Trains.com

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Tender Color Question

1335 views
5 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Miles City, Montana
  • 2,281 posts
Tender Color Question
Posted by FRRYKid on Monday, April 20, 2009 7:59 PM

I have three 2-6-0's that I am setting up for use on a tourist type railroad (akin to the 1880's train out of SD, the .Cumbres & Toltec out of CO & NM, the Durango & Silverton out of CO, and the Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad out of WA). What I need to know is what color the inside part of the tender should be. The part of one of the tenders in question is pictured at http://www.ccrvfc.org/0419092357.jpg. The tan part is the section in question. (My apologies for the quality of the picture. I used my cell phone camera.) I will be converting the tender to coal if that makes a difference in the color. I am wondering if it depends on the color of the railroad or if it is always black. Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

"The only stupid question is the unasked question."
Brain waves can power an electric train. RealFact #832 from Snapple.
  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: Omaha, NE
  • 10,621 posts
Posted by dehusman on Monday, April 20, 2009 9:37 PM

First I have to aske if you are asking what color it should be if the engine is operating in 1880 or if you are asking what color it would be in 2009?

If you are modeling that engine operating in 1880 or earlier, then it would be shades of brown, tan and grey because it represents a pile of split wood (go look at a wood pile to see the colors). 

If you are modeling the engine any time after about 1930, you need to replace the tan part or smooth it out and cover it with coal, because by then (and in 2009) it would be a coal fired engine.  Either that or replace it with a metal tank that fills up the area and it would be an oil burner.

Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Miles City, Montana
  • 2,281 posts
Posted by FRRYKid on Monday, April 20, 2009 10:08 PM

 The era it is designed to operate is the 1970's to the early 1980's. I was planning to convert the area to coal anyway. (It also gave me a reason to model a type of car that I had seen locally since I was in high school.) I would like to know what color the front "stepped" area and the angled area in the back of the tender by the water fill area.

"The only stupid question is the unasked question."
Brain waves can power an electric train. RealFact #832 from Snapple.
  • Member since
    February 2001
  • From: Poconos, PA
  • 3,948 posts
Posted by TomDiehl on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 6:45 AM

FRRYKid

I have three 2-6-0's that I am setting up for use on a tourist type railroad (akin to the 1880's train out of SD, the .Cumbres & Toltec out of CO & NM, the Durango & Silverton out of CO, and the Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad out of WA). What I need to know is what color the inside part of the tender should be. The part of one of the tenders in question is pictured at

http://www.ccrvfc.org/0419092357.jpg.

The tan part is the section in question. (My apologies for the quality of the picture. I used my cell phone camera.) I will be converting the tender to coal if that makes a difference in the color. I am wondering if it depends on the color of the railroad or if it is always black. Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

To make a link active you have to hit "Enter" before and after the link.

The fuel bin itself, be it a wood or coal fired loco, would probably be painted black in the 20th century, and probably black or a dark red in the 19th century. Rust prevention was the key concern, followed by the cost of the paint. An interesting modelling feature, since you'll be changing the fuel load, would be to not fill the bin completely. Show a 3/4 full tender because the completely full bin wouldn't last long out on the line. In later years, some railroads painted the tender deck (the flat area around the water fill hatch) a dark red.

Smile, it makes people wonder what you're up to. Chief of Sanitation; Clowntown
  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Mpls/St.Paul
  • 13,892 posts
Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 8:01 AM

It would probably be black. It appears the wood pile in the model tender is a one-piece insert molded or painted in tan to approximate the color of the wood in the pile. The insides of the tender wouldn't be tan, although it's possible in the front it might have boards used to help hold back the wood in the tender. Those boards might be painted but would probably pretty soon be a weathered tan / gray color.

If you were going to use it as a woodburner, I would suggest painting the end and sides black, then paint the individual logs different shades of brown, tan and gray - maybe include a few speckled black and white birch logs. Paint the boards at the front with a light gray like "driftwood" or something similar.

Otherwise if you're doing coal, I would spray the whole insert flat black, then add some coal on top. I like to add a little gloss coating on the coal, since "black diamonds" can sometimes have a shine to them.

Stix
  • Member since
    September 2002
  • 7,486 posts
Posted by ndbprr on Friday, April 24, 2009 12:27 PM

 

There is another option that is popular with tourist roads and that is to convert it to an oil burner rather than coal.  If you want to try that i would just build up the wood load with something like plaster until it is level and glue a styrene sheet over it.  Then add a hatch like the water side has to load the oil.

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Users Online

There are no community member online

Search the Community

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!