I added pickups to my Genesis Mikado tender using some Kadee springs and left over decoder wire. I got the idea from the late Harold Minkwitz (hminky). Sadly, his website is long gone.
Gary
Ok....thanks for info, Wayne....
-Chuck
stayboltDo you happen to remember if the Athern tender body can be separated from the chassis/frame?
Yeah, the body of the Athearn tender can easily be removed from the frame simply by spreading the bodyshell... fingernails or a slim screwdriver work well.
As I recall, the early Athearn Genesis locos came with metal wheels on one side of the tender and plastic (or insulated ones) on the opposite side. It was a simple task to put brass wipers on the trucks' axles, with the metal wheels of one truck on one rail, and the metal wheels of the other truck on the opposite rail, each of them providing power to the respective connections on the motor.
The later version of those Mikados provided slightly better power through the loco's drivers, but the wheels in the tenders' trucks had metal rims and plastic centres and axles. It was somewhat of an ordeal to add brass wipers that contacted with the metal rims, but it was much easier to merely change-out the wheelsets to metal ones with insulated axles similar to the original set-up.
Wayne
Thanks, Ed, for the wiring tip and the link....
I don't recall ever opening the tender but it looked like the shell was only a press-fit on to the frame. There may have been a screw or two under there but more likely a press fit.
The Kadee wire is stiffer than it needs to be so you could get away with replacing it with some 28-30 ga. decoder wire. Silicone insulation is more forgiving than PVC.
If the wire passes through a not too restrictive hole (1/16 ±) in the floor just above where it would pass through it will swivel just fine.
There was some discussion about the 2-8-2 here but not much mention of the tender:
https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/66502.aspx
Good Luck, Ed
Thanks for the ideas, Ed....that arch bar truck would fit my 1920s modeling era....guess it's designed so the necessary connecting wire doesn't interfere with truck movement.
Do you happen to remember if the Athern tender body can be separated from the chassis/frame? I'd like to be able to put a constant-brightness circuit inside and wire a tender backup lamp through the rear of the tender.
Thanks for the link and info, Dave....I'll keep it mind as I pursue my tender project!
Hi staybolt,
If you want all wheel power pickup on your tenders or cabooses, Steamlined Backshop offers several wheel wiper kits that will do the job:
https://store.sbs4dcc.com/electricalpickups.aspx
I used their wheel wipers on my caboose fleet and they work quite well with one caveat: If they are not adjusted properly, i.e. they are putting too much pressure on the wheels, then they can cause a lot of drag. For one car (or tender) that is not likely to be a huge issue, but it is something that you need to be aware of. If they are adjusted so that they don't put a lot of pressure on the wheels then they work fine.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
stayboltThose would work if the tender chassis/frame is metal, thereby running the circuit from the rail to metal wheels on one side of the trucks
They would work for any kind of underframe, even balsa wood.
Trucks_wired-pkg by Edmund, on Flickr
I like the Athearn ones better because all four wheels of each truck conduct electricity and there's less rolling resistance as the axle point rides in a bronze strip. BUT, as far as I know they only make several styles and they are all roller bearing trucks.
The Kadees on the other hand rely on an axle wiper with one wheel being insulated. Two wheels per truck are conducting power. Not bad but if your engine needs the extra pickup you're only getting 50% here. But they do have archbar style that would look good under an older tender. Kadee does make a 50 ton Bettendorf-style truck with pickup, too.
Trucks_wired-b by Edmund, on Flickr
There may be other players in the game now. I have some Ring Engineering pickup trucks but again, I believe only roller bearing types are available. Tangent might have their caboose trucks available separately and they might have a solid journal type. I'll have to check one of my NYC cabooses.
*Yes, Tangent has the power pickup trucks with solid bearings but they are definitely a caboose-style Gould truck:
https://www.tangentscalemodels.com/product-category/trucks/
Trucks_wired by Edmund, on Flickr
The Genesis tender underframe, I'm 99% sure, is plastic.
Ed,
Thanks for reply....you suggested swapping original trucks with ones that have axle-point pickup. Those would work if the tender chassis/frame is metal, thereby running the circuit from the rail to metal wheels on one side of the trucks (the opposite wheels on a given truck are plastic so don't conduct) through the truck frames to the metal tender chassis/frame; a wire from one side of the locomotive motor then runs to the tender chassis/frame. So I assume you remember that the tender chassis/frame was metal on the tenders you owned?
stayboltAnybody know the method used on this tender to pick up "juice" to complete the locomotive motor circuit?
I owned two of these and there is no tender pickup. There is a "pigtail" coming out of the rear of the cab and at the end is a dummy plug where you can substitute that for a decoder then tuck the whole thing back into a cavity under the coal bunker.
I gave the engines away. They could pull maybe six cars on a good day and weren't all that well detailed. G9099 is for only the tender by itself, correct?
You "could" possibly fit some of the readily available trucks that are equipped with axle-point pickups or form your own axle wipers from bronze strip.
I'm considering purchase of what I think is a model G9099 Athern "Genesis" short tender from an eBay source (as far as I know Athern has discontinued production of it). I've asked the seller about subject pickup and some dimensions, but haven't heard back yet. I've also contacted Horizon Hobby, Inc., who manufactures Athern products, but got a "...intellectual property and cannot be shared...." response (!).
Anybody know the method used on this tender to pick up "juice" to complete the locomotive motor circuit? In my experience with other tenders it's been a metal chassis/frame with metal frame trucks and wheel sets with one metal wheel and one plastic wheel mounted on a metal axle; one side of the motor is connected to the tender chassis with a wire between the locomotive and tender.
With regard to dimensions, I need the height from railhead to center of drawbar and height from railhead to tender deck to know if this tender would be compatible with a particular locomotive I have.