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ArrantPreceptor — Custom Vanderbilt Tender
Published: 2014-06-03 23:59:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 245; Favourites: 6; Downloads: 0
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Description
Now that school is over and the weather is getting nicer, I have the time and the temperament to work on my projects. This is a project I have had on the back-burner for a fairly long time; I finally got around to sitting down and figuring it out. Behold my latest and greatest creation, a custom O Gauge tinplate Vanderbilt tender!Like the 4-4-4 electric I made last year ( fav.me/d6qhng6 ), this is a hot-rod version of a model that Lionel made back in the 1930s. The originals were the 260t and 263t tenders which Lionel sold with their high-end steamers. I didn't have one but I wanted one, and with a bit of time on my hands this weekend I got to a'thinking... three days later, this was the result.
I built this from the junk bin using two cars, a Lionel 653 hopper car and a little Marx tanker car, both of which were too dilapidated to run. Unlike most of my projects this car is actually tabbed together rather than bolted or glued. The whole project took about 10 hours to do and cost me literally nothing since I used existing parts, tools and supplies to fabricate it.
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Comments: 15
Thank you! I still have this piece on display in my layout room, it's one of my favorite customs.
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Thank you very much. The Vanderbilt tender was a project I always wanted to do but was afraid to. When I finally committed to it, chose the cars and put it together it came out better than expected.
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I could imagine with modifying a tinplate car's frame, it would be confusing because you want to keep the original car, but you want the tender more. Nice to see how well it turned out!
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Yes, I did want to keep the original car, but then again it was a cheapy little thing that I paid $8 for and I convinced myself that nobody needed a restored 657 hopper (or a Marx tanker car).
This project required almost no modification to the original frame. I widened four slots with a file and that was about it. Did take some finagling and a bit of superglue to get the tank level though.
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Thanks, happy to hear you like it.
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I'll say, the fact that this came from the "junk" bin is hardly noticeable. You did a great job, and like the last, it looks rather professional. To me, it looks just a bit lopsided, but it may be my imagination. (I'm not the best at train critique.) The paint job looks nice, but the silver front seems off a little. I love the homemade feel it has, and the fact that it looks shiny shows your hard work on the paint.
As for the body design... Like I said I'm not that versed in train stuffs, but it looks like a train to me. The only thing that seems off to me (which probably is just be the train model itself) it looks like a coal cart was fused with the front engine. The design is great though.
Awesome work once again. Maybe I'll start collecting these and learning about them, so that I can do better at this. (You've been critiquing my art for so long, I feel I should return the favor a little. Too bad I'm not as good as you are when it comes to trains.)
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It's a style of train tender ("coal car") called a Vanderbilt tender, check out a real one here: www.steamlocomotive.com/tender…
Vanderbilt tenders aren't very common because they were only used by a few different railroads right before steam became obsolete. They were used with oil-burning steam locomotives although also with traditional coal-fired ones... the tank in the back was a better way to hold water than a metal box since cylinders have fewer major seams to look after.
If you think it looks a bit lopsided it's because you have sharp eyes. I freehanded the entire design of this, only used a ruler once or twice, and I am absolutely sure that it isn't QUITE straight because I ended up fudging most of the fits. Ooops! Sometimes I get away with it, sometimes I don't.
Thank you kindly for your kind words. By the way, you don't need to feel any obligation to pick up a hobby just because I'm into it; like my grandmother always says, if everyone liked the same things there wouldn't be any variety in the world! (I will add that trains are an awesome hobby to have if you're looking for one! You can tinker, collect, operate, customize or whatever else suits your fancy, trains satisfy pretty much anyone's tastes.)
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I see. You definately nailed the style on the head. It sounds like this kind of car would become obsolete very quickly, especially with the decline of the steam engine. It still sounds useful in what it was designed to do though.
I assure you that you have gotten away with it. Despite seeing it lopsided it looks like something of high quality that belongs in a collection. I'm very impressed that your precision, while not perfect, was pretty much on the dot.
I should be thanking you. It may seem like I do that a lot, but I do very much apreciate all you've done, and with it making such a big impact on me I find it hard to shut my mouth about it. Giving many thanks is what I do, even if it's not on purpose. It is simply my way of expressing how thankful I truly am. (I have this issue in other fields as well. My girlfriend is always telling me I say "sorry" way too much, and that I am sorry when I don't have to be.) While I don't think I'll be taking trains up as a hobby, I'd still like to learn a little bit about what you do. It sounds like fun, but I don't think I would enjoy it as much as you do. Gaming still holds my attention as well as art, and I'm getting into D&D.
(I'd like to add that your grandmother was wise. That statement right there makes more cents than a gumbal machine. )
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As it happens I like to talk about what I do so do not have any doubt that you will be hearing more about it.
Oh ho yes, gaming is good too. When I eventually pack up the trains in the closet I will cycle back to wargaming a bit. I should have at least one major Brikwars skirmish with my friends over the summer, we haven't done one in way too long.
(Grandma certainly is a very wise woman. She's a saint of some sort, I'm sure.)
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Glad to hear you think so!
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Nothing wrong with raiding the parts bin when kitbashing.
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