Unlike postwar American Flyer modern TMCC and Legacy steam engines made by Lionel do not have an electrical connection between the tender and engine. The drawbar has an optical tramsmitter/receiver. The tender and engine have separate track power pickups.
A TMCC or Legacy base and controller is required to access all the features of the engine. I suggest you look at tuveson.com to see what Carl has done with these Mikado's. I have 6 of his rebuilt Mikado's and Pacifics. Unfortunately for you all are AC only. Carl may have an idea for a solution if you contact him.
My layout is S scale DC, just bought an American Flyer 2-8-2 engine that is equipped with all of the Lionel sound and control systems and the owners manual states in many location that the engine has to run on AC. Other than removing all of the electronic are there any small inverters that could be installed in the tender?
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