I have a set of Lionel Canadian Pacific 18" passenger cars circa 2010. They've always had a problem with flickering lights because the outside rail pickup through the painted truck side frames is marginal. Separately, I've had a zinc pest problem with the side frames, so I'm in the process of replacing the side frames using parts from replacement trucks bought from Lionel support.
I noticed the replacement trucks have a copper insert with wipers on the wheel axles, and a wire running from the insert. This insert seems clearly intended to provide reliable outside rail pickup. But the replacement trucks were shipped with the wiper fingers positioned *below* the axle as in the first photo below. It seems to me the axles are likely to float a bit above the wiper fingers, which wouldn't do much good from an electrical standpoint. When installing the replacements, I can easily reposition the finger to be *above* the axles as in the second photo, which at first glance would provide a good connection even as the axles float a bit. I don't have any newer cars with trucks with the copper wiper insert built-in, so I don't know which approach is standard from the factory.
Question: Does anyone know how the wiper finger should be positioned? Below or above? Maybe it's possible to look carefully at a newer car and see how it's done. I'm inclined to setup my replacement trucks with the finger above, but I'd hate to do that and then find out that some problem occurs over time. These trucks are tedious to take apart and reassemble, so I'd to avoid that.
