A new slant on the hook and bar connection of engine and tender giving a reliable means of power collection providing good trouble free running – a development of the ‘American System ‘

Itake no credit for this idea as it is the brainchild of a very dear friend who has given me permission to write it up and pass this on to fellow modellers.

The principle of this system involves a simple means of isolating the tender chassis from its body by using a Plastikard shim between body and chassis and attaching the chassis to the two holding nuts soldered to the body but using 3mm nylon bolts. The whole of the tender body is now isolated from fall plate or coupling. This now enables the bar coupling to be attached to the tender chassis and this is done through the front tender plate, using the spring loaded drag bar. This is constructed from a nickel silver plate and drilled to 23mm centres and then the holes are elongated slightly. The springs are fitted between the front drag bar and the tender chassis front. The 1.5mm nickel silver wire is the formed to fit through the holes and springs and the back edge of the spring is held in place by bushes soldered to the wire but not to the springs. Check for electrical continuity from the chassis to the new draw bar.

The rear of the locomotive now has a copperclad plate fitted between the frames and a hook formed to fit in between the drag bar. This copperclad plate needs to be isolated from the loco chassis side frames as shown in diagram B so that the hook can be soldered in place to fit to the tender draw plate and it will then need to be wired to the motor. One side of the engine uses isolated wheels of course and the opposite side of the tender likewise.

The beauty of the system is that coupling and uncoupling from tender to loco is simple yet always gives a positive electrical connection simply by slipping the hook between the wire and the nickel silver plate, the oval holes allowing the bar to rock slightly. If you are using Slater’s wheels is a simple matter of breaking the insulation on the opposing sides of tender and engine by drilling a small hole into the tyre of the wheel and into the brass centre and soldering a fine wire between the two. If using Walsall or JPL wheels you only need one side insulated when ordering your wheels