# Wiring Questions B'mann Connie



## Ted Nordin (Feb 27, 2008)

I finally had it with disconnecting and reconnecting the plug between the engine & tender on the Connie. (Either laying on ground to see and disconnect or carrying both to the workbench) So I rebuilt the power p/u's, wired the rear led to power, eliminated the 4 prong plug, and now have a disconnect and run power straight to motor bypassing all pcb's. I would like to do same with loco p/u's. 

My first question is are the axles isolated? My idea is to run a brass strip along the inside (over one under next) hubs and then straight to motor to join the power from tender. Is this possible or does anyone have a better suggestion? 

As long as I have the engine disassembled I would like to do some additional alterations. I've disconnected the smoke unit (I never use it and would probably forget fluid or turnoff or something and fry it) Is it hard to just remove the entire (virgin) smoke unit and sell? I've already direct wired the led headlight to power at motor. How would (or should) I do same for the firebox and ashpan leds? 

This unit has a BBT gearbox and runs great. I just want to get everything to work solidly and not have to disassemble that often. Thanks in advance for the usual awesome expertise.

Ted in Sierra Vista

PS: A good friend had the forest fire come so close that one crepe myrtle on his GR is burned on one side and blooming on the other.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Ted:

Fortunately, I have never had any problems unplugging my Connie from the tender, but the Bachmann K27 is a B*t*h. I have to roll it on its side, on a towel and use a screw driver to pry apart the plugs. I have cut off the lip on the clasps so that it doesn't hook. That helps a little, but it is still a pain. I try very carefully not to pull on the wires. I have redone the connecting wires on the LGB mogul too many times, to want to learn how ro do it on another engine.

Chuck


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## sandbarn (Feb 13, 2010)

Ted, 

Do you still intend to use the power pickups in the tender to power the motor? Are you using any type of sound card? (If so, where did you put it?) 

I rewired my Bachmann Connie this past spring. Basically took everything out and started over. However once I got through I haven't had to disconnect the tender from the loco since. What I was doing was, I'm sure, different from what you are attempting. But I'm curious why you are having to connect and disconnect them so much? 

There are 6 wires between the tender and loco; 2 are power leads from the tender axel pickups to the motor, 2 are for the rear light, and 2 are for the chuff trigger to be connected to a sound card. 

From your discription of what you have done I'm not sure how that would eliminate the plugs between tender and loco. Seems like what you need to do is find a way to eliminate the need disconnect the tender and loco.


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## Ted Nordin (Feb 27, 2008)

Lloyd, poor description on my part. 1) No sound card at this point in time. 2) Eliminating small white 4 prong plug was easy-just wired the rear light led to the tender power wires (reversed of course so only on when engine is backing up) Now just two wires (power wires) which run straight from tender wheels to motor. 

What I want to do is reinforce loco power p/u points and run these also straight to motor. Can this be done using a brass strip across all 4 driver hubs (or any other suggested method)? If the axles are not insulated between sides, then I assume I would short out and possibly blow all boards. I would also like to eliminate all of the smoke unit wiring by removing that as well but that is secondary to the loco wiring. 

Still having problems with tender trucks despite the TOC fix. Makes it simpler to disconnect tender now to work on trucks as needed. I am considering getting K-27 tender trucks, any input on this idea?

Thanks, please keep ideas coming.

Ted


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Ted:

For years I made due with LGB passenger car trucks on the Connie tender. They worked, but didn't look all that great. Then I was able to get some Accucraft caboose trucks. They worked very well.

Here is a picture.










Chuck


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## Ted Nordin (Feb 27, 2008)

Chuck, those trucks do look great. However, my budget at this time must deal with function. Some $ saved and I will certainly look at the accucraft ones. Thanks

Ted


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## sandbarn (Feb 13, 2010)

Ted,
I was going to respond more on Sunday but I started having problems uploading pictures and got sidetracked.
I started getting equipment in Jan. 2010 after researching everything I could think of for almost 2 years (part of that time was gently breaking the financial news to my wife and promising her I would take it slowly). I finally decided to model east Texas Piney Woods logging operations between 1880 and 1910. My decisions were based on many factors that would most likely not apply to any one else but fit my situation, location, finances, skills, desires, etc.
The things I decided on that you would be interested in are; getting the connie (it’s slightly outside my time frame but I’ll live with it) and a Bachmann 4-4-0, deciding to use aluminum rail (mostly financial, I expect to put down about 1000’ before I’m done), and aluminum and the fact that I prefer operations more than just going round n’ round made me decide on battery/RC power (I know, I could have gone other ways on power and control, but this was a cheap way to get started).
I got both locos from TrainWorld online at a good price. Got my electronic speed controllers and RC interface units from Tony Walsham. Real happy with the units and Tony (really fast replies to my questions when I screwed something up). Got my RC radio from Horizon Hobby. Got my sound cards (Phoenix P8) and speakers from Ridge Road Station before they closed. Got batteries from All-Battery (got 5 14.8v 2600mah Li-ion for a small reduction in price vs. just one) and a smart charger. 
Because of my budget it took me about 5 months to actually get all these things together on my work bench. In the mean time I put together a couple of kits I got from Phil Dippel. His kits are big time fun!
When I first got my connie it had a broken axle gear. But aside from that, no problems that I was aware of. At first I just thought the gear was broken because I could push the loco and the drivers would turn. Later I found out for sure it was broken.
I started with the 4-4-0 since it was smaller. Before I started working on the locos I made the choice to permanently modify them for battery/RC operation. By that I mean I removed all the wires and PCBs and the smoke unit as well as the wires to the flicker LEDs in the firebox and ash pan. When I finished removing stuff, all that was left were the leads from the head/tail LEDs. 
I started on the connie when I had functionally completed the 4-4-0 (I’ll explain that later).
I had gotten some very good articles and instructions from MSL and Tony that I read several times before I did anything to the connie. When I started taking it apart I tried to follow all the directions I had read but I think sometimes I took more things apart than I needed to. 
Anyway, when I got to the gear box, this is what I found. 













