Bachmann 4-6-0 oil tender

[Anonymous]

Hi
I have a Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0 -- low boiler version.
I plan on having my local hobby shop install a sound decoder.
They tell me it is difficult with the small tender, but possible.
However, I want to convert the coal tender to an oil tender.
Any suggestions?
Do I need a new tender.
Will the MDC Roundhouse short Vandy's work with DCC
Will Bachmann's medium Vandy look too large?
Are there parts out there to covert the coal bunker to an oil bunker.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated
John

[orsonroy]

The Vanderbilt tender will REALLY look strange behind the 4-6-0, and I'd recommend not doing it. The simplest thing to do would be to scratchbuild your own oil bunker to fit into the coal space. Just build a plastic box to fit inside the coal space, add a fill hatch on top, something to represent an overfill vent, and maybe a ladder to get up there and a handrail. Boom, you're done in less than an hour.

The only other oil tenders available are two by Roundhouse: their short Vandy and their ATSF tender. The short Vandy MIGHT look OK, but you're going to run into space problems. The ATSF tender is WAY too big for the engine.

Why is your LHS having problems getting DCC sound in the 4-6-0 tender? Soundtraxx sells a drop-in sound decoder for the Bachmann 2-10-0, and that tender is about the same size as the 4-6-0's.

[cacole]

It would be extremely difficult to substitute another brand of tender with a Bachmann Spectrum locomotive because of the required wiring between the locomotive and tender. Bachmann sells tenders as separate items, so look on their Web site and see if they have one that would be suitable for your 4-6-0. If you can get a SoundTraxx system into a Shay, I don't know why your local hobby shop has heartburn about putting one into the 4-6-0's tender. If you check the SoundTraxx Web site they probably have a decoder that is a plug-n-play fit for that locomotive and tender. It would be possible to simply convert your existing coal tender to oil, since the coal load on Bachmann tenders is removable, and they could just replace it with a piece of styrene. If your hobby shop is this incompetent about sound installations and tender modification, I'd look somewhere else.

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cacole

It would be extremely difficult to substitute another brand of tender with a Bachmann Spectrum locomotive because of the required wiring between the locomotive and tender.

No it's not; it's easy. Just unscrew the PC board, snap out the connector, and shove everything into the new tender. Use short nylon spacers to hold the PCB off the floor of the tender, and use 4-40 screws and Keps nuts to hold it in place. It's maybe a 1/2 hour project. The only hard part is fabricating a new drawbar if necessary.

[jrbernier]

The biggest problem is that very low tender that comes with the 'low' boilder version. I have the 'high boiler' version and it has the same short tender as the 2-10-0 - looks like the Soundtraxx 'LC' kit should work just fine there. If you are going for oil fuel, you will need to have holes in the bottom of the tender so the sound can get out. My Spectrum 2-8-0's have had the coalpile drilled with about 80-100 small holes and repainted. You really cannot see the #72 bit holes and the speaker is right under the coal pile....

Jim Bernier

[MudHen_462]

John,

I have a Spectrum 4-6-0 (Low Boiler) that I am installing a sound decoder in at present.
It is a "hard wire" job that is outlined at this link.... GOOD LUCK !!!!

http://www.tonystrains.com/tonystips/2003/032703.htm