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2. Locate an ideal spot for the drumhead. For Madison style cars, this would be the railing of the platform; for a streamline car, this would be the rear door below the window.
3. Remove backing from foam adhesive on rear of drumhead. Try not to touch the adhesive or it will reduce the sticking ability.
4. Grasping drumhead by the outer edge, press into place on the car firmly, but not too hard as to break any parts. Wires should be fed toward underside of the car.
5. Locate a hole on underside of car to thread drumhead lead wires through. Carefully feed the two wires through making sure they are clear of the wheels and coupler on rear of car. You may wish to use some tape to secure wires or choose an alternate route for the feed wires if you encounter problems.
6. Attach one wire to each side of the light bulb feed wires inside your car. You may wish to solder the wires or, as in some Lionel cars, attach the wires using the wire nuts already in the car. There is no specific side that each wire has to be attached. The circuitry in the drumhead allows it to operate no matter which side the wires are placed as long as one is on the positive, and one on the ground. Note: MTH Railking cars have 2 metal grommets on the floor that you can solder the wires to. (You may also choose to wire the drumhead directly to the power truck.)
7. Reattach the roof and place the car on the rails. The drumhead will illuminate when track power is applied.
Note to DC operators: Polarity must be correctly observed when wiring the drumhead to DC powered cars. If it fails to light, reverse the wires.
Note to Command operators: If your command system supplies more than 20v, I recommend you insert a 400 ohm resistor between the black (or yellow) lead of the drumhead and your train car to prevent premature failure of the LED.
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Polar Express Roof Removal Instructions
