After a bit of head scratching and help from this forum I was able to move an existing Battery+Airwire+Phoenix sound system into a new Bachmann Big Hauler.  Due to space constraints I had to remove the factory installed motherboard.  I was able to directly connect the Airwire G3 outputs to the loco once I had identified the motor and headlight leads in the two 8-wire connectors between the tender and the loco.

One of the connectors is marked with the letters A-H on the motherboard and the other with the numbers 1-8.  The two motor leads are the B and G leads on the alphabetic connector.  Headlight(-) is five and headlight(+) is six on the numeric connector.  I did not use any of the other connections.

I had hoped to use the chuff sensor signal generated in the loco to time the Phoenix chuff but was unable to identify which wire(s) carried it.  Instead I glued a small magnet to the third axle of the tender and mounted a reed switch near it.  I then connected the two reed switch leads to the "chuff sensor" input of the Phoenix sound card.

Although the chuff is too slow, my customer is happy with it.  Thanks to everyone on this forum that provided the help and encouragement.

Steve Seidensticker

Hi Fred, Thanks for the reply and info.  Yes, the 4-6-0 wiring is a factory installation and is very similar to the C-19 diagram that you pointed me to.  Although the diagram showed the 16 wires between the tender and loco it did not identify which wire carried which signal.

I was able to tease out the motor the headlight wires with a multimeter and some continuity checking and those are the only ones I need.

When I am finished with this project I will write up the details and post them here for anyone else to use.

Steve

Although I do not know if this is the newest of the Big Haulers various markings indicate 2020 era model.  I cannot find the usual drawings/schematics for this loco on the B-mann site.  The tender does not have room for the new components and the current mother board.  I intend to remove the motherboard and wire the Airwire G3 decoder directly to the loco.

All I need is the ID of the motor and headlight leads.  I see that there are 16 wires connecting the tender and loco, all black.  Can anyone point me to the appropriate schematic or diagram that identifies the loco/tender connections?

Steve Seidensticker