got the needed decals out for another engine that never was...they used 10 wheelers for passenger service here...shoulda been Atlantics!  

Now this is "micro"...4x2{8 pin}

http://www.advanced.com/produc...tors/table-of-models

...maybe too small!

...reread it- 1.1A @ 80C degrees...too low a rating. Figure I'd need roughly 5A capable...the stacked row idea was nice though...

What in the world are you using 5 amps for?  Even my largest locomotives with a good sized consist don't pull that much power.

I've never seen the Atlas smoke unit, other than running on the rails, it's a compact little unit.  Did you decided you need more than 4 conductors?

I don't know, 5A as max was a guess....3A optimal.{I'd rather be over protected than under I guess...} 

I'll have to toss some test leads on this smoke unit while it's on and see what voltage I get....then would need to firgure out what the needed drop in voltage would be and install a resistor...unless it's on a constant voltage circuit...I'll vari voltage to the engine and see what comes out{in neutral}.

The set minimum is at 4 pins but if I'm adding the smoke unit that would make it 6 wires.

The board has provisions for a headlight only and oddly enough, it's directional! I can't easily take that set of leads while in the tender and use it for the tender/reversing headlight....so I was thinking of taping the tender truck pick ups, and adding a bridge rect and the required resistor{size?} to power the new rear light and do the same off of the engine pick ups for the front headlight. I've got some 3v LEDs around here to do the job and swiped a spare light assy for the tender from my bachmann 0n30 2-6-6-2 steamer.

You won't want a resistor for the smoke unit, it'll get as hot as the smoke unit resistor!   I presumed the smoke unit could run from track power, and you could include any required regulator.  Since the headlight of a steamer is normally always on, I'd probably do that from track power as well.

For the taillight, you could include a simple circuit to reverse the sense of the light output, for an LED taillight, I could see a single NPN transistor and a resistor doing the job.  That way the rear light would only be on in reverse as you'd like.