vanderbilt tenders

[scouts]

i plan on modeling the mid to late 1920's, using usra pacifics as main power with a lt. mountain and a few bachmann 2-8-0 thrown in. would vandy tenders fit this era? if so would the mdc look good behind this motive power

Thanks

[Sperandeo]

Hello "scouts,"

The Vanderbilt tender was shown for perhaps the first time at the1901 Pan-American exposition in Buffalo, NY (behind an Illinois Central 4-6-0), so this type of tender is certainly appropriate for the 1920s. There were plenty of them in use by that time.

The MDC/Roundhouse Vanderbilt tender is pretty short, however, so it might look a little odd behind a USRA 4-6-2 or 4-8-2. It would be a better match for the Bachmann 2-8-0 – some of the ICRR prototypes of this engine were equipped with Vanderbilt tenders at one time.

Bachmann has a separate Vanderbilt tender that's longer than the Roundhouse model, so it might be a somewhat better match for your larger engines. I'd suggest that you look for prototype photos of 4-6-2s and 4-8-2s with Vanderbilt tenders so you can get an idea of what proportions you like.

Best wishes,

Andy

Andy Sperandeo
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine

[dknelson]

If you hit the swap meets you might also find the Mantua vanderbilt tender, which is a nice size behind a 4-6-2 or 2-8-2. AHM had one also for its B&O 2-10-2 but those are almost collectors items and are quite large.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

Seems to me that back about 15-20 years ago, MR had an article on kit-bashing a vanderbilt tender from a tank car and a hopper. Perhaps Andy would know the issue? Article or not, with prototype photos as a guide, this would not be too hard to do. This way, you could customize the tender for your application. (length, capacity, etc.)
Todd C.

[Sperandeo]

You guys don't need me to look these things up. The Index of Magazines on this Web site (look up to the top of the page) will lead you to "Kitbash an N scale Vanderbilt tender," by Phil currier, in the January 1980 MODEL RAILROADER, page 104. I'm sure this is the article Todd recalled, although its more than 20 years old now! And yes, the basic modeling concept would work in any scale where you can get plastic cars of a suitable size.

So long,

Andy

Andy Sperandeo
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine

[Anonymous]

Having a "bad day" Andy? I certainly didn't mean to imply that you were responsible for doing all the research for everybody. I think that you have done more for the hobby as far as editors are concerned, since we saw the likes of Linn Westcott. Perhaps our topic starter was not aware of the index available on the site. (I had not thought of that either) sorry.
High greens to you always, Andy.
Todd Cline.