Ressurecting this thread:

Three tender options I have come up with in my scrounging to fix the broken unit. Each have merit and each will require work (ignore lettering and weathering on the tenders and remember weathering on loco is incomplete)

I like all of them! suggestions from the group?

I still think I like the USRA middle image the best followed by the top one which would need to be lowered somewhat

IHC on top Tyco/Mantua on bottom? LOL. I agree, the USRA works best. Bachmann also used to make a tender for their reading 2-8-0. I am using several of those.

I'll cast a vote for the Tyco/Mantua - the others look too large for the loco, at least to my eye. Of course, you could always shorten the IHC one:


...or even shorten the USRA tender:


Wayne

I'm with Wayne... I think the third one looks more proportionate with this light mike... the USRA just looks too long IMHO.

Really the bottom one? I thought it looked too small. The IHC tender sits too high but that is easy to fix. The Tyco/Mantua tender will need some work including a new frame and floor as the existing one is white metal and conductive........ not to metion its going to be tougher to get the sound decoder in there with a good sized speaker. I will say its a cute little tender though......... what to do, what to do

Wayne: where did you cut to shorten the USRA?

nachoman Wrote:IHC on top Tyco/Mantua on bottom? LOL. I agree, the USRA works best. Bachmann also used to make a tender for their reading 2-8-0. I am using several of those.

Yeah I love the tender you are using but its not currently available without a loco attached to it.

bob_suruncle Wrote:Wayne: where did you cut to shorten the USRA?

According to my log of useful information, the rear cut was made 11' in front of the seam (ahead of the vertical rivet line) near the rear corner of the tank, while the front cut is 1'9" to the rear of the last short vertical rivet line on the built-up part of the coal bunker - this removes 3'6" from the over-all length. I cut close to the actual place where I want the cut, (cut one side, then the other, then join the two across the tender deck) then sand to the proper spot. I've found the most accurate way to do this is to place sandpaper face-up on the workbench, then drag, in one direction only, the cut surface across the sandpaper. Apply pressure evenly, unless your cut was crooked - in that case, sand to even out both sides, then sand to the line. Properly done, no filler will be required and the correct rivet spacing will be maintained. Working on a flat surface, use a solvent-type cement to join the two parts, and also to add reinforcement plates of heavy sheet styrene on the inside of the tender shell. When the cement has fully hardened (next day), judicious use of a #17 blade in your X-Acto will remove any softened plastic that may have oozed out onto the surface of the sides.
Use a similar technique to shorten the floor, making sure to make the cuts in places such that the joint between the two re-joined sections ends up at a different point than that of the shell.

Wayne

bob_suruncle Wrote:

nachoman Wrote:IHC on top Tyco/Mantua on bottom? LOL. I agree, the USRA works best. Bachmann also used to make a tender for their reading 2-8-0. I am using several of those.

Yeah I love the tender you are using but its not currently available without a loco attached to it.

What are you talking about? I gave you one of those, and you waffled on it!

I keep coming back to look at tender #2. That's my vote.

Galen

I love the loco's. However, on one of the pics, you quickly sprayed the entire loco steam power black, including the wheels. I just wondered what the quickest and easiest way is to remove the paint from the wheel surfaces so that you actually get electric pick up again? :-)
Reason I ask is that I have an old brass steamer that I was about to dismantle to take out the wheels prior to painting, but if you have a good trick that I haven't thought of yet, I'd gladly hear about that first :-) Thanks a bunch!

About the only time that I'd take the drivers out of a loco before painting is to paint the frame when it's not already a suitable dark colour - as perhaps for a brass loco with an unpainted frame. Even then, it's usually easier to brush paint the frame with the drivers in place, then airbrush the running gear while the wheels are turning in order to get any spots missed by the brush. To clean the wheel treads after painting, I connect power leads to the loco, then, with it upside down and running slowly, I carefully apply some lacquer thinner to each wheel tread in turn, using a brush. This is followed immediately (before the thinner evaporates) by holding some clean paper towel against the turning tread. For non-powered wheels, the same procedure works fine except that you'll have to manually turn the wheels. Do not use lacquer thinner on traction tires and I'd advise against alcohol, too, as it may dry out some of the ingredients that make-up the tire compound.
Clean the treads immediately after you've cleaned your airbrush, before the paint cures. Lacquer thinner will remove both lacquer-based paints such as Floquil and Scalecoat, and water-based paints like PollyScale.

When painting wheels with an airbrush (and this includes weathering) the wheels should be turning, whether it's a car or a loco. For powered locos you can either place it on a powered track and run it back and forth as you paint or attach power leads and support the loco with the wheels in the air (either upside down in your hand or a cradle, or right-side up, on blocks, with the drive wheels free).
Another method (the one I prefer) is to disengage the wheels from either the gears or motor, so that the loco will freewheel when pushed.

Wayne

Squidbait Wrote:

bob_suruncle Wrote:Yeah I love the tender you are using but its not currently available without a loco attached to it.

What are you talking about? I gave you one of those, and you waffled on it!

I have no idea what you are talking about.............. or maybe I have no idea what Nachoman is talking about... i assumed he meant the spectrum consolidation and you cant buy those tenders separately and I do not believe you provided one of those in your box-o-tenders I did a quick google and the one image I found looks like a USRA med tender which is the one everyone else seems to think is too big. Anyway I have started in on on the Tyco/mantua version. I did have one of those but the one I had was actually a scale foot taller and longer making it hit the loco cab. The CN one pictured is smaller and fits better.

torikoos Wrote:I love the loco's. However, on one of the pics, you quickly sprayed the entire loco steam power black, including the wheels. I just wondered what the quickest and easiest way is to remove the paint from the wheel surfaces so that you actually get electric pick up again? :-)
Reason I ask is that I have an old brass steamer that I was about to dismantle to take out the wheels prior to painting, but if you have a good trick that I haven't thought of yet, I'd gladly hear about that first :-) Thanks a bunch!

Basically what Wayne said. I disconnected the driveline so I could roll the wheels to ensure coverage including valve gear then cleaned the treads with a Q-tip dipped in thinner. I have also had success with a brass bristle wire brush in my dremel if I forget to clean them immediately... but only brass as steel may mar the treads.

Okay thanks for the explanation, the 'quick' spray wasn't as 'quick' as I thought then, and involved a little more prep work than I understood from the 'quick' word. In any case, I am going to 'quickly' paint my brass unit in the future. Once I've completed it, I will post piccies of course, but be patient. It's a job that is one of many in a line of 'to do's' for my rail road hobby. :-)