I would have loved to have been able to get a BBT replacement drive but I just could not afford it at that time. So I wound up getting a replacement gear from NorthWest Short Line (actually got 2 to save on shipping since I expect to eventually get another connie). While waiting for the gears I went ahead and removed all the power pickup plungers and wires from the drive train and also all the other wiring and PCBs and smoke unit, leaving only the leads from the headlight and chuff trigger wipers. I even removed the RF suppressor PCB from the top of the motor. So at that point virtually all the wiring was gone. I saved the two plugs that go to the tender with as much lead wire as I could manage. Everything else went in the scrap bin.
All the electronics wound up in the tender. When I finished the wiring the 4 pin connector from the tender was 2 wires for the motor (directly to the motor, nothing else in the circuit) and 2 wires for the headlight (put the current limiting resistor in the tender). The 2 pin connector was still for the chuff trigger.
After replacing the broken gear I started putting the engine back together. Some parts of that were difficult but eventually got everything back correctly. Then started working on arraigning everything in the tender. Here’s what I wound up with. 













What I don’t have a picture of is cutting out the top of the tender below the coal load and cutting off the screw mounting stud on the inside of the coal load. I had to do that to make room for the speaker baffle and to allow the coal load to be removed easily. Also what doesn’t show is that I put a switch in the battery connector wire and mounted it under the water tank lid. That switch and the lead for the rear headlight are connected with in-line connectors so the tender top can be removed and unplugged and not be hanging by just wires.
I had plenty of room in the tender to get everything in without any trouble. Not so with the American.
There was NO room for the battery. Everything else fit in the tender (even a 3” speaker) but no room left for a battery. Well, I’m modeling a logging operation so the engines would most likely be wood burners. Out came the coal load, cut open the top of the tender and built the shell of a wood load to cover the battery. Here’s a picture partially completed. 









Worked out great. Actually easier to get to the battery than the connie.
You mentioned having problems with the tender trucks on your connie. I had problems with the wheels on mine. First they were way out of gauge and second they had a wobble. I just replaced them with wheels from Sierra Valley. I got the $17 unplated wheels and painted them myself. Really happy with them. 
Well I’ve rambled on and probably boarded you silly. But that’s what I have and unless I need to lube the loco I don’t have any reason to unplug it from the tender. However, even if I do need to disconnect it, it’s not that difficult since I have elevated storage/test tracks in the barn (where my workshop is) and a chair on wheels.












Where the track starts to curve at the top left there is now a hole going outside. I’ve started building bench work outside but haven’t gotten very far yet. As you have probably noticed it’s HOT. I live just southeast of San Antonio and what the rest of the country is experiencing is what it’s like here from mid May to late September. I work as much as I can from about 4am to 8 or 9am. After that it’s back to the air conditioning.
I know what I did is not what you have in mind, but taking the connie apart and getting it back together was not hard, just time consuming. Make sure to keep the screws is separate containers.
Good luck and have fun….
Lloyd Fellbaum


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## Ted Nordin (Feb 27, 2008)

Lloyd, far from boring me (and others I assume), I take responses such as yours and copy to word documents so I won't lose the info. Much appreciated.

You asked why I had to disconnect the tender so ofter. Everytime I get an engine, the razor saw and dremel are magnetically attracted to my hands. I have seen so many instances of fantastic modeling and skills on this site, I wonder why I learned from Freddy Krueger. Anyway, I extended the smokebox, changed position of bell & sand dome, added wooden running boards (weathered with used motor oil and rubbed in charcoal shavings-cheaper than black chalk), added a Big Hauler cab for the Connie cab (will be used on a just started project of converting an Aristo Mikado into an outside frame Colo type, and cut the top and bottom off of the Baker gear to get a less cluttered look. And years ago, got rid of the da**ed suppressor board. I would have been lost had not Dave Goodson and Barry Olsen provided immediate and relevant help. Kept the eccentric because I like all the motion at slow speeds. Also narrowed the pilot due to tight clearances described below.

Like you, I operate on a limited budget but am also constrained by having a townhouse with back yard allowing only 40 ft x 20ft for the outer loop and having to leave middle open for dogs. Therefore, sophisticated operations are out & loop running in. Seemed best to just stick with track power. 

When I had a derailment on a turnout, I fused most of the wiring in the tender. Thats when I decided to construct more reliable p/u strips on the tender axles, rewire the backup led, and run power (as you did) right to motor. Since that was successful, I said "what the heck" and did same for engine. That's when MLS experts and others come and provide help. In future, I just might rip all out and will have your directions for guidance. Thanks Mucho (I little lingo I learned from the Int'l Entreprenuers walking up our canyons and across our flatlands)

Ted (12 miles from border) in SE AZ


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## TonyWalsham (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice job Lloyd. 

Thanks for choosing the real RCS.


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