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Reply to "Lionel ES44AC's"

As noted waaaaaay up at the top of the thread where I posted photos of my new BNSF ES44AC we got on the topic of the broken MU cable, and (in my opinion) how unsightly the Lionel rendition was.
I got the idea to craft my replacement, and there is a bit of funny story to it. I first tried some steel wire I had but it was too stiff to bend. I then thought I could soften some styrene rod and shape it, but that became frustrating and too hard to manage the temperature and shape etc. And then on the way home from dinner tonight I stopped into my FLHS to see what would work, only to strike out. But then a most fortuitous sighting happened.

As I was going down the basement steps of our 95 year old home I spied the tail end of some ancient telephone wiring that I never bothered to dispose of. And what did I see but some orange solid core copper wire on one of the strands! I snipped a piece off, formed it to shape with my fingers and hobby pliers, and stripped the ends. The Lionel MU sockets already have a hole, but I cleaned out the old glue with a pin vise and bit. A dab of super glue, and the new “hose” slipped right into place. I didn’t even need to paint it, and it’s prototypically coated in rubber. Photos below of my wire source and the rear pilot. Can’t see it by that angle, but it also obeys gravity and “hangs” vertically, contrary to the Lionel version.

FEE28D6B-EEF7-42D7-957C-AE9162BAEF294E79647D-B9C4-4DD1-A654-31AC0A50B56D

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Images (2)
  • Ancient Ma Bell telephone wire
  • New MU connector

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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