On these steamers, 3rd Rail, Sunset, etc., which do not have a pick up roller on the tender, which color wire between the engine and tender, in the plug/socket, is the track power one? Want to hook up a BRC ... thanks!
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There were at least 3, and maybe more, versions of 3rd Rail tethers. It depends whether the locomotive has QSI electronics, TrainAmerica SAW board, TrainAmerica EOB or Electric Railroad boards in the tender. There are 4, 6 and I think 8 wire tethers.
Time to break out the ohmmeter.
FWIW, I put a roller on the tender and share them with a PTC in line to protect from derailments. This does wonders for the reliability of locomotives with only two rollers.
Here's a couple of examples from previous installations.
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I'd like to add a roller to the tender to feed the power line from the ones on the locomotive. I guess tracing with a meter is really the only way to tell for sure. What's that slick roller setup made of, some kind of plastic?
The top one was made of Styrene sheet with the proper holes as there was a screw handy to fasten it to. The bottom picture is fiberglass board. I love the fiberglass, but it's death to saw blades, so I've taken to using more Styrene sheet for these projects. Not as strong, but more than sufficient for the job. I still do custom drawbars with the fiberglass.
Basic EOB connection (8 wires). Control the front headlight, or front coupler on a switcher and the number of wires increase.
