OK, I refined this. Here's what seems to be absolutely necessary. This is about 20K' overview so if anyone wants details I'll provide happily.
PFsense setup for linked routers
Routed RIP on both
WAN and LAN set up and working
3rd network connection physically linking two routers, same subnet, separate IP addresses
gateway configured for the physical link between the routers, pointing at the remote IP address for the link
static route to remote router's LAN, pointing at gateway from #3
on physical link network, configure these rules:
A) remote network IP to LAN network
B) Routerlink network to any
c) LAN network to any
d) IPv4 ICMP protocol enabled for all (allows ping testing)
Configure this way on both sides, and you should work. :)