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Step 3 - Prepare the 4 Pickup Wires From the Trucks

The 4 pickup wires that come from the trucks of the locomotive have a small U-shaped fastener that is crimped onto the end of each pickup wire.  This U-shaped fastener will have to be flattened.  Don't cut the fastener off!.  Your wires will be too short! Slide your cutters into the U and gently squeeze the U so that the sides start to spread apart.  Next, slide your needle-nose pliers into the U and gently squeeze the U so that the sides are spread even further apart.  The idea is to spread the sides apart so that the fastener can be squeezed flat.  When flat, the fastener will resemble a T with the pickup wire at the base of the T.  The wings of the T will be too wide to solder onto the decoder so it will be necessary to trim the wings of the fastener.  Make sure that the wire is held clear of the locomotive.  You don't want any metal pieces falling into the motor or the gears.  Using your cutters, trim the wings off the fastener.  It may be necessary to score the wings with the cutters and then gently bend the wings back and forth until they snap off.  Repeat this step with the other 3 pickup wires

So far, we've removed the plastic light board, cut back the copper strips from the motor and soldered two wires for the motor leads, and prepared the 4 pickup wires that come from the trucks of the locomotive.  This is what our locomotive looks like. From this point on, we start the re-assembly process.  But first some prep work.

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