I have some original tenders with the holes for those rails but not the rails themselves.. You need to remember at the time these things were made they were toys not collectibles. If the factory was short one shell they might slip on another. Or the shells could have been swapped in a repair shop.
I also have a automobile flat car with the atomic waste car rail ends molded in. I Have 2 versions of the lamp tower, one base rubber stamped microwave tower.. This sort of thing was pretty common in the postwar era.
I've also wondered about this myself. I have a 2466wx that goes with my early 2025 loco and it only has the extra rails on the top deck of the tender. Everything I've read, including a great CTT tender article a few year back, makes me believe that the extra rails on the ends are NOT original.
But, I would like someone else to confirm this. Anyone?
Mike S.
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