Thanks John that is a big help...sorry if you guys have dumb this stuff down for me, but now the dummy coupler makes perfect sensel. I'm clueless around most of this as I never personally owned a Lionel or O-gauge as a kid. My older brother had a Lionel Santa Fe Freight set that I was happy to help wear out for him when I could get my hands on it, and I only got into HO for a very short time when I was bit older.
The wire is there on the dummy coupler as you described, and for the life of me I could not figure out where the activator was on the MTH, and didn't want to force anything. Thanks, for the parts source too (just realized earlier I need two replacement portholes) and for your thoughts on the scrapes...they didn't really appear to be made by the motor, but wasn't sure.
That is a very cool thought on the layout approach Stan, and I could see my 'younger' brother getting a big kick out of something that.
Robert
Oh, and I just was passing by the TV and saw an annoucement for a train show in Fort Worth at Will Rogers...I can't even think of the last time I saw a commercial about the train hobby...must be fate 
