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I don't think I have made the antenna the same way twice some of mine are in the tender and I have used the handrails a couple of time but I used a different technique each time. I have been working on an 18005 Hudson and an 18009 NYC Mohawk and found a different handrail solution on each. On the Hudson I went to the hobby shop and bought a couple of lengths of piano wire two sizes smaller than the wire Lionel used for their handrails.  I wanted to use wire that would slide through the stanchions a bit more freely than the original wire. Can't find my caliper or I would tell you what size wire I used.  I ran steel wool down the length of the wire several times then I cut off two pieces three or four inches longer than needed just to make sure they did not end up too short.   Then I bent both sides as close to the original rails as possible.  Next I stuck each wire in a snug hole on a board by the end which I intended to cut when finally installed. Then I sprayed several coats of clear polyurethane allowing time to dry between coats.  Then overnight just to make sure the paint was completely dry. You could use black or any color for that matter if you did not want silver/ chrome handrails. After the rails were in place I checked for continuity between the rails and the body once I was certain of my insulation I soldered  wires to the ends of the rails inside the cab.  I came by several L2RU boards when a friend converted a bunch of his locos to two rail DCC and am working my way through those boards. One thing I like about them is they fit in most any boiler. The clear polyurethane seems to work well but be gentle as you slide it through the stanchions.  On the 18009 NYC Mohawk the boiler has 1/4" tall posts that sort of resemble a stanchion cast in.  I have enough real stanchions that I was tempted to drill them out and use my stanchions but finally decided to save them for another project so I thought about a simple way to insulate the handrail on the existing molded on stanchions. What I came up with is very simple and only requires a little patience.  I pulled the wire out of the holes in the stanchions and removed the railings. As on the Hudson I gave the railings several coats of clear Polyurethane and allowed it to throughly dry. Next I went to my fishing tackle and found a roll of black braided Nylon fish line. One could use heavy black Nylon thread If need be however the fish line is quite a bit stronger.  After painting the railings I used flat black paint and painted the top of each stanchion just to create more insulation.  After all my painting was fully dry I  laid the boiler on it's side and slid the railing into the hole in the cab, I did enlarge the hole a bit. Next I took my braided Nylon fish line and cut several lengths about a foot long and then I did a COW HITCH  around the railing and fed the ends of the fish line through the holes in the stanchions. I grabbed the line on the inside of the boiler with needlepoint pliers and pulled it as tight as I could pressing it to the inside of the boiler, then put a drop of thin fast setting superglue on the line. I held it with the pliers for a couple of minutes just to make sure the glue was dry. Wher the railings fit in holes on the pilot deck I drilled out the holes just a little then I put a 1/8" piece of black heat shrink tubing on the wire handrail where it went through the pilot deck. I think a couple more layers of paint would have done just as well.  I left one stanchion free on each side of the loco and fed an insulated  wire through in the stanchion and soldered it to the hand rail. I did prop the handrail up an eighth of an inch or so above the stanchion while I soldered the antenna lead on it.  I dressed the solder joint a bit with a jewlers file and painted it black. Repeat on the opposite side. I have not finished all the mods I intend on both of these locos but have test run them without the tender and pilot trucks and the antennas seem to be working fine.  I will attach a photo of a Cow Hitch for those who don't know what it is, and a shot of the railing on the Mohawk where it attaches to the stanchion. Sorry, the shot of the handrail is a bit to close for my camera but only slightly out of focus. If you look close you can see that the railing is sitting on the fish line and would not have to have the polyurethane to be insulated from the stanchion. I would paint on the railing never the less.

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  • 103_6120: COW HITCH
  • 103_6123: PULLED THROUGH STANCHION, GLUED
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One'a those nights, could not sleep could not wake up. Too tired to work on trains. A bad left hip joint was acting up due to barometric changes. Broke my right pinky a week ago helping a friend move a dresser when she lost her grip and my finger got caught as the drawer slid in trapping my hand.  When I'm two finger typing I tend to not use the tab or upper case keys. I tend to prattle on when writing while asleep.  If the guy with the Hudson wants to use a handrail antenna he'll struggle through it. I tend to want the antenna in the same unit the radio is in. Be it a LCRU or R2LC.   Whichever, loco or tender the radio ends up in that's where I put the antenna. I cannot help but think the run through a wiring harness induces some cross talk if the antenna is in the bundle. But I would differ to your experience as I have a grand total of 14 locos to which I have added TMCC to your ~

My new L&N E7 AA came today.  Life's good.

I've only piped the antenna to the other unit once, normally I like to put the antenna with the radio as well.  If the handrails are reasonably easy to insulate, I use them.  On a few, I've put TMCC in the locomotive and floated the whole shell, some older first generation TMCC did that as well.  I will say that a vast majority of my TMCC upgrades have been in the tender, there usually seems to be more room for them there.

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