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The decoder eliminates the bar you see across the top of the motor. You can buy the AT harness for solderless Athearn applications. I just hardwire a Digitrax 9-pin harness to the locomotive. It does require some soldering. Remove the long bar from the top of the motor. The orange wire solders to the top motor brush clip, grey goes to the bottom. Remove the clips to solder the wire to them. You'll have to remove the motor anyway. The botttom brush clip has tabs that contact the frame for electrical pickup. <br />Remove these and put a piece of tape under the motor to assure it is isolated from the frame. Solder a piece of wire to where the long bar made contact with both trucks. The red decoder wire will solder to either of these places also. The black decoder wire is attached to the frame. Some people drill and tap a hole and put themwire under a scrrew. Others solder the black wire to themetal headlight bracket close to where it contacts the frame. I solderthe black wire to the other side of the truck (left rail I think) and solderan extra wire to the other truck. This helps keep electrical contacr better than the other methods. You have a blue wire that is common for lights, etc. The white wire powers the front headlight. The yellow wire is function2 (usually the rear light). If you have more functions they are the other wires on the harness. It's not really that difficuot to do. One or two units will get you familiar with the setup. Hope this helps.
